Kennett: Make Melbourne the permanent Olympic Games city
These days, unless a city has most of the infrastructure already in place, it is a huge ask to be able to afford to host the Olympic Games. Why not offer Melbourne as the permanent host city?
Opinion
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The Queensland government this week announced the sites for hosting the Olympic Games in 2032.
At present the $7.1bn allocated for delivering the games is to be shared by both the Commonwealth and Queensland governments.
It is beyond any city in the western world any longer to be able to afford hosting the games alone, unless they have the majority of venues and accommodation for officials and athletes already in place.
Which is why Los Angeles has been awarded the 2028 Games, having hosted the Games in 1984. It still has most of the infrastructure in place.
Unless in future the International Olympic Committee awards events to the city or country with the deepest pockets, increasingly likely to be the oil-rich countries, there needs to be a rethink by the IOC.
Before the next cycle of the Games being awarded, the IOC has three options.
Leave the selection as it currently exists. City-focused, but I suspect that will lead to a dramatic reduction in the number of cities offering to host the Games because of the cost.
Second, have Games offered on a country basis, using the best facilities for each sport wherever they exist within that country. For instance, using the Brisbane Games in 2032 as an example.
Not only is the provision of venues, accommodation, beyond the reach of any one city, but it is the increasing cost of providing the security measures required that is increasingly complicated and costly.
Based on an audit of all sporting venues in Australia, any city in Australia that has existing capacity could be allocated the conduct of a sport.
In the same way it is being suggested that Melbourne might be selected for the tennis competition.
Given Melbourne has the biggest stadium, the MCG, in Australia, it could easily play host to the opening and closing ceremonies, or one or the other.
The third option for the IOC to consider is to award the staging of the Olympic Games permanently to Greece. The home of the Olympics.
Greece held the Olympics in 2004, and sadly all of those sporting venues have gone.
It would require the Greek government and the IOC to develop a strategic plan for the development of the site and venues for the Games.
It would require the IOC to be an equal partner in providing the finances to build the necessary venues and accommodation required to stage the Games every four years. If they were maintained during the intervening years, and used by sports internationally, the cost after the initial expenditure could be depreciated over time and the running costs substantially reduced.
But here’s one last suggestion: offer Melbourne, Victoria, Australia as the permanent host country/city to stage the Olympic Games.
We have all the facilities close to the city.
We would have to continually invest and upgrade existing venues, while the organisations and people we have already trained to deliver our existing major events.
Still hold sports at the most appropriate venue for that sport anywhere in the country.
We could conduct the Games every four years much more cheaply than the cost of the 2032 event.
Sadly, if the last option is considered an option, then those of us who dream, will have to wait until there is a change of government in Victoria because after the Andrews/Allan 2026 Commonwealth Games disgrace no-one would take a bid from Victoria seriously.
Budget a failure of responsibility and courage
Australia is in a cycle where budgets are framed for the re-election and benefit of the politicians rather than the community they are elected to serve.
This is part of the complacency that exists in Australia, has for years, and is reinforced in this budget.
Even though Australia is heading towards a debt of one trillion dollars, the budget predicts Australia is going to have deficit budgets as far into the future as the eye can see.
The budget contained no reforms and provided Australians with a benefit of $5 a week from July next year and another $5 a week for the year after – 2027. Hardly the price of a cup of coffee a week.
Take one issue. The government is handing out incentives to make housing more affordable for first-home buyers, but on the other hand because of bracket creep the same young Australians to 35 years of age are paying substantially more in tax every year. Reform the tax system!
To make matters worse Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has indicated if Labor wins this election he is not opposed to committing more of our money to the Andrews/Allan white elephant for which there is no supporting business plan – the Suburban Rail Loop.
It is so depressing. And that is before we get to the economic and social meltdown in Victoria.
Have a good day.
Jeff Kennett is a former Premier of Victoria
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