Untrained guards put Goldoc security in a shambles

COMMONWEALTH GAMES security forces say the event is in shambles, with one security guard claiming none of the 200 guards he stayed with had completed mandatory pre-games training.

SECURITY forces brought in from across Australia say the event is a shambles, with some guards forced to sleep on the grass after buses were cancelled and others claiming they have not received the Games-specific training promised by organisers.

One Sydney-based guard, staying with others at a Tweed motel, said they arrived on Good Friday and were told they would receive the Goldoc-sanctioned Games training on Saturday and Sunday.

Instead they were put straight to work and hadn’t heard anything about training since.

Even as organisers moved to downplay reports of disarray in the private security force, guards continue to leave the city.

One guard, who worked as a supervisor at the Sydney Olympics, has returned home to regional New South Wales saying the system was disorganised from the start.

The guard, who would not be named as he signed a confidentiality clause, said he was told first told he would be flown to the Gold Coast and paid $60/hour. Instead he had to drive his own car and was offered $24/hr.

He said about 200 guards had been staying with him at Mantra Salt in Kingscliff, more than an hour from Carrara Stadium where many had been rostered to work.

He said 60 guards were meant to be picked up Thursday morning at 8.30 to work at the triathlon, but were still waiting at 9.15am, after the event had started.

The guard said 30 guards from the resort had been rostered to guard a construction site at Currumbin overnight, but could not access the site so were left to wander outside for the night.

When he asked to be moved into accommodation closer to the venues, the guard was told to go home and his accreditation was cancelled.

However, 10 minutes later he received a text message offering a shift at the triathlon.

“It is so badly run, they don’t know what they’re doing,” the guard said.

“I said I was happy to stay in a caravan if I needed to, I just wanted to work.

“I’ve been doing the job 28 years and they send me home.”

The guard said none of the guards he stayed with had completed the pre-games training, and that hotel staff showed him a box of more than 100 room key cards of guards who never showed up at all.

Before the Games, Goldoc said “All Security Guards selected for GC2018 who successfully complete the accreditation process, will be provided with a comprehensive suite of training and briefings prior to being deployed”.

“This will be both face-to-face, online and in venue,” organisers said in September.

“This includes but is not limited to role specific and venue specific training.”

A security checkpoint is seen at the Commonwealth Games Main Press Centre at Broadbeach on the Gold Coast. (AAP Image/Dave Hunt)

EARLIER

SECURITY GUARDS LEAVE TOWN OVER WORKING CONDITIONS

“We had a 10-minute venue briefing when we got to Carrara — but that was it,” the guard said.

Games organisers have repeatedly said the Gold Coast would be the safest place in Australia to be during the event as an army of 10,000 police, military and security contractors were called in.

However the training of the 4200 guards, mostly sourced from interstate, has come under fire after a State Government audit of security licensing organisations stalled.

A force of 1000 new security guards were to be trained and licensed specifically for the Games, and were required to complete a standard certificate course in person, subsidised by the State, as well as rigorous face Games-specific extra training.

However it was up to the four contractors to ensure the 3200 already-licensed security personnel were properly qualified and had been given the Games training.

Goldoc would not say how many guards had completed its mandatory training.

SWEEPING NEW POLICE POWERS FOR GC2018

A police officer stands guard at the Commonwealth Games village in Gold Coast, Australia, Tuesday, April 3, 2018. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

The Sydney guard, who did not want to be named as guards have been warned against speaking to the media, said buses promised by the Goldoc’s security contractors — MSS Security, SecureCorp Qld, Sydney Night Patrol and Wilson Security — had repeatedly failed to show up to take them to and from venues.

As a result, the guard said many personnel were skipping shifts.

“I’ve been paying for taxis and Ubers but that all comes out of our own pockets,” the guard said.

“And a lot of us have only been rostered on for five or six shifts over the whole Games, so we won’t be going home with much money.

“We’ve left our families at home for two weeks but are only working a few shifts — they are oversubscribed with guards.”

`ISOLATION AND PREPARATION’ BEST WEAPONS AT GOLD COAST GAMES

A Melbourne-based guard, who has since paid for his own flight home from the Gold Coast, claimed about 120 guards staying at the Queensland Conference and Camping Centre at Tamborine, were told they would be collected in two buses on Wednesday night, but the buses were cancelled.

The guard says 30 guards who later finished an 8pm-8am night shift slept on the grass outside the convention centre after their bus home was cancelled.

A security checkpoint is seen at the Commonwealth Games Main Press Centre at Broadbeach on the Gold Coast. (AAP Image/Dave Hunt)

By the time they got back to Tamborine, the kitchen had closed at their accommodation and it was a 3km walk to the nearest shop.

However, a statement from Goldoc said the guards were given a replacement bus within the hour and denied they were not provided a meal when they got back.

Games Minister Kate Jones said she was confident in the Games security measures.

“I expect Goldoc to investigate these claims, security has to be our number one priority,” she said.

“I expect they will investigate these claims but do want to reassure anyone coming to these Games that the security here is very strong and the collaboration at the highest levels between the AFP, Queensland Police Service, ASIO and the Army have been significant and over many years.

“I can assure you that Goldoc will investigate these issues.”

Ms Jones said she was not aware of any increased security threat for the Games.

According to ASIO, the National Terrorism Threat Level remains “probable”, the same level it has been since September 2014.