COMMONWEALTH GAMES 2026
44. Mr P.J. RUNDLE to the Minister for Sport and
Recreation:
I
refer to yesterday's announcement that Victoria has the exclusive
bidding rights for the 2026 Commonwealth Games for the next two months.
Why did the McGowan government fail to bid for hosting rights, missing an
opportunity to showcase our state and bring much-needed investment and
international exposure to WA?
Mr D.A.
TEMPLEMAN replied:
I thank the member for the question.
Big events are great for states and
territories. Western Australia has demonstrated that it is able to deliver on
wonderful events. We celebrated, for the first time in history, showcasing the
AFL at the grand final last year. As we know, the Commonwealth Games for 2026
had no bidders at one stage for a range of reasons. Birmingham, of course, is
the next one. Birmingham in the UK was a late starter because the next
Commonwealth Games were previously to be held in South Africa, but due to
various reasons, South Africa was unable to commit, ultimately, so Birmingham
took it over.
The
Commonwealth Games is an important part of international sport, but it is also
costly. We need to make sure that any investment in a major event—the
cost of the Commonwealth Games will potentially exceed $1 billion, if not lots
more—will deliver a legacy for the state of Western Australia. Indeed,
members may have seen some comments from representatives of VenuesWest and also
SportWest about the importance of lead-in time. The reality is 2026 will be on
us very soon, and if the government is going to invest a significant amount of
money—we are not talking small money here, member; we are talking over
a billion dollars, potentially much more—it has to ensure it can
deliver a legacy.
It
is a very good two-week program and we have tremendous Commonwealth Games
representatives from Western Australia. It
was looked at in terms of the opportunities and potential for Western Australia.
For a range of reasons, including the cost, the consideration was that Perth
would not be a bidder for the Commonwealth Games in 2026. We know that
Tasmania expressed an interest, but, of course, Melbourne, it seems, has
secured preferred status. I read the information from the Victorian government
and even it is analysing the costs before it signs on the dotted line. One thing the McGowan government will not do is invest
a significant amount of Western Australian taxpayer dollars in an event
that it does not believe could deliver the benefits it needs to deliver. That
does not mean the government will not continue to look at a range of
opportunities into the future. We have already secured a number of those, be it
through rugby, AFL or other world-renowned events. We will keep doing that and
we will keep analysing them for the benefits they bring to the sports, the
economy and tourism of Western Australia, and the branding of Western Australia.
I assure members that we will keep doing that into the future, because we know
that we have one of the best reputations to deliver high-quality experiences.