2026 Commonwealth Games: Gold Coast says it will cost $650m for Commonwealth Games
The 2032 Olympic Games Village planned for the Gold Coast could be fast tracked for the 2026 Commonwealth Games – offering a fix for the city’s housing crisis, a report says.
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The 2032 Olympic Games Village planned for the Gold Coast could be fast tracked for the 2026 Commonwealth Games – offering a fix for the city’s housing crisis, a report says.
In a submission prepared for the Gold Coast City Council, strategic consultant Mark Peters says the Glitter Strip has the venues, workforce and volunteers to host the 2026 Commonwealth Games at a budget price of around $650 million.
The Coast is pushing to salvage the Games after the state of Victoria sensationally walked away from the event.
But a key challenge apart from the two-year preparation is housing the athletes and officials.
“Given the short time to a 2026 Commonwealth Games in March/April, it appears the only accommodation option for athletes is to occupancy hotels, either by nation or in sports specific
clusters. This was the case in Birmingham 2022,” Mr Peters wrote.
But the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games boss warns it is not automatic that using hotels will be any less expensive than bringing forward the Village solution.
A 7ha site near the Robina Town Centre has been earmarked for the Gold Coast Olympic Village when the Games come to southeast Queensland in 2032.
Using multiple hotel venues creates extra costs in gyms, medical staffing and catering.
To find a budget solution, council will employ a Coast consultant who worked on the 2018 Games and 2032 Olympic bid to report back by the end of this month.
Mr Peters said recent discussions around the housing crisis and homelessness led to the federal government announcing a multi-billion dollar partnering scheme with state and local governments to fast track and fund community housing.
“This could be seen as an opportunity. In addressing the housing crisis issue, the Queensland Premier has suggested bringing forward the building of the Brisbane 2032 Athletes Villages,” he said.
A future solution would be to house people earlier and then relocate them for the Olympics.
“With the housing crisis at hand, the City may consider either of these options for a 2026/27 Village,” Mr Peters said.
Gold Coast Central Chamber of Commerce president Martin Hall has long argued that hosting the Games would fast track a solution for the housing crisis.
“If this is not at the front of their mind then I don’t know what is, because we are already 80 per cent of the way there with the venues,” he said.
“It would be a huge opportunity for a forward-thinking government to get behind and dovetail in a solution to the housing crisis.”
In August, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk flagged exploring an earlier build of planned Olympic villages to provide emergency short and medium-term accommodation to ease the spiralling housing crisis.
The villages will house 16,000 athletes and officials during the 2032 Games – about 500 dwellings are to built at Robina on the Coast.
Robina-based councillor Hermann Vorster last month called on the Premier to step in and fix a bong-filled drug hovel discovered near the future village site.
A council source said the Covid health crisis where hotels were used showed the city had enough available hotel stock to accommodate athletes and officials.
But the council could see how fast forwarding the Village would help the housing crisis.
“If the Commonwealth Games Federation pushed to 2027, it would give us time to do that,” the source said.
Mr Peters has addressed time lines with negatives and positives with both 2026 and 2027.
“A 2026 Games comes with the risk of short timelines and revenue generation challenges,” he said.
“Only a city with recent Games experience, the majority of infrastructure in place and an alternate accommodation solution to a Games Village would be able to host a Games.”
The event delayed into 2027 could risk athletes not prioritising it due to preparation and qualification events for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic and Paralympic Games.
But the 2027 risk was deemed much lower if staged earlier and post Easter, from April 4-15 where less traffic would be on the road during school holidays.
Victoria’s Deputy Premier Ben Carroll said he was “not surprised” Gold Coast talks were progressing following Monday’s meeting and that the southern state would be happy to provide advice and departmental support.
“They (are) obviously doing a lot of preparation for the Olympics (in 2032) and their facilities are very much built for purpose,” he said.
“They’re newer, they’re ready, they meet a lot of different standards internationally. They’ve had some advantages in terms of being able to keep costs down.”
However, this offer was slammed by Victorian opposition tourism, sport and major events spokesman Sam Groth as “beyond a joke”.
“What possible advice could the Allan government provide to the Gold Coast that would be in any way credible given how badly it bungled the Commonwealth Games?” Mr Groth said.
“The only thing the Gold Coast should be asking for is the $380m the Allan government has had to pay in compensation for cancelling the Games.”
The huge cost savings and 15 excluded sports of GC 2026 Comm Games
The Gold Coast has the venues, workforce and volunteers to host the 2026 Commonwealth Games at a budget price of around $650 million, a new report reveals.
But that spend – at half of the cost of the city’s 2018 Commonwealth Games – will only be possible by slashing the overall sports program and accommodating athletes in hotels rather than building a Games Village.
In a 20-page submission prepared for the Gold Coast City Council by strategic consultant Mark Peters, the City is warned it must only enter into a shared risk or underwriting, and not take sole responsibility.
Victoria - which won the bid to host the 2026 Games - abandoned them in July claiming the estimated cost of $2.6 billion had blown out to $7b, prompting Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate to launch a sporting rescue mission.
The push by Mr Tate has been backed in by key business figures including mining magnate and swimming athletes backer Gina Rinehart, pledging all she can short of writing a cheque to help make it happen. Harvey Norman CEO Katie Page has said not having the Commonwealth Games is a huge blow for athletes and it could be jointly hosted with Birmingham in the UK for the first-ever 24-7 Games. City business lobby the Gold Coast Central Chamber of Commerce has also backed it on the basis of economic benefit.
Mr Peters, the 2018 Commonwealth Games Organising Committee CEO, wrote in his report for the council: “2026 Games comes with the risk of short timelines and revenue generation challenges.
“Only a city with recent Games experience, the majority of infrastructure in place and an alternate accommodation solution to a Games Village would be able to host a Games.”
The Gold Coast 2018 Games cost $1.2 billion.
Key findings in Mr Peters’ report include:
* a more detailed “bottom up” budget can cut a net operating budget to $650m -$700m;
- “a city with a skilled readiness workforce, infrastructure in place, and avn enthusiastic volunteer base available, a two-year planning and readiness period is achievable.”
* the two compulsory sports are athletics and aquatics, given historical significance;
* 2018 Games events to be excluded from 2026’s program could be shooting, wrestling, squash, badminton, basketball, cycling and the marathon;
* 15 sports would feature with the hosts allowed to determine some new events;
* the short timeframe means the only alternative for athlete accommodation will be the city’s vast hotel network “either by nation or sports specific clusters”;
* core competition venues would be the Gold Coast Sports and Leisure Centre at Carrara and Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre with no need for the Oxenford sound studios.
The report notes the council provided a $100m cash contribution to the 2018 Games, and “an equivalent figure has not been included in the projected 2026 Games figures”.
If the City did make a contribution for a track and field venue, it would be much less.
Council sources suggest upgrades to venues like Southport Sharks would be $20m.
Mr Peters said the marathon was not recommended because of a lack of athletes competing and complexity of road course closures.
“On current analysis there are not enough Commonwealth para-athletes to conduct a race,” he wrote.
It is understood there would be a para-Games component with other sports.
Mr Peters said the current organising committee had a budget estimate for hosting the Games on the Coast of between $730m and $765m
The difference was due to choosing either to host the athletics in Brisbane or creating two athletic tracks on the Glitter Strip.
Thosel ballpark estimates, Mr Peters suggests, could be reduced by reviewing security costs, making transport and venue savings and cutting accommodation expenses.
Better use could be made of CBUS Super Stadium at Robina and the Southport Sharks venue which has held open-air rock concerts recently.
“Savings from all or some of these initiatives could see the net operating budget reduced to around $650m to $700m,” Mr Peters wrote.
“At this stage, any further reductions in the net operating budget other than by increased revenue would risk the quality and the spectacle of the Games as a world event and pose a reputational risk.”
‘Excellent option’: Big step forward for 2026 Commonwealth Games
The Gold Coast’s ambitious bid to host the 2026 Commonwealth Games is still alive following a high-level d-day meeting with event bosses.
Mayor Tom Tate on Monday met with Commonwealth Games Australia CEO Craig Phillips and Commonwealth Games Federation Partners Director Michael Bushell at the Evandale council chambers.
Mr Tate described the two-hour meeting as “very positive”.
“I’ve just concluded a very positive meeting with the CGF. Mr Phillips agrees the Gold Coast is an excellent option for the Games,” he said.
“I understand there is a General Assembly of the Commonwealth Games Federation (Singapore in mid-November) where key decisions will be made on all matters, including potential future host cities of the Games.’’
The Commonwealth Games Federation will receive the Gold Coast’s proposal within the next 24 hours to consider the city’s 2026 Commonwealth Game bid.
Mr Tate in the meeting asked for $300m from the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) to support the city’s bid.
The CGF granted former host city Melbourne $380m.
Mr Tate said that number was in “negotiations” after Monday’s meeting.
“That number in my mind hasn’t changed, but should the Queensland Government come on board all those numbers will all be ticked,” he said.
“We have done a budget that is very doable and it will all come into play very quickly but that’s just part of negotiations.”
Mr Tate said it was “hardening” to have a “frank” discussion about the Gold Coast as a host option.
“There’s a bit of a journey to do, the key point is this - we want to salvage Australia’s reputation because in future years no one will remember Dan Andrews or the Victorian government - they will all say the Aussies are the ones who cancelled the 2026 games,” Mr Tate said.
“We ran our games in 2018 and proved the point we can do it and are games ready.”
Mr Tate said he had “no problem” with any other cities wanting to join as co-hosts.
“Economically it makes good sense to promote the city to the world,” he said.
“In the 2018 commonwealth games the economic benefit was around $2.8 billion.”
Mr Tate said the path towards a final decision would be a “changing of the guards” through the CGF with the next meeting scheduled for November.
“I think the next stop is for the CGF to have a meeting with the Queensland premier and to show the benefits even the 2032 Olympics could gain from this,” he said.
Mr Tate said the city would be able to deliver its pitch to host the 2026 games after the November meeting, provided the state government “comes on board”.
Mr Phillips said the city’s proposal was discussed in “broad terms” but the CGF was looking at options “all across the Commonwealth”.
Gold Coast-based state Minister Meaghan Scanlon says the government remains against the city’s bid to host the Commonwealth Games in 2026.
Ms Scanlon, speaking after the mayor’s meeting with Games bosses, said the government’s position on it had not changed and it was still focused on the 2032 Olympics.
“I can’t say I’ve had a single person raise with me their desire to have the Commonwealth Games again on the Gold Coast,” she said. “If it’s something that Tom Tate wants to progress that’s a matter for him, we’ve made our position very clear.”
HOW GAMES WILL INJECT $2BN INTO ECONOMY.
The fate of the Gold Coast’s ambitious bid to host the 2026 Commonwealth Games will be decided in a D-Day meeting on Monday.
Mayor Tom Tate will meet with Commonwealth Games Australia CEO Craig Phillips and Commonwealth Games Federation Partners Director Michael Bushell to present a feasibility study on the project.
Drafted by 2018 Commonwealth Games boss Mark Peters, the report is understood to say the 2026 event could be staged for as little as $700m and would generate more than $2bn into the economy.
Mr Tate said the city would not fork out ratepayer funding for the event and hopes to use it to convince the state government to back the idea.
“It’s a goer and we now have the details to prove it,’’ he said.
“What concerns me is that the Premier has blankly refused to even see the business case. I have said all along, just let the Gold Coast present its business case and if the answer is no after that – I’ll accept the umpire’s decision.
“Ironically, we are not even asking the state government for money, only in-kind support at the time through policing and other state agencies, as well as any legislative changes needed to various state laws to make it happen. That’s it.
“In every sense, this is a $2bn-plus gift to the southeast Queensland economy at no monetary cost to Queensland, apart from in-kind support at the time.’’
The meeting, which will be held on the Coast, comes three months after then-Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews abandoned the state’s plans to host the 2026 event citing a multi-billion dollar price tag.
A Senate inquiry into the Victorian Government’s decision found in September that the national cabinet must co-ordinate an Australian solution to the event and work with the Gold Coast City Council.
Inquiry chairman, LNP senator Matt Canavan said the Gold Coast hosting the 2026 Games was the solution.
“Ultimately if we do not proceed with the 2026 Commonwealth Games … it will be our reputation, our nation, who are on the hook for it,” he said.
“The federal government, I must say, is doing next to nothing to help and that’s being generous. In contrast, we have the mayor of the Gold Coast doing more to try to help than the federal government.”
The Peters report argues the Games are a different beast than they were in 2018 and could be staged for substantially less money while generating a much greater return.
It is understood to underline a scaled-down event would bring down the cost, while the use of existing venues would further reduce the financial outlay.
It is expected to recommend:
* Holding a 15-event Games over a 10-day period, with the number of sports to be flexible
Making the swimming and athletics the centrepieces, with the remaining key sports to be cycling and cricket.
* Not holding a marathon or several other sports citing logistical reasons.
* Not building an athletes village, with all to be housed in hotels.
The Mayor said decisions would need to be made before Christmas to make the idea a reality.
“I understand the Prime Minister is acutely aware that the Dan Andrews’ debacle has cruelled our national reputation across the Commonwealth. We owe it to our national reputation to save the 2026 Games and this report clearly shows it can be done, well within a feasible budget,” Mr Tate said.
“I will fly to Canberra, or wherever I am needed, to present our case.
“I cannot stress enough that this is not solely about the Gold Coast: it is Australia’s reputation; the delivery of a $2 billion-plus windfall for the Queensland economy; the future of our para-athletes; and security across the broader Pacific Rim.’’
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk and her Ministers have repeatedly declined to support hosting the event, citing a focus on the 2032 Games.
Deputy Premier Steven Miles ruled out funding or supporting a Gold Coast games bid last month.
“As I’ve said repeatedly, we’re absolutely focused on delivering the best Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2032,” he said.
“I think we have enough to do just making sure we get every advantage we can out of the Brisbane 2032 Games and that includes delivering housing. Tom’s a great man, and he is a great representative of the Gold Coast. No one can ever accuse Tom of not being for the GC, not being as GC as a mayor can get. But we are focused on the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games, that is certainly enough work for me to do, because we want to make sure it doesn’t just deliver the best Games ever, but also the homes and the jobs that our young people need.”
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