John MacDonald: Are we done now with the Commonwealth Games?

Canterbury Mornings with John MacDonald

It is time for Christchurch to get real.

To get real and accept that we will never host the Commonwealth Games. Never host them on our own, and not even bother trying to be part of any national bid to host them in the future.

I’ve never shared Mayor Phil Mauger’s dream of getting the Games here again. His idea is based purely and simply on his rose-tinted memories of the ‘74 games here in Christchurch.

But that was a different time, and I imagine he’s not enjoying reading this new report that has just been delivered by the city council’s tourism and economic development agency, ChristchurchNZ.

To sum it up, the report says: We don’t know what it would cost to host the Games in Christchurch —but it would be a truckload. And there are other events we should be trying to get here instead— which would be cheaper and have much more of an economic impact.

All this has ever been, is a pipedream of mayor Phil Mauger's. And good on ChristchurchNZ for coming to the conclusion that it has: that we need to move on.

The reason, by the way, that I think we need to ditch the Games outright —as in hosting them ourselves and hosting them with other cities around the country— is because I think the Commonwealth Games will be history sooner rather than later.

And I’m more than prepared to listen to the experts, which is what I’m hoping the council will do.

It’s also what I need to do if ChristchurchNZ tells me that this idea I’ve got of getting Oasis over here to be the first band to perform at the new stadium when it opens in 2026 is a dud.

For me, I probably just want to re-live my 20s. And Phil Mauger wants to re-live the time when he was a kid and watched the QE2 stadium being built across the road from his place, and his youthful memories of that golden age in Christchurch’s history.

But we all have to move on.

We also have to remember that Christchurch was left with a lot of debt after the ‘74 games, which wasn’t cleared until the Government chipped in with some money ahead of the 1990 Games in Auckland. Because that would’ve been a bad look if it hadn’t.

So ‘74 wasn’t everything it’s cracked up to be. Just like the Commonwealth Games aren’t what some people still crack them up to be.

Especially when we now know that there are other events that could cost way less and deliver more bang for buck.

An example ChristchurchNZ talks about in its report is the opportunity for Christchurch to host the International Masters Games in 2030. They say this is a ‘live’ opportunity for us to host an international multi-sport, multi-day event - which could pump nearly $12 million into the local economy over a 10-day period.

This is the stuff we need to focus on getting here. Not other nonsense, like the Commonwealth Games.

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