Some may consider the Commonwealth Games have lost their appeal, but data from the past few games shows a substantial economic upside.
BACK in 1962, Perth hosted the British Empire and Commonwealth Games, as the event was called before the word ‘empire’ carried so many of the negative connotations it does today.
The games are still considered one of Western Australia’s all-time sporting highlights, alongside perhaps our hosting of the America’s Cup in 1987, the World Swimming Championships in 1991 and 1998, and the AFL grand final in 2021.
The games village was built in Wembley Downs, Perry Lakes Stadium hosted the track and field events and the ceremonies, Beatty Park in North Perth had the swimming, the cycling velodrome was in Mt Hawthorn (now Litis Stadium), the boxing was held in Bold Park, the wrestling at King’s Park Tennis Courts, the fencing at Victoria Park, the weightlifting at South Perth Civic Centre, the rowing on the Canning River, the lawn bowls at Dalkeith Bowling Club and the road cycling through Kings Park.
The marathon, which finished in the main stadium, started about the spot where Ocean Reef Road now crosses Wanneroo Road in Pearsall.
The exposure for Perth and its suburbs was huge by the standards of the day (keeping in mind that television was in its infancy and not ready to cover such major sporting carnivals).
Sadly, the current level of interest in the Commonwealth Games isn’t what it was 60 years ago.
I even had to check the internet to find out where they were held in 2018, only to be embarrassed to find out it was on the Gold Coast.
But it’s still an event of international significance and, as a sports addict, I would love the opportunity to see some of the world’s top athletes compete in Perth.
Clearly, however, our state government doesn’t see the value. A WA bid for the 2026 Commonwealth Games, which was to have been held in Birmingham before Durban withdrew as this year’s hosts and Birmingham slotted in to fill the breach, was canned recently.
Melbourne, which hosted the games in 2006, now looks likely to host again.
And while I understand our state’s leaders have other priorities right now, I’d have thought they would have been simultaneously planning for a brighter future; a future in which the economic value derived from being the host city for an international event would be welcome.
The Commonwealth Games Federation published a report in 2020 in which it claimed the economic boost experienced by host cities was worth between $1.5 billion and $2.25 billion.
The report used data from the games held in Manchester (2002), Melbourne (2006), Glasgow (2014) and the Gold Coast (2018). Delhi (2010) was excluded because of a lack of reliable data.
The report claims the 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games generated almost $1.9 billion in economic impact for the Victorian capital, which comes out favourably when compared to the $1.14 billion price tag for the event.
For a more independent analysis of the economic benefits of being a host city, one need look no further than the Griffith University report into the impact of the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games.
The report’s authors found the games cost Queensland $1.41 billion.
But its gross state product increased by $2.48 billion – higher than originally forecast - during the period between 2013 and 2022, as a result.
“The estimated increase in GSP is largely due to new national and international events secured with future venue utilisation higher than previously forecast, and increased trade benefits forecast to the state flowing from the Trade 2018 Program,” the report’s authors said.
Meanwhile, the economic benefit to the Gold Coast was estimated at $1.8 billion.
Other headline figures from that report were that about 1.3 million visitors would visit Queensland as a result of the games and 21,128 full-time equivalent years of employment would be created over the period from 2013-2022.
In short, the benefits from WA hosting the 2026 Commonwealth Games would start years before the event.
And given the damage done to our tourism, hospitality and events industries by the past two years of COVID-19 (with perhaps worse yet to come), I would have thought the expenditure might have been justified to help those industries that have borne the economic brunt of the virus.
