tag:theconversation.com,2011:/au/topics/commonwealth-games-1861/articlesCommonwealth Games – The Conversation2023-08-21T05:15:06Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2116742023-08-21T05:15:06Z2023-08-21T05:15:06ZLNP takes lead in Queensland Resolve poll, but Labor still far ahead in Victoria<p>The Queensland state election will be held in October 2024. A <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/politics/queensland/lnp-ahead-in-the-polls-as-voters-consider-crisafulli-over-palaszczuk-20230815-p5dwmf.html">Resolve</a> poll for The Brisbane Times, conducted from May to August with a sample of 947, gave the Liberal National Party 38% of the primary vote (up five since January to April), Labor 32% (down three), the Greens 11% (down one), One Nation 8% (up one), independents 8% (down two) and others 3% (up one).</p>
<p>Resolve doesn’t give a two-party estimate until near elections, but <a href="https://www.pollbludger.net/2023/08/18/resolve-strategic-lnp-38-labor-32-greens-11-in-queensland/">The Poll Bludger</a> estimated a 51.5–48.5 lead for the LNP from this poll, a 4.5-point gain for the LNP <a href="https://theconversation.com/labor-gains-in-newspoll-but-voice-support-slumps-in-other-polls-nsw-final-results-and-queensland-polls-204107">since April</a>.</p>
<p>Since the May 2022 federal election, Resolve has had better results for Labor in its federal and state polls than other pollsters, so this is a particularly bad result for Labor. The only other recent Queensland poll was an early July <a href="https://theconversation.com/voice-support-slumps-in-essential-poll-lnp-leads-in-queensland-208578">Freshwater poll</a> that gave the LNP a 52–48 lead.</p>
<p>Labor Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk’s net likeability has deteriorated this year. She was at net +8 in the poll conducted in late 2022, net -5 in early 2023 and now net -15 in this poll. LNP leader David Crisafulli’s net likeability improved six points from April to +7. Crisafulli led Palaszczuk by 37–36 as preferred premier, reversing a Palaszczuk lead of 39–31 in April.</p>
<p>Labor has governed in Queensland since <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2015_Queensland_state_election">early 2015</a>, but federally, Queensland is the most conservative state. It was the only state the <a href="https://results.aec.gov.au/27966/Website/HouseTppByState-27966.htm">Coalition won at the 2022 federal election</a>.</p>
<p>By the October 2024 state election, Labor will have governed for almost ten years, so there could be an “it’s time” factor for voters.</p>
<h2>Victorian Resolve poll: Labor down but still far ahead</h2>
<p>A <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/politics/victoria/labor-s-lead-stays-strong-but-andrews-personal-popularity-falls-20230816-p5dx0e.html">Victorian state Resolve</a> poll for The Age, conducted with the federal July and August Resolve polls from a sample of 1,047, gave Labor 39% of the primary vote (down two since June), the Coalition 28% (up two), the Greens 13% (down two), independents 13% (up one) and others 7% (up one).</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.pollbludger.net/2023/08/17/resolve-strategic-labor-39-coalition-28-greens-13-in-victoria/">Poll Bludger</a> estimated this poll would give Labor a 60–40 lead, a 2.5-point gain for the Coalition <a href="https://theconversation.com/woeful-victorian-poll-for-state-coalition-victoria-and-nsw-to-lose-federal-seats-as-wa-gains-207628">since June</a>.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/woeful-victorian-poll-for-state-coalition-victoria-and-nsw-to-lose-federal-seats-as-wa-gains-207628">Woeful Victorian poll for state Coalition; Victoria and NSW to lose federal seats as WA gains</a>
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<p>Labor Premier Daniel Andrews’ net likeability was down eight points since June to -7, while Liberal leader John Pesutto’s net likeability was up four points to -9. Andrews led Pesutto as preferred premier by 44–29 (49–26 in June).</p>
<p>In questions asked only of the August sample, voters opposed the cancellation of the Commonwealth Games by a 39–35 margin, but those supporting the cancellation would include people who thought Victoria should not have offered to hold the games in the first place.</p>
<p>Respondents were opposed by 44–30 to the decision to ban gas connections to new homes from next year. By 49–30, they supported <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/the-answer-is-more-housing-victorian-rental-caps-off-the-table-20230817-p5dxck.html">freezing rent levels</a> so owners can only increase rent every two years.</p>
<p>The July federal <a href="https://theconversation.com/victorias-labor-party-plunges-in-a-morgan-poll-after-commonwealth-games-axed-209976">Resolve poll</a> was conducted entirely before the games cancellation was <a href="https://www.foxsports.com.au/more-sports/bombshell-announcement-leaves-26b-commonwealth-games-in-tatters/news-story/95bcca71bfc734d740a254a6273362f6">announced</a> on July 18, so only the August part of this poll would include reaction to this decision.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/victorias-labor-party-plunges-in-a-morgan-poll-after-commonwealth-games-axed-209976">Victoria's Labor Party plunges in a Morgan poll after Commonwealth Games axed</a>
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<h2>Federal Morgan and Redbridge polls give Labor large leads</h2>
<p>In last week’s <a href="https://www.roymorgan.com/">Morgan federal poll</a>, conducted August 7–13 from a <a href="https://www.roymorgan.com/findings/9469-roy-morgan-update-august-15-2023">sample</a> of 1,452, Labor led by 54.5–45.5, a one-point gain for Labor since the previous week. Primary votes were 35.5% Labor, 34.5% Coalition, 12% Greens and 18% for all others. Labor’s lead in Morgan has <a href="https://theconversation.com/no-to-the-voice-takes-lead-in-essential-poll-huge-swing-to-libs-at-wa-state-byelection-210685">increased recently</a> from a low of 52–48 in late July.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.pollbludger.net/2023/08/20/weekend-miscellany-newspoll-developments-climate-polling-labor-national-executive-ballot/">Poll Bludger</a> reported on Sunday that a Redbridge federal poll, conducted last week from a sample of 1,000, gave Labor a 55.6–44.4 lead, from primary votes of 38% Labor, 32% Coalition, 10% Greens and 21% for all others.</p>
<h2>Additional federal Resolve questions</h2>
<p>I <a href="https://theconversation.com/labor-albanese-and-the-voice-slide-in-resolve-poll-fadden-byelection-preference-flows-211206">previously covered</a> the slide in Labor’s vote, Albanese’s ratings and support for the Indigenous Voice to parliament in a federal Resolve poll for Nine newspapers that was conducted August 9–13 from a sample of 1,603.</p>
<p>In <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/voters-spurn-idea-of-early-poll-over-housing-deadlock-20230815-p5dwjs.html">additional questions</a> from this poll, 54% wanted the next federal election after a full term is served in early 2025, while 20% wanted an early election in 2024. By 35–33, respondents did not think Labor’s housing policy important enough to call a special early election of both houses of parliament.</p>
<p>On housing policy, 30% agreed with Labor’s position, 24% with the Coalition, 18% with the Greens and 28% were undecided.</p>
<p>On <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/cost-of-living-crisis-drives-slump-in-support-for-urgent-climate-action-20230816-p5dwx7.html">climate change</a>, 45% (down six since October 2021) thought it a serious and urgent problem that we should be taking action on now, even if that involves significant costs, 29% (up two) thought gradual action adequate, and 16% (up four) said we shouldn’t take action that has significant costs “until we are sure climate change is a real problem”.</p>
<p>By 59–19, respondents supported Labor’s 43% emissions reduction target by 2030, but support for specific climate change measures dropped since October 2021. For example, 29% (down eight) supported the Greens’ proposal to ban all coal mining and exports by 2030.</p>
<p>The poll article in The Age blames cost-of-living increases for undermining support for climate action.</p>
<h2>Newspoll to be administered by a new pollster</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://www.pollbludger.net/2023/08/20/weekend-miscellany-newspoll-developments-climate-polling-labor-national-executive-ballot/">Poll Bludger</a> reported on Sunday that Pyxis Polling will conduct Newspoll. Pyxis was formed after two senior staff at YouGov, which used to conduct Newspoll, resigned to start their own polling company.</p>
<p>I do not know when the first new Newspoll will appear, but it has now been five weeks since the last <a href="https://theconversation.com/labor-gains-in-newspoll-2pp-despite-primary-slide-lnp-wins-fadden-byelection-easily-209686">YouGov-conducted Newspoll</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/211674/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Adrian Beaumont does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>By the October 2024 state election, Labor will have governed for almost ten years, so there could be an ‘it’s time’ factor for voters.Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2101612023-07-27T12:16:57Z2023-07-27T12:16:57ZHow can you tell if hosting the Olympics or Commonwealth games offers value for money? Here are our expert tips<p>Victorian Premier Dan Andrews’ decision to back out of a commitment to host the 2026 Commonwealth Games because it <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-07-20/andrews-defends-axing-commonwealth-games-offers-little-detail/102622252">might cost A$6 billion to $7 billion</a> that did “<a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-07-19/commonwealth-games-vp-challenges-victorian-decision-730/102622720">not represent value for money</a>” raises the question: is it even possible to work out the costs and benefits of such major events?</p>
<p>It’s a question still hanging over Brisbane’s plans for the <a href="https://olympics.com/ioc/brisbane-2032">2032 Olympics</a>.</p>
<p>Except in extreme cases – such as the 1976 Montreal Olympics, which is widely regarded as a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/jul/06/40-year-hangover-1976-olympic-games-broke-montreal-canada">financial disaster</a> – comparing the costs and benefits of events such as the Commonwealth and Olympic Games is anything but straightforward.</p>
<p>Often economic studies are carried out before the events to build the case for hosting them. In the lead-up to the 2000 Sydney Olympics, a study prepared for the New South Wales government by the consulting firm KPMG pointed to benefits topping <a href="https://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/677">$7 billion</a>.</p>
<p>But after the event, when much more information is in, official studies are rare.</p>
<h2>The Sydney Olympics’ $3.7 billion cost</h2>
<p>A decade after the Sydney Olympics, James Giesecke and I attempted to fill the gap using an economic model developed by the <a href="https://www.vu.edu.au/centre-of-policy-studies-cops">Centre of Policy Studies</a> and the data that arrived in the subsequent years to examine what the games changed.</p>
<p><a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1759-3441.2011.00109.x">Our study</a> found the 2000 Olympics <em>reduced</em> Australia’s real private and public consumption by about $3.7 billion (adjusted to 2023 dollars) over the nine years in which the Olympics impacted the economy.</p>
<p>It is often claimed that hosting the Olympics brings intangible benefits to the host nation – things such as national pride and social cohesion. </p>
<p>Our modelling didn’t take these into account. There’s no doubt there were some, but they came at a substantial price.</p>
<h2>How to calculate the value of a mega event</h2>
<p>If you want to disentangle the effects of an event from the effects of all the other forces acting upon an economy, an economic model is required.</p>
<p>It’s important to use a model equipped for the task, and to properly simulate the effect of the event.</p>
<p>In the past, major event studies – such as KPMG’s pre-Sydney Olympics study – used <a href="https://www.pc.gov.au/research/supporting/input-output-tables/input-output-tables.pdf">input-output</a> models. </p>
<p>But they have <a href="https://www.pc.gov.au/research/supporting/input-output-tables/input-output-tables.pdf">limitations</a>. These include assuming there is unlimited labour and capital available at fixed prices – meaning they often generate unrealistically large benefits. </p>
<p>A better way to assess the economy-wide effects of an event is to use a computable general equilibrium (<a href="https://academic.oup.com/cjres/article/6/2/285/363749">CGE</a>) model of the kind we used to study the Olympics after it was over. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/539675/original/file-20230727-25-ziu4ee.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/539675/original/file-20230727-25-ziu4ee.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/539675/original/file-20230727-25-ziu4ee.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=971&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/539675/original/file-20230727-25-ziu4ee.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=971&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/539675/original/file-20230727-25-ziu4ee.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=971&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/539675/original/file-20230727-25-ziu4ee.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1220&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/539675/original/file-20230727-25-ziu4ee.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1220&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/539675/original/file-20230727-25-ziu4ee.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1220&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">The Sydney Olympics didn’t boost international tourism.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Mick Tsikas/AAP</span></span>
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<p>Central to CGE modelling are supply constraints and price-responsive behaviour, features missing from input-output models. </p>
<p>Modern CGE models track deviations from what would have otherwise happened, as the effects of an event work their way through the economy.</p>
<p>Correctly setting up a simulation to properly capture the economics of an event is important. For instance, past studies have often failed to include all of the costs of the event, such as diverting public services away from their usual uses.</p>
<p>Studies undertaken before the event often include predicted legacies, such as a large boost to tourism following the event. </p>
<p>These are rarely supported by post-event studies. Our study found <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1759-3441.2011.00109.x">no evidence</a> the Sydney Olympics produced a boost in post-event international tourism. </p>
<h2>Feelings aside, the Sydney Games had a net cost</h2>
<p>The net <em>direct</em> cost of the Sydney Olympics (Olympic costs not funded by Olympics revenue), when updated to 2023 prices, was $4.5 billion.</p>
<p>But our post-event modelling showed that once the direct effects of the Olympics worked their way through the economy, they caused a <em>reduction</em> of about $3.7 billion (again in 2023 dollars) in Australia’s real private and public consumption, relative to the base-case forecast over the nine years from 1997-98 to 2005-06.</p>
<p>A frequent claim by proponents of big events is that the demand stimulus from the event will far offset its net direct cost. But our real consumption result indicates the demand stimulus offset only about a fifth of the net direct cost.</p>
<p>Unsurprisingly, the loss fell almost entirely on NSW households.</p>
<p>But while hosting the Olympics cut real consumption in NSW, that doesn’t automatically mean it wasn’t value for money. </p>
<h2>Feelings and other intangible benefits</h2>
<p>Hosting the Olympics clearly brought enjoyment, for which many people would have been willing to pay a price. The question is: how big a price? </p>
<p>The loss in real consumption (including forgone public services) of $3.7 billion works out at about $1,440 per NSW household at today’s prices, given the population at the time.</p>
<p>That is a sizeable figure to pay for the intangible benefits not already counted in the prices of tickets, broadcasting rights and other <a href="https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/tp/files/9904/SOCOG%20July%201999%20-%20Oct%202001.pdf">organising committee sales</a>.</p>
<p>However, those intangible benefits – including national and sporting pride, a feelgood atmosphere and inspiring children – might also be sizeable.</p>
<p>There are no estimates for the value of intangible benefits from the Sydney Olympics. However, a 2008 UK study found Britons would have been willing to pay almost <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/43197760">£2 billion</a> for the net intangible benefits thought to arise from hosting the 2012 Olympics.</p>
<p>Converting to 2023 Australian dollars, that’s A$230 per UK household. Londoners were found to be willing to pay a higher amount, about A$440 per household. </p>
<p>It may be that NSW households were willing to pay as much as their London counterparts for intangible benefits from hosting a Summer Olympics – maybe much more. </p>
<p>However, it’s difficult to see NSW households willing to pay enough to match what we worked out to be the real consumption cost of $1,440 per head.</p>
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<p>The UK study showed households outside London also perceived intangible benefits, though only half as much per household as their London counterparts. </p>
<p>This suggests some greater spreading of the financing burden across Australia might be fairer, which would reduce the average cost to NSW households – but not enough to bring it down to the willingness to pay. </p>
<p>And in any event, assessing how to spread costs in line with the geographical diversity in willingness to pay would be extremely problematic.</p>
<h2>Lessons for future mega events</h2>
<p>In all of the work that’s been done to date on the economics of hosting mega events, a few lessons stand out.</p>
<p>For an event to have the best chance of representing value for money for the host, it should require little government support, generate large foreign interest and have large intangible benefits.</p>
<p>Events with wide appeal can generate enough revenue to cover their operating costs – and this was the case for the Sydney Olympics. But they still have to rely on sizeable government support for infrastructure.</p>
<p>Hosts using suitable existing venues therefore have an advantage. New venues are unlikely to provide a post-event legacy and often require substantial ongoing government support to continue to operate.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/existential-questions-is-this-the-beginning-of-the-end-of-the-commonwealth-games-209961">'Existential questions': is this the beginning of the end of the Commonwealth Games?</a>
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<p>The most important lesson is that bidders for such events ought to conduct a rigorous analysis of the event’s expected net value <em>before</em> submitting their bids. </p>
<p>Ideally, this would involve an independent expert CGE study. If intangible benefits are to be considered, a separate study should be undertaken to properly estimate the intangibles’ value to residents of the host city and the rest of the nation.</p>
<p>Moreover, bidders ought to make all of the costs known, with no part of arrangements shielded from scrutiny under the veil of “commercial-in-confidence”.</p>
<p>Some mega events might pay their way, when intangibles such as the feelings they engender are taken into account. But the existence of intangibles doesn’t automatically mean they will. The evidence so far suggests they are unlikely to.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/210161/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>John Madden is a past recipient of ARC funding. In the 1990s, the New South Wales Treasury and Arthur Andersen funded the University of Tasmania for research studies, undertaken by John, estimating the economic effects of the Sydney 2000 Summer Olympics.</span></em></p>It’s the question still hanging over Brisbane’s 2032 Olympics, which made Victoria cancel its Commonwealth Games: do such mega events pay their own way? The evidence suggests they’re unlikely to.John Madden, Emeritus Professor, Centre of Policy Studies, Victoria UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2099762023-07-21T06:39:16Z2023-07-21T06:39:16ZVictoria’s Labor Party plunges in a Morgan poll after Commonwealth Games axed<p>A <a href="https://www.roymorgan.com/findings/support-for-victorian-government-and-premier-daniel-andrews-plunges-after-cancellation-of-commonwealth-games">Victorian Morgan SMS poll</a>, conducted July 19–20 – the two days after Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews announced the 2026 Commonwealth Games would be cancelled – gave Labor a 53–47% lead over the Coalition, a huge 8.5-point gain for the Coalition since a May Morgan poll. The sample size was 1,046 people.</p>
<p>Primary votes were 35.5% Coalition (up seven since May), 33% Labor (down nine), 12.5% Greens (steady), 10.5% independents (up 1.5) and 8.5% others (up 0.5). Support for independents is likely to be overstated as not all seats will attract viable independents at an election.</p>
<p>In a forced choice, voters disapproved of Andrews by 55–45% (compared to a 52.5% approval in May). This is the first time since becoming premier after the 2014 state election that Andrews has had a higher disapproval than approval rating in Morgan polls. Andrews led Liberal leader John Pesutto as better premier by 52.5–47.5%, a drastic reduction from his 64–36% lead in May.</p>
<p>By 58–42%, voters also supported the cancellation of the games. However, the 58% who supported this would have included voters who thought the government should never have offered to hold the games in the first place.</p>
<p>The plunge for Labor in this poll is likely due to the public perception the government has been incompetent in its handling of the games ordeal.</p>
<h2>Labor maintains huge lead in national Resolve poll</h2>
<p>In this week’s federal <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/albanese-s-approval-rating-lowest-since-election-but-still-well-ahead-of-dutton-20230717-p5dork.html?btis=">Resolve poll</a> for Nine newspapers, conducted July 12–15 from a sample of 1,610 people, Labor had 39% of the primary vote (down one since June), the Coalition 30% (steady), the Greens 11% (down one), One Nation 6% (steady), the UAP 1% (down one), independents 9% (up one) and others 2% (steady).</p>
<p>Resolve does not publish a two-party estimate until close to elections, but an estimate based on 2022 preference flows gives Labor about a 58.5–41.5% lead over the Coalition, a 0.5-point gain for the Coalition since June. Resolve’s polls have been much better for Labor than others since the 2022 election.</p>
<p>Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s ratings were 51% good (down two points) and 35% poor (<a href="https://theconversation.com/woeful-victorian-poll-for-state-coalition-victoria-and-nsw-to-lose-federal-seats-as-wa-gains-207628">steady</a>), for a net approval of +16, down two points. </p>
<p>Opposition leader Peter Dutton’s net approval improved five points to -15. Albanese led Dutton as preferred PM by 51–21% (compared to 53–22% in June).</p>
<p>On economic management, Labor led the Liberals by 35–31%, little changed from a 34–31% Labor lead in June. On keeping the cost of living low, Labor led by 31–24%, an increase from a 27–23% Labor lead in June.</p>
<p>By 51–37%, <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/half-of-australians-on-financial-brink-as-living-costs-bite-20230717-p5dorj.html">voters also agreed</a> if they had a major expense of a few thousand dollars, they would struggle to afford it (46–41% disagreed with this premise in February). </p>
<p>Just 5% thought the economy would improve in the next month, though support was higher with longer time periods (28% for next year, 41% for next five years).</p>
<p>The survey respondents were told <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/majority-of-voters-believe-migration-intake-is-too-high-20230718-p5dp69.html">permanent migration into Australia</a> was about 160,000 per year before COVID, but fell to negligible levels in 2020-21, and that to make up for this, immigration is likely to reach 350,000–400,000 this year before falling to 320,000 next year.</p>
<p>On these new levels of immigration, 59% thought them to be too high, 25% said they were about right and just 3% too low. By 38–34%, voters supported increasing the minimum wage for temporary skilled visa holders from $53,900 to $70,000 a year.</p>
<h2>Federal Labor maintains lead in Morgan poll</h2>
<p>In this week’s <a href="https://www.roymorgan.com/">Morgan weekly federal poll</a>, conducted July 10–16 from a <a href="https://www.roymorgan.com/findings/9434-roy-morgan-update-july-18-2023">sample</a> of 1,401 people, Labor led the Coalition by 53–47%, a 1.5-point gain for the Coalition since the previous week. This is the second successive 1.5-point gain for the Coalition in this poll. </p>
<p>Primary votes were 35.5% Labor, 35% Coalition, 12.5% Greens and 17% for all others. Analyst <a href="https://twitter.com/kevinbonham/status/1681554510425264128">Kevin Bonham</a> said Morgan’s respondent allocated preferences were unusually bad for Labor this week.</p>
<h2>Fadden byelection near-final result</h2>
<p>With nearly all votes counted in last <a href="https://tallyroom.aec.gov.au/HouseDivisionPage-29422-159.htm">Saturday’s federal byelection</a> for the Queensland seat of Fadden, the Liberal National Party defeated Labor by 63.4–36.6%, a 2.8% swing to the LNP since the 2022 election. </p>
<p>Primary votes were 49.1% LNP (up 4.5%), 22.0% Labor (down 0.3%), 8.9% One Nation (up 0.2%), 7.3% Legalise Cannabis (new) and 6.2% Greens (down 4.6%). Turnout is currently 71.5%.</p>
<h2>NSW Resolve poll: Labor holds big lead, but down since May</h2>
<p>A New South Wales <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/politics/nsw/majority-still-liked-and-respected-berejiklian-but-one-third-changed-minds-after-corrupt-finding-20230720-p5dpum.html">state Resolve poll</a> for The Sydney Morning Herald, conducted with the federal June and July Resolve polls, gave Labor 41% of the primary vote (down three since May), the Coalition 32% (up one), the Greens 10% (up one), independents 11% (up one) and others 5% (steady).</p>
<p>Bonham <a href="https://twitter.com/kevinbonham/status/1682206140715909121">estimated</a> a Labor two-party lead of 58.5–41.5% from these primary votes. Labor Premier Chris Minns led the Liberals’ Mark Speakman by 39–12% as preferred premier (compared to 42–12% in May).</p>
<p>Respondents in the poll were told the Independent Commission Against Corruption had found “serious corrupt conduct” concerning former Liberal Premier Gladys Berejiklian’s romantic relationship with a former MP. </p>
<p>However, by 51–25%, voters agreed they still liked and respected Berejiklian. By 40–34%, they agreed Berejiklian should not have resigned as premier based on the ICAC report.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/209976/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Adrian Beaumont does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>For the first time since becoming premier in 2014, more voters disapprove of Dan Andrews than approve of him in the Morgan poll.Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2100602023-07-19T07:50:14Z2023-07-19T07:50:14ZWord from The Hill: On ditching the Commonwealth Games, the Voice pamphlet, Labor’s factions<p>As well as her interviews with politicians and experts, Politics with Michelle Grattan includes “Word from The Hill”, where she discusses the news with members of The Conversation’s politics team.</p>
<p>In this podcast Michelle and politics + society editor Amanda Dunn discuss Premier Dan Andrews’ surprise decision to pull Victoria out of hosting the 2026 Commonwealth Games. They also canvass the official yes and no cases issued this week for the Voice referendum, and Labor frontbencher Andrew Leigh’s strong speech warning of the excessive level of factional control within the Labor Party.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/210060/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michelle Grattan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>In this podcast, @michellegrattan and politics editor @amandadunn10Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of CanberraLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2100542023-07-19T06:44:56Z2023-07-19T06:44:56ZCancelling the Commonwealth Games won’t come cheaply – Victoria now faces the legal consequences<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/538222/original/file-20230719-26-wx31ga.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=431%2C10%2C6096%2C4546&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">James Ross/AAP</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The cancellation of the 2026 Commonwealth Games by Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews took all stakeholders – Commonwealth Games officials, athletes, sports bodies and local government officials – by surprise. </p>
<p>The Andrews administration will likely deal with the political fallout from not honouring its contract to host the games, but there may be legal and reputational damage ahead. </p>
<p>The principal reason given for pulling out of the games was financial. The Victorian government has said that based on its projections, the costs had ballooned from the <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/politics/victoria/melbourne-games-would-have-cost-more-than-4b-andrews-20230719-p5dpdy.html">initial projection</a> of A$2.6 billion to more than A$6 billion. Such an investment could no longer be justified.</p>
<p>There were hints earlier this year that a significant reassessment of Victoria’s commitment to the games was taking place. </p>
<p>In the state budget for 2023–24, delivered in May, the treasury admitted the risks to Victoria’s economic outlook were greater than normal. The state has a growing debt burden, with net debt <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/politics/victoria/borrowing-to-build-daniel-andrews-fires-up-over-victoria-s-growing-debt-20230525-p5db7r.html">forecast</a> to grow from about $135.4 billion in 2024 to $171.4 billion by 2026–27. </p>
<p>These projections mean Victoria’s net debt as a proportion of the state economy would, by the time the games were to take place in 2026, be <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/politics/victoria/victoria-s-debt-risks-doubling-in-a-decade-budget-office-warns-20230603-p5ddn8.html">approaching 24%</a>. This is also going to be an election year in Victoria. </p>
<p>Victoria’s debt is due in part to long periods of lockdown during the COVID pandemic, which necessitated significant public spending. In some senses, the Commonwealth Games could be said to be a victim of long COVID.</p>
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<h2>Other reasons behind the cancellation</h2>
<p>Behind the financial reasons for cancelling the games, there were a number of other factors in play. </p>
<p>First, it would be far easier in financial, contractual and reputational terms to not honour a contact with the Commonwealth Games Federation than it would be to pull out of an Olympics or a World Cup. The revenues generated by the Commonwealth Games in terms of sponsorships, broadcasting, ticketing and sports tourism are a fraction of those generated during one of the other two mega-events.</p>
<p>Second, in a sporting context, the largest sports in Victoria – Australian Rules football, the football and rugby codes and cricket – will largely be unaffected by Victoria not hosting the games. Other sports such as swimming and field hockey, for which the games are important in terms of participation, broadcasting and commercial exposure for the athletes, are easier for the government to let down.</p>
<p>Third, the blowback from regional Victoria, which was to be the hosting hub for the games, will be softened by the fact that investment commitments will still be upheld by the government. Some <a href="https://www.insideconstruction.com.au/news/victorian-government-axes-commonwealth-games-as-costs-soar/#:%7E:text=Premier%20Andrews%20said%20the%20state,provide%20a%20new%20%24150%20million">$2 billion</a> will be directed to social and affordable housing and other infrastructure commitments in the regions.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/for-cities-hosting-major-sporting-events-is-a-double-edged-sword-76929">For cities, hosting major sporting events is a double-edged sword</a>
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<h2>A breach of contract and likely settlement</h2>
<p>However, the issue for government lawyers as they deal with the ramifications of walking away from the host contract is that, in strict legal terms, all of this context is irrelevant to the other party, the Commonwealth Games Federation.</p>
<p>In signing a contract, the Victorian government was saying it was willing and financially able to host the games. And the federation had the legitimate expectation the games would be delivered, as per the contract.</p>
<p>It is very unlikely this matter will end up in court – it will almost certainly be settled through compensation to the federation for breach of contract. </p>
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<p>On damages, Katie Sadleir, the chief executive of the Commonwealth Games Federation, <a href="https://amp.smh.com.au/world/europe/devastating-andrews-government-assured-us-on-event-says-commonwealth-games-federation-chief-20230719-p5dpcs.html">said</a> expected revenues would be taken into account.</p>
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<p>There are a series of clauses [in the host contract] that articulate the kind of cash flows that would have happened if the games had gone on. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>There are likely also to be discussions on compensation for the reputational damage that has been done to the Commonwealth Games brand and for the logistical nightmare of searching for a new host.</p>
<p>Commonwealth Games representatives are likely to question the government’s projections of cost blowouts and ask whether they had been exaggerated to provide cover for pulling out of the contract. The initial cost projections were in line with the costs of recent games in the Gold Coast (2018) and Birmingham (2022). </p>
<p>Plus, independent reports suggested the Birmingham games resulted in a considerable net benefit to the <a href="https://www.birmingham.gov.uk/news/article/1263/birmingham_2022_contributes_870million_to_uk_economy">English Midlands region</a>.</p>
<p>Moreover, the federation is likely to stress that what the Victorian government did is highly unusual in the history of mega sporting events. </p>
<p>Another argument the federation could make: it was the government’s decision to host the games in its regional areas (thus entailing significant infrastructure costs). </p>
<p>According to <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/sport/ruinously-expensive-sa-wa-rule-out-picking-up-2026-commonwealth-games-20230718-p5dp5p.html">John Coates</a>, vice president of the International Olympic Committee, this regional model was never workable without federal support. Now, the fact it proved unworkable is a loss the Victoria government must bear.</p>
<h2>Reputational damage for the games themselves</h2>
<p>There is no doubt the Victorian government is currently in an uncomfortable spot. Victoria prides itself as being the sporting centre of Australia. It hosts the Boxing Day Test, followed by the Australian Open, the Formula One Grand Prix, the AFL Grand Finals and the Melbourne Cup. There will be some collateral reputational damage associated with this decision.</p>
<p>In the longer term, the Commonwealth Games are also now in a confronting position. The games are not as popular or prominent as they once were. Although the Olympics can carry it off as a commercial juggernaut, hosting a multi-sports event once every four years is difficult to sustain with ever-increasing costs.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/existential-questions-is-this-the-beginning-of-the-end-of-the-commonwealth-games-209961">'Existential questions': is this the beginning of the end of the Commonwealth Games?</a>
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<p>The sports world moves on quickly and to be blunt the appeal of the Commonwealth Games is struggling to maintain the pace. Even though the cancellation was a shock on Tuesday, the attention of the Australian sporting public was soon diverted to the next Ashes cricket test and the Women’s World Cup.</p>
<p>The inaugural edition of the Commonwealth Games – then known as the British Empire Games – was held in Hamilton, Ontario, in August 1930. A month earlier, the first edition of the men’s FIFA World Cup took place in Uruguay. </p>
<p>At the time, the events were of a similar magnitude. They are not anymore. </p>
<p>There is no doubt the centenary of the FIFA World Cup in 2030 will be a genuinely global celebration. The legacy of Victoria’s aborted 2026 Commonwealth Games may well be that the 2030 centenary edition struggles even to find a host.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/210054/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jack Anderson does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>There will likely be a settlement between Victoria and the games organisers for breaching the contract. But the Commonwealth Games may be the ones to suffer long-term reputational damage.Jack Anderson, Professor of Sports Law, Melbourne Law School, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2099612023-07-18T07:23:10Z2023-07-18T07:23:10Z‘Existential questions’: is this the beginning of the end of the Commonwealth Games?<p>Premier Daniel Andrews announced on Tuesday that the Victorian government has withdrawn from its commitment to host the 2026 Commonwealth Games, citing an anticipated cost blowout from an original estimate of A$2.6 billion to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/jul/18/australia-commonwealth-games-2026-victoria-cancels-event-after-funding-shortfall">over $6-$7 billion</a>.</p>
<p>Commonwealth Games Australia chief executive Craig Phillips described the decision as “beyond disappointing”. Phillips questions the government’s figures, <a href="https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/2023/07/18/commonwealth-games-federation/">saying that the</a> cost of running the Gold Coast event in 2018 was $1.2 billion and the 2022 Birmingham Games was $1.8 billion.</p>
<p>The government said existing funding set aside for the games will remain invested in regional projects intended to create an event “legacy”. </p>
<p>Aside from the viability of the 2026 event, Victoria pulling out of hosting the event raises the broader question of whether the Commonwealth Games will survive.</p>
<h2>How has this happened?</h2>
<p>Victoria secured the Commonwealth Games in April 2022 with a unique multi-region model that sought to bring the event to regional Victoria.</p>
<p>Despite the obvious risks and costs associated with decentralising a major event away from pre-existing infrastructure in Melbourne, Andrews <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/victoria-confirms-bid-for-2026-commonwealth-games-20220216-p59wvp.html">noted</a> at bid submission that</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Victoria is Australia’s sporting state, and, if awarded the 2026 Commonwealth Games would demonstrate to the world a new way to deliver the competition.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Andrews made clear the decision to withdraw was entirely financial, stating that the new estimated cost of potentially over $7 billion “does not represent value for money”.</p>
<p>When pressed at his media conference to provide accountability as to how his government’s costing could have been so grossly inaccurate, Andrews said that certain event costs were unforeseeable.</p>
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<p>What could not be reasonably foreseen, and was not foreseen, was the costs incurred in terms of services, security, transport […] there were estimates that were made and those estimates are clearly well and truly under the actual cost.</p>
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<p>The Commonwealth Games Federation and Commonwealth Games Australia dispute these costs estimates. They <a href="https://www.commonwealthsport.com/news/3594069/response-to-victoria-government-2026-commonwealth-game-host-withdrawal">signalled</a> the blame for any cost overruns lies with the Victorian government.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The numbers quoted to us today of $6 billion are 50% more than those advised to the Organising Committee board at its meeting in June. </p>
<p>Since awarding Victoria the Games, the Government has made decisions to include more sports and an additional regional hub, and changed plans for venues, all of which have added considerable expense, often against the advice of the Commonwealth Games Federation and Commonwealth Games Australia.</p>
</blockquote>
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<h2>The implications</h2>
<p>The decision to withdraw from hosting the event will still incur costs. This includes pre-existing costs related to staffing contracts, renting premises and marketing, as well as to-be-determined contractual break costs as negotiated with the Commonwealth Games Federation.</p>
<p>The financial costs of the withdrawal, however, may pale against the longer-term reputational damage done to Victoria and perhaps Australia more broadly.</p>
<p>This decision may also damage Andrews’ reputation. In proposing an untested regional games delivery model, it was incumbent on the government to adopt a particularly rigorous process to ensure the the event’s viability, which does not appear to have been done.</p>
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<h2>Is Victoria still Australia’s ‘sporting capital’?</h2>
<p>Victoria has long proclaimed itself Australia’s (and even the world’s) <a href="https://search.informit.org/doi/abs/10.3316/INFORMIT.143058285756777">sporting capital</a>. The state has developed an unparalleled portfolio of major sport events since the 1980s, and become a global exemplar in executing major events in the process. </p>
<p>But withdrawing from the 2026 Commonwealth Games arguably represents Australia’s most prominent sporting failure of the past half-century, and is a significant reputational blow to Victoria’s sporting pre-eminence.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/for-cities-hosting-major-sporting-events-is-a-double-edged-sword-76929">For cities, hosting major sporting events is a double-edged sword</a>
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<p>What’s more, in an <a href="https://inqld.com.au/news/2023/07/12/take-that-melbourne-brisbane-now-rated-as-australias-sports-capital/">annual global ranking of sport cities</a> published last month, before the Commonwealth Games decision, Brisbane (15th) leapfrogged Melbourne (23rd) and Sydney (44th) to become Australia’s top ranked.</p>
<p>Brisbane’s success isn’t only attributable to its impending hosting of the 2032 Olympics. Its ranking also recognises that the FIFA Women’s World Cup is being played predominantly in the north-east Australian states due to <a href="https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/sport/soccer/not-a-realistic-option-why-the-matildas-aren-t-playing-at-the-mcg-20230717-p5doxk.html">stadium challenges</a> associated with <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/2021/dec/03/melbourne-falls-short-in-womens-world-cup-venue-allocation">AFL-orientated</a> Victoria.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, South Australia’s recent sporting successes include the hosting of <a href="https://www.afl.com.au/news/906620/afl-to-gather-round-again-in-sa-for-next-three-years">AFL Gather Round</a>, LIV Golf and recent procurement of the <a href="https://supernetball.com.au/news/location-2024-ssn-grand-final-revealed#:%7E:text=Adelaide%20will%20host%20the%202024,at%20the%20Adelaide%20Entertainment%20Centre.">2024 Super Netball</a> final from Victoria.</p>
<p>Victoria’s grip on the “sports capital” title is increasingly tenuous.</p>
<h2>The end of the Commonwealth Games?</h2>
<p>Perhaps the most critical question is the viability not only of the 2026 Games, but also the broader Commonwealth Games movement.</p>
<p>Victoria’s withdrawal continues a trend of recent instability. In 2017, the South African city of <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-games-commonwealth-durban-idUSKBN16K1UN">Durban</a> was stripped of 2022 hosting rights for a failure to meet key obligations around governance, venues and funding.</p>
<p>However, whereas the Commonwealth Games Federation had just under 2,000 days to secure a replacement host for 2022, Victoria’s withdrawal has occurred only 973 days prior to the start of the event.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/major-sports-events-are-they-worth-it-80691">Major sports events: are they worth it?</a>
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<p>The movement’s broader existence is perilous given there’s a shrinking pool of host cities. Victoria was the <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/sport/melbourne-set-to-step-into-breach-as-2026-commonwealth-games-host-city-20220118-p59p6r.html">only formal applicant</a> for the 2026 edition. </p>
<p>This is a challenge faced by large sporting events more broadly, with potential applicants <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Sport-Management-in-Australia-Organisation-Development-and-Global-Perspectives/Karg-Shilbury-Phillips-Rowe-Fujak/p/book/9781032330242?_ga=1233395845.1684800000">increasingly wary</a> of the significant costs.</p>
<p>Even the summer and winter Olympic Games have increasingly struggled to attract applicants. This resulted in the <a href="https://olympics.com/ioc/2024-2028-host-city-election">unprecedented</a> move to simultaneously award the 2024 and 2028 summer games to Paris and Los Angeles in 2017 – normally the summer games are awarded to one city at a time.</p>
<p>With seemingly little global appetite to host the event, and broader cultural discussions in Australia and abroad surrounding the role of the monarchy, existential questions surround the Commonwealth Games movement.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/209961/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A shrinking pool of host cities, high costs, and cultural questions about the monarchy: why the Commonwealth Games are under threat.Hunter Fujak, Lecturer in Sport Management, Deakin UniversityDamien Whitburn, Lecturer, Sport Management, Deakin UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1956572022-12-04T08:56:42Z2022-12-04T08:56:42ZHosting the World Cup: what Qatar can learn from South Africa about nation branding<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/498280/original/file-20221130-22-6532fu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">South African supporters at the 2010 men's football World Cup.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Phil Cole/Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The eyes of the world are focused on <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Qatar">Qatar</a> for the 2022 edition of the men’s <a href="https://www.fifa.com/fifaplus/en/tournaments/mens/worldcup/qatar2022">Fifa World Cup</a> – the globe’s <a href="https://bleacherreport.com/articles/1247928-ranking-the-biggest-events-in-sports">largest</a> single-sport event. Qatar was a somewhat surprising choice. It’s the smallest-ever host in terms of its geographic and population size, and its extreme heat in the usual hosting period (June/July) means the tournament is playing out in November/December. Since the decision was <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/2010/dec/02/qatar-win-2022-world-cup-bid">announced</a> in 2010, much media attention has focused on the country’s customs and cultural issues, such as the perceived <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2021/feb/23/revealed-migrant-worker-deaths-qatar-fifa-world-cup-2022">abuse of workers’ rights</a> and the lack of acceptance of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/2022/jun/29/qatar-fails-to-offer-world-cup-safety-guarantees-to-lgbtq-fans">LGBTIQ freedoms</a>. </p>
<p>In the lead up to the event, there were calls – from teams and high-profile celebrities – to <a href="https://www.business-humanrights.org/en/latest-news/pressure-mounts-for-teams-to-boycott-2022-world-cup-in-qatar/">boycott the event</a> or protest these issues. The host nation seems largely untroubled: it has continued its <a href="https://www.qatar-tribune.com/article/24485/nation/qatars-branding-legacy-should-be-carried-on-even-after-wc-expert">strategic policy</a> of using major sport events to boost its global reputation and image, especially through showcasing its technological advances and Arabic hospitality. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/world-cup-2022-senegal-and-cameroon-carry-africas-best-hopes-194647">World Cup 2022: Senegal and Cameroon carry Africa's best hopes</a>
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<p>As a scholar who focuses on sport tourism, mega-events, legacy and place branding, I have been studying the nation branding potential of the World Cup in the light of South Africa hosting the men’s event in 2010.</p>
<p>As my research makes clear, South Africa’s <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/news/2017/nov/07/nation-branding-industry-how-to-sell-a-country">nation branding</a> benefited enormously from hosting the <a href="https://www.fifa.com/tournaments/mens/worldcup/2010south-africa">2010 World Cup</a>. So, what can Qatar learn from the South African experience? What lessons might be applied to create a positive legacy?</p>
<h2>What South Africa did right</h2>
<p>Since the turn of the millennium, emerging nations, and especially members of the <a href="https://www.investopedia.com/terms/b/brics.asp">BRICS bloc</a> (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa), have increasingly bid for and hosted sport mega-events. </p>
<p>Brazil, for example, hosted the <a href="https://www.fifa.com/tournaments/mens/worldcup/2014brazil">2014 World Cup</a> and <a href="https://olympics.com/en/olympic-games/rio-2016">2016 summer Olympic Games</a>. Russia hosted the <a href="https://www.fifa.com/tournaments/mens/worldcup/2018russia">2018 World Cup</a> and <a href="https://olympics.com/en/olympic-games/sochi-2014">2014 winter Olympics</a>. India hosted the <a href="https://olympics.com/en/news/2010-commonwealth-games-india-medal-table-sport">2010 Commonwealth Games</a>, China hosted the <a href="https://olympics.com/en/olympic-games/beijing-2008">2008 summer</a> and <a href="https://olympics.com/en/olympic-games/beijing-2022">2022 winter Olympics</a> and South Africa hosted the 2010 World Cup. </p>
<p>All of these nations sought to leverage these sport mega-events for global recognition and reputation enhancement – or nation branding.</p>
<p>My colleagues and I <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2212571X14000547">conducted</a> a <a href="https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/IJCTHR-06-2015-0051/full/html">variety</a> of <a href="https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/IJCHM-09-2015-0523/full/html">studies</a> before, during, and up to eight years after the World Cup in South Africa. The findings indicated that stakeholders – residents, tourists, government agencies, the tourism and event sector, and event sponsors – viewed the country’s overall reputational gains as positive and enduring.</p>
<p>It is often forgotten that South Africa, like Qatar, experienced serious doubts and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/sep/22/south-africa-worldcup-crime-fears">concerns</a> over its ability to host the World Cup. Some of this came down to general “Afro-pessimism”, but global media also highlighted the country’s high crime rate, cautioning that it was <a href="http://edition.cnn.com/2009/SPORT/football/01/29/southafrica.survey.2010/index.html">not safe</a> for visitors. My <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/19368623.2012.663155">2010 study</a> indicated that crime was the most negative perception among visitors before the event. </p>
<p>Yet, after the event this perception was greatly reduced. People who previously had limited knowledge about South Africa’s cities, people, technology and general development <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/19368623.2012.663155">knew more</a> about it after the World Cup. Their image of the country became one of a place that welcomed visitors, embraced diversity and had a competent and capable industry – all perceptions that could aid foreign direct investment in the country.</p>
<p>How did South Africa achieve this? I’d like to highlight three key focus areas emerging from my research.</p>
<h2>Nation branding: three key focus areas</h2>
<p>Firstly, South Africa hosted the global media (including <a href="https://www.snhu.edu/about-us/newsroom/liberal-arts/what-is-new-media">new media</a>) – not just during the World Cup, but before it too. To portray accurate reflections of the country, media tours showed off host cities and stadium development. A great effort was made to show key areas of the nation brand image, through being located in iconic areas or with views of city symbols or heritage sites. Importantly, the media were also provided with positive news stories surrounding the event. With an <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/19368623.2012.663155">estimated 15,000</a> media workers attending the event, this was sure to have an impact on informing more factual opinions of the nation.</p>
<p>Secondly, the country mobilised locals in support of the event. Creating and promoting specific songs, dances and campaigns – such as <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/IJCTHR-06-2015-0051">“Football Friday”</a>, where residents were encouraged to wear the national team’s football jersey – created social cohesion even before the event kicked off. This also provided a welcoming environment for visitors and a greater sense of security for all.</p>
<p>The third key strategic focus was in leveraging partnerships to cooperate and align strategically around South Africa’s messaging and branding. Stakeholders I interviewed claimed that the event created opportunities for different government levels, the tourism industry, and the private sector to partner and align far better than they had done before. </p>
<p>Nation branding is built on multiple acts of communication and activities by a broad array of private and public sector stakeholders, media and citizens. It’s regrettable that it often takes a mega-event to create the impetus for such cooperation. My interview respondents hoped that such partnerships would be sustained after the World Cup.</p>
<h2>So what can Qatar learn?</h2>
<p>In the short term, Qatar should be encouraged that pre-event negative media issues have given way to more balanced and factual reporting now that the football has taken centre stage and visitors have arrived. Qatar could experience very positive branding gains from the World Cup, especially with a more nuanced understanding of the nation, its culture, history and development.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/can-an-african-team-win-the-world-cup-new-football-study-crunches-the-numbers-194824">Can an African team win the World Cup? New football study crunches the numbers</a>
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<p>Most importantly, Qatar and future hosts need to acknowledge that a sport mega-event in itself is no guarantee of a positive nation branding legacy. It will take strategic leveraging actions that are sustained over time to do so. </p>
<p>While South Africa clearly benefited from the mega-event, stakeholders acknowledged that negative global perceptions of the country, primarily linked with corruption and politically led <a href="https://theconversation.com/south-africas-state-capture-commission-nears-its-end-after-four-years-was-it-worth-it-182898">state capture</a> in the years that followed, have diminished this effect. </p>
<p>This is a reminder that while nation branding portrays a strategic vision for how a country would like to be perceived, this image needs to be consistently reinforced by actions aligned with this image over time.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/195657/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Brendon Knott received funding from the South African National Research Foundation (NRF) (2010 - 2016), for studies related to the 2010 FIFA World Cup.</span></em></p>Studies show South Africa did a lot right when it hosted the football World Cup. Qatar can do the same if it learns from South Africa.Brendon Knott, Associate Professor, Cape Peninsula University of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1877072022-08-05T15:28:53Z2022-08-05T15:28:53ZAthletics: Kenyans are running for other countries, but that’s not why medals are fewer<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/477448/original/file-20220803-13-icqt53.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Kenyan-born Lonah Chemtai Salpeter won marathon bronze for Israel at the 2022 World Athletics Championships.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Carmen Mandato/Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The 2022 <a href="https://worldathletics.org/competitions/world-athletics-championships/oregon22">World Athletics Championships</a> ended in relative disappointment for Kenya, which continued its decline in the overall medal standings. Since the 2005 championships in Helsinki, when Kenya ranked ninth with only seven medals, the team has been exceptionally consistent. It has ranked in the <a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/results/world-athletics-championships">top three</a> in all subsequent competitions.</p>
<p>This year Kenya won 10 medals (two gold, five silver and three bronze), placing it <a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/Competitions/world-athletics-championships/world-athletics-championships-oregon-2022-7137279/medaltable">fourth</a> behind hosts the US, Ethiopia and Jamaica. Some countries might toast such an outcome. But not one that ranked first in 2015 with <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-34102562">16 medals</a> and second with 11 medals in both 2017 and 2019. </p>
<p>Reaching this peak took a long time. At the 1987 championships Kenya managed only fifth with three medals. Subsequent championships saw Kenya improve to fourth in 1991, 1993 and 1997 before dramatically falling to 13th in 1999. Other years such as 2003 in Paris and 2005 marked some of the worst performances by Kenya. The fourth place finish in 2022 is a brutal reminder that it is easy to sink lower unless drastic corrective measures are taken. </p>
<p>What’s behind the decline? Firstly, poor local team selection due to a number of athletes committing to a punishing international running schedule. And an increase in doping-related <a href="https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20220716-two-runners-suspended-for-doping-offences-ruled-out-of-world-championships">suspensions</a> of top Kenyan runners. Plus other countries have become more competitive in the Kenya-dominated long-distance races. Uganda is rising, as is a revamped Ethiopia. There’s also a significant increase in East African runners who have changed national allegiance from Ethiopia, Somalia, South Sudan and from Kenya. </p>
<p>Some observers may focus on the <a href="https://twitter.com/NationAfrica/status/1393836112951619585">growing migration</a> of athletics talent from Kenya as the <a href="https://www.fairplanet.org/story/money-before-country-kenyan-athletes-changing-the-nation/">biggest problem</a>. World Athletics’ <a href="https://worldathletics.org/news/press-release/transfer-allegiance-council-meeting-russia">liberal provisions</a> for change of national allegiance for sporting reasons has brought about large-scale migration of talents from Kenya and other countries.</p>
<p>According to my <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/271423844_Distance_running_in_Kenya_Athletics_labour_migration_and_its_consequences">research</a> athletes leave their countries of birth to take advantage of better prospects for training facilities, competition, jobs and economic empowerment. </p>
<p>It’s my view that like many Kenyan professionals who work abroad and remit huge portions of their earnings back to Kenya in the form of investments, welfare support and gifts, runners should be embraced in a similar manner. They are professionals who are doing their best to elevate their economic well-being and that of their families. </p>
<p>The challenge rests with Kenya to invest in local athletes so that they can establish themselves economically without having to move abroad to do so. </p>
<h2>Home and away</h2>
<p>There’s a <a href="https://comparativemigrationstudies.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s40878-017-0054-2">long history</a> of sportsmen and women leaving home for a new country. A study on Olympic participation from 1948 to 2012 concluded that most teams have become more ethnically diverse. Olympic migration is a reflection of global <a href="https://comparativemigrationstudies.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s40878-017-0054-2">migration patterns</a> and not a <a href="https://comparativemigrationstudies.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s40878-017-0054-2">novel phenomenon</a>.</p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-fighting-spirit-of-young-african-footballers-who-migrate-overseas-175965">The fighting spirit of young African footballers who migrate overseas</a>
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<p>Firstly, the careers for athletes are <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/22/sports/kenyan-runners.html">short</a> and they must seek opportunities to generate as much financial compensation as possible to take care of their future and those of their family members. </p>
<p>Secondly, some move on marital grounds to run for the homeland of their spouses. Running for the country of a spouse provides opportunities for permanent settlement to also raise a family.</p>
<p>The countries that have been key recipients of Kenyan runners include the US, Bahrain, Qatar, Belgium, Netherlands, France, Turkey and, as witnessed at the 2022 championships, Israel and Kazakhstan <a href="https://www.the-star.co.ke/sports/athletics/2022-07-22-concern-as-more-kenyan-athletes-switch-allegiance/">among others</a>. Western countries such as the US, Netherlands and France are attractive, given their high standard of living and the opportunities for citizens to establish themselves. </p>
<p>Some countries, especially in the Middle East and Asia, have a dire shortage of running talent. They are attractive for athletes who want to access international competitions to promote themselves and be paid for representing their new nations. </p>
<h2>Spoilt for choice</h2>
<p>There’s another reason I believe Kenyans don’t need to see talent migration as the biggest challenge to its medal prospects: Kenya is not short of talent. It taps young athletes from its vibrant inter-school competitions every year. The first hurdle these new entrants face is international competition rules which restrict entries to three and sometimes four athletes from a country. Qualifying for international competitions is a nightmare for many new runners. </p>
<p>Moving to a country where competition among athletes is lower offers access to major races. For many Kenyan-born athletes, representing Middle East countries, or any other, comes with the advantage of continuing altitude training back home in Kenya. Some of these athletes are dual citizens and don’t necessarily renounce Kenya as their home nation.</p>
<p>An athlete such as <a href="https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/sports/2022-07-18/ty-article/.premium/marathon-runner-chemtai-salpeter-snags-world-championship-bronze-in-israeli-first/00000182-11f9-d11c-a1da-5dff40050000">Lonah Chemtai Salpeter</a> was not even a recognisable runner in Kenya before moving abroad as a domestic worker. Running for fun and fitness catapulted her into stardom and Israel’s national limelight. </p>
<p>Kenya has a sufficient running pool for runners like Salpeter to represent other countries and still sustain its status as a global powerhouse in athletics. </p>
<h2>Eyes on the prize</h2>
<p>It is <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-tokyo-2020-tested-kenyas-running-dominance-and-revealed-future-threats-166126">true</a> that Kenya is increasingly facing stiff opposition from other countries. Some of these countries have benefited from athletes who have migrated from East Africa, including Kenya, Ethiopia, Somali and Southern Sudan.</p>
<p>The 2022 World Championships further strengthened my thesis that migrant runners from other East African countries pose a serious threat to Kenya’s future medal prospects. Somali-born athletes and those with ancestry in South Sudan, who <a href="https://www.brusselstimes.com/257066/bashir-abdi-wins-bronze-medal-for-marathon-at-world-championships">won medals</a> this year, have added to the competitiveness of middle and distance events.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-precarious-fate-of-african-footballers-in-europe-after-their-game-ends-153510">The precarious fate of African footballers in Europe after their game ends</a>
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<p>Other emerging challengers such as Uganda – whose distance running athletes have consistently <a href="https://www.rfi.fr/en/sports/20220717-cheptegei-defends-world-title-andersen-bags-third-us-gold">won medals</a> in 10,000 metres and 5,000 metres at the last two world championships and the last Olympic Games – present even a more ominous challenge. </p>
<p>The answer to this emerging competition is twofold. Better investment in training and preparation of athletes for international competitions is needed. Secondly, Kenya needs to diversify its athletics pool to embrace field events and sprints apart from distance running, which is becoming increasingly competitive. Kenyan athletes, Ferdinand Omanyala and Julius Yego, have shown that yes, it is possible to win in sprints and in field events.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/187707/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Wycliffe W. Njororai Simiyu does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The decline in Kenyan medals at the world championships is due to increased competition and a lack of investment at home.Wycliffe W. Njororai Simiyu, Professor, Health and Kinesiology, University of Texas at TylerLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1878642022-07-28T15:24:36Z2022-07-28T15:24:36ZCommonwealth Games 2022: how Birmingham is becoming the UK’s most liveable city<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/476497/original/file-20220728-11927-150wk4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Three-time British senior all-around medallist and gymnast Isabella Cesar heralds the advent of the Games in Birmingham.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.alamy.com/rhythmic-gymnast-mimi-isabella-cesar-from-birmingham-uk-three-time-image152673599.html?imageid=5B9652F2-FB68-4B67-8DD5-EB6164AFDC9F&p=89967&pn=1&searchId=3a4f9edc048d65989940853c9c8bff25&searchtype=0">David Warren | Alamy</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Birmingham, the UK’s second largest city by population, is currently in the international spotlight as the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2022/jul/28/commonwealth-games-birmingham-opener-will-be-on-par-london-2012-says-director">host of the 2022 Commonwealth Games</a>. To welcome the athletes and stage their events, the city has invested £788 million of public funding, including £594 million from <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/birmingham-ready-to-open-biggest-ever-commonwealth-games-which-will-leave-lasting-legacy-for-region#:%7E:text=Backed%20by%20%C2%A3778%20million,2012%20Olympic%20and%20Paralympic%20Games">central government</a>. </p>
<p>This funding has kickstarted programmes to, among other things, get more people taking up physical exercise, starting businesses and devising tourism experiences. It has seen the city dotted with new infrastructure, a <a href="https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/whats-on/whats-on-news/sandwell-aquatics-centre-birmingham-2022-24251450">new aquatics centre</a> in Sandwell, a <a href="https://inews.co.uk/news/entertainment/commonwealth-games-2022-birmingham-excited-wonderful-city-1764554">rejuvenated Alexander Stadium</a> and the launch of the <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p0cp4ppx/birmingham-2022-festival-inhale-exhale">Birmingham 2022 Festival</a> – a celebration of creativity in the West Midlands. </p>
<p>The Games will thus leave <a href="https://www.birmingham2022.com/about-us/our-purpose/our-legacy/venues-infrastructure/">a permanent legacy</a> of their own. However, research shows how these infrastructural projects represent only a small fraction of the investments that have succeeded in transforming the city over the past decade. Beyond the temporary glow hosting a mega-event can afford a place, my colleagues and I have shown how Birmingham is <a href="https://theconversation.com/birmingham-plans-to-become-a-supersized-low-traffic-neighbourhood-will-it-work-170131">becoming</a> what urban development experts term a <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40572-021-00314-8">liveable city</a>.</p>
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<img alt="A poster advertising the Birmingham 2022 commonwealth games, with a photo of a group of young people" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/476523/original/file-20220728-14976-dgn0u8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/476523/original/file-20220728-14976-dgn0u8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=352&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/476523/original/file-20220728-14976-dgn0u8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=352&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/476523/original/file-20220728-14976-dgn0u8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=352&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/476523/original/file-20220728-14976-dgn0u8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=443&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/476523/original/file-20220728-14976-dgn0u8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=443&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/476523/original/file-20220728-14976-dgn0u8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=443&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Preparing for the Commonwealth Games.</span>
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<p>Cities are places to live and work. They are simultaneously places for local interactions positioned within ever-evolving national and international flows of people, information, money and products. </p>
<p>Like all cities Birmingham has a history of change and transformation. Research shows how <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1468-0467.2008.00285.x">deindustrialisation</a> from 1966 led the city to experience a long and painful adaptation, as manufacturing companies closed, downsized or relocated. </p>
<p>The city’s gradual restructuring of its economy has seen major corporate players consider the city as a suitable business location. In 2015, HSBC chose to build the national <a href="https://www.about.hsbc.co.uk/news-and-media/new-green-hsbc-uk-birmingham-hq-opens-its-doors">green headquarters</a> of its UK personal and business bank in Birmingham. </p>
<p>Other major corporate players have followed suit including HS2, Goldman Sachs and Microland, the Indian IT infrastructure company. The city’s central location, the diversity and strength of its local economy and the quality of residential living have been important factors in attracting businesses.</p>
<h2>How Birmingham pioneered a new kind of development</h2>
<p>Birmingham’s recent transformation has roots in Joseph Chamberlain’s stewardship of the city in the 1870s. As mayor between 1873 and 1876, Chamberlain <a href="https://academic.oup.com/cjres/article/10/3/455/4161089">developed</a> a tool for local economic development, that has become known as tax increment financing (TIF). Conventional wisdom holds that this kind of scheme was invented in California in 1955. Our research shows that this was, in fact, a Birmingham innovation.</p>
<p>Introduced in 1875, this financial innovation was designed to enable the development of 93 acres of Birmingham’s city centre, which included creating a brand-new street, Corporation Street. It saw the local authority release development sites on relatively short, 75-year leaseholds to the private sector but retain the freeholds. </p>
<p>This was an extremely clever move. As Chamberlain himself noted at the time, his approach was based on “<a href="https://academic.oup.com/cjres/article/10/3/455/4161089">sagacious audacity</a>”. </p>
<p>“The next generation will have cause to bless the Town Council,” he said. And indeed they do. Birmingham City Council still retains the freeholds for most of the land in the city centre today. As a result, and contrary to, say Liverpool or London where <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-new-enclosure-how-land-commissions-can-lead-the-fight-against-urban-land-grabs-167817">large swathes of public land have been sold off</a>, it can shape what is built and where. This includes the ability to focus on enhancing the quality of the built environment. </p>
<p>Thus, Birmingham’s old Central Library, built in 1971, was <a href="https://www.architectsjournal.co.uk/archive/demolition-of-madins-birmingham-central-library-set-to-start">demolished</a> in 2016. This resulted in the release of a 6.8-hectare (17-acre) site at the centre of the city, which has become the on-going Paradise redevelopment. </p>
<p>The city council was behind this £500m, 1.8 million sq foot office-led mixed commercial scheme and stands to benefit from additional business rates and ground rents. Most importantly, this project is creating a landmark office, retail and leisure development that is attracting more major companies to relocate to Birmingham. </p>
<h2>Improving transport and housing makes a city liveable</h2>
<p>Connectivity is central to city living and to unlocking land values, in precisely the way the Paradise project has for that Central Library plot. Birmingham’s economic development strategy thus includes a major focus on improving local transportation. </p>
<p>Extensions to the city’s metro as well as railway network are underway, including the introduction of new stations and major extensions to existing stations. These interventions include the £705 million redevelopment of New Street railway station, completed in 2015.</p>
<p>In April 2022, the UK government allocated £1.05 billion from its <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1070110/crsts-funding-settlement-letter-for-west-midlands-1-april-2022.pdf">City-Region Sustainable Transport Settlements</a> initiative to the West Midlands region. Further funding from the West Midland Combined Authority and Birmingham City Council will top this up to £1.3 billion. </p>
<p>Investing in this way in local infrastructure will only make Birmingham a more attractive place to live and work. Public transport is set to increasingly displace the use of private cars, thereby reducing air pollution and traffic noise. </p>
<p>Birmingham also increasingly provides the kind of urban lifestyle that attracts highly skilled workers and their employers. It provides <a href="https://www.jll.co.uk/en/trends-and-insights/research/uk-residential-forecast-2022-2026">more affordable housing</a> than London. </p>
<p>It has top-class <a href="https://thespoils.huffpost.co.uk/entry/why-brums-food-scene-is-for-everyone-not-just-curry-lovers_spoilsuk_5e468bb5c5b64433c614d7fe">dining</a> and retail amenities, as well as cultural and leisure attractions that arguably rival the best in the capital, from <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40572-021-00314-8">Birmingham Royal Ballet</a> to the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. In 2016, concert hall acoustics expert <a href="https://www.gpsmycity.com/attractions/symphony-hall-29002.html">Leo Beranek</a> ranked the city’s Symphony Hall as having the finest acoustics in the UK and the seventh best in the world. </p>
<p>In 2021, the city council launched a consultation, dubbed <a href="https://www.birmingham.gov.uk/ourfuturecityplan">Our Future City Plan</a>, on how to make Birmingham what urban development experts term a “<a href="https://cityterritoryarchitecture.springeropen.com/cityprox">city of proximities</a>”. Based on the <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2624-6511/4/1/6/htm">15-minute city approach</a>, the idea is that access to essential services – including schools, shops, green spaces and public transport – would be within a 15-minute walk or cycle ride, thereby <a href="https://www.eta.co.uk/2021/10/05/is-birmingham-about-to-become-the-uks-flagship-liveable-city/">prioritising</a> local residents’ health and wellbeing.</p>
<p>Birmingham’s role in hosting the Commonwealth Games is exciting. But it should not distract from the city’s innovative and experimental approach to creating healthy neighbourhoods by achieving a <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/bse.640">new kind of balance</a> between profitability and sustainability. Local planning and policy interventions are focused on making Birmingham one of the UK’s most liveable cities.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/187864/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>John Bryson has received funding from ESRC and is currently receiving funding from NERC as part of the WM-Air project - <a href="https://wm-air.org.uk/">https://wm-air.org.uk/</a>. The West Midlands Air Quality Improvement Programme – WM-Air is a NERC funded initiative, led by the University of Birmingham, working in collaboration with over 20 cross sector partners, to apply environmental science expertise to support the improvement of air quality, and associated health, environmental and economic benefits, across the West Midlands.</span></em></p>Hosting the Games has seem Birmingham dotted with new infrastructure and amenities. But the city’s pioneering transformation began over a 100 years ago.John Bryson, Professor of Enterprise and Competitiveness, University of BirminghamLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/949092018-04-14T20:26:41Z2018-04-14T20:26:41ZAustralia dominated the Commonwealth Games, so why doesn’t it feel like that?<p>The medal tally has historically been one of the most dominant manifestations of Australia’s involvement in the Commonwealth Games. But this has not been the case at the 2018 Gold Coast Games, even though Australia topped the medal count with <a href="https://results.gc2018.com/en/all-sports/medal-standings.htm">double</a> the medals of great rival and second-placed England.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.com.au/anthony-sharwood/the-commonwealth-games-are-old-irrelevant-and-its-time-to-reti_a_22023127/">lack of interest</a> in the 2018 Games <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-ties-that-still-bind-the-enduring-tendrils-of-the-british-empire-89308">has been attributed</a> to the lack of relevance of the Commonwealth itself. But this doesn’t entirely explain the lack of exultation in the medal tally. </p>
<p>The Commonwealth Games has lost its standing for a number of interrelated issues, including the lack of success by Australian athletes in major events, <a href="http://www.roymorgan.com/findings/7182-decline-in-competitive-sports-participation-australia-december-2016-201703200905">declining grassroots participation</a> in Commonwealth Games sports, and a growing unease towards commercialised sport. </p>
<p>There has also been a loss both of what the Games symbolised, as well as outside political factors. <a href="http://www.naa.gov.au/collection/fact-sheets/fs188.aspx">The 1938 Empire Games</a> were held in Sydney on the eve of World War 2, while the 1982 Brisbane Commonwealth Games were held <a href="http://commonwealthgames.com.au/brisbane-1982-patriotism-moments-and-matilda/">during the Cold War</a>. Australia is also a <a href="https://theconversation.com/anglo-saxon-worldviews-in-the-media-do-little-to-reflect-australias-diverse-ethnic-make-up-16838">much more diverse nation</a> in 2018. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-ties-that-still-bind-the-enduring-tendrils-of-the-british-empire-89308">The ties that (still) bind: the enduring tendrils of the British Empire</a>
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<p>Regardless of how well Australia does at the Commonwealth level, the gold standard in sporting excellence for Australians is the Olympic Games. At the 2000 Sydney and 2004 Athens Olympics, Australia <a href="http://abs.gov.au/Ausstats/abs@.nsf/57a31759b55dc970ca2568a1002477b6/be9f47591541e29eca256ef40004f25a!OpenDocument">emerged in the top five</a> and we gloated at surpassing nations with much larger populations and strong sporting traditions such as the British, Germans, Russians and even the Chinese. </p>
<p>Excellence both in Olympic competition and in hosting Sydney 2000 <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/24/news/what-did-olympics-bring-sydney.html">gave Australians legitimacy on the world stage</a>, and it was clear that sport could unite Australians like no other cultural institution. </p>
<p>This image of Australian nationalism crashed after the <a href="https://theconversation.com/winning-edge-fails-to-deliver-so-what-now-for-australias-olympic-hopes-64051">2012 London</a> and <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/sport/what-went-wrong-for-australia-at-the-rio-olympics-it-started-on-the-top-floor-20160819-gqw5fl.html">2016 Rio Olympics</a>, where the medals dried up and Australia languished outside the top five. </p>
<p>Rightly or wrongly, and for whatever reasons, this <a href="http://www.couriermail.com.au/sport/olympics-2016/great-britain-has-obliterated-australia-at-the-2016-rio-olympics/news-story/3acd66f9bee3dfac46003d3c3fe302d2">devastated Australians’ perception of themselves on the world stage</a>. Coming first at the Commonwealth level is no substitute for success at the Olympic Games – the pinnacle. </p>
<p>Winning gold in more than one-third of the Commonwealth Games events is impressive, but the only medal tally that counts is the Olympic one, where Australians can more authentically measure themselves against the world.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/gold-coast-games-will-struggle-to-stay-relevant-heres-why-30048">Gold Coast Games will struggle to stay relevant – here's why</a>
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<p>Australia’s Commonwealth Games success has also not occurred in flagship sports, particularly athletics. Australia <a href="https://results.gc2018.com/en/swimming/medal-standings.htm">again dominated in the pool</a>, as they have done since 1930. But Australia has had little success in recent Commonwealth Games in athletics, with the <a href="https://au.sports.yahoo.com/a/39701298/just-five-aussies-top-athletics-rankings/">exception</a> of Sally Pearson and Dani Stevens. </p>
<p>In blue ribbon events such as the 100 metres or marathon, success has largely eluded us. In the public’s perception, a gold medal in squash <a href="https://theconversation.com/lightning-round-why-the-mens-100-metres-is-the-greatest-show-on-earth-8077">does not have the same significance</a> as a gold medal in the 100 metres sprint. </p>
<p>There is a clear disconnect between success at elite sports and sport’s meaning and relevance to Australians’ lives. Take, for example, the <a href="https://results.gc2018.com/en/lawn-bowls/medal-standings.htm">five gold medals won by Australia in the lawn bowls competition</a>. While the sport and local “bowlos” have a long and distinguished existence in Australian social history, their numbers especially in metropolitan cities have been <a href="http://www.roymorgan.com/findings/7182-decline-in-competitive-sports-participation-australia-december-2016-201703200905">dwindling</a>, and the sport has lost some of its cultural meaning. </p>
<p>In fact, <a href="http://www.roymorgan.com/findings/7182-decline-in-competitive-sports-participation-australia-december-2016-201703200905">according to Roy Morgan</a>, a host of Commonwealth Games have seen huge declines in participation since 2001, including netball, table tennis, volleyball, field hockey, squash, and rugby.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-commonwealth-games-are-an-opportunity-to-face-up-to-the-history-of-colonialism-93752">The Commonwealth Games are an opportunity to face up to the history of colonialism</a>
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<p>Finally, there is the <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-01-21/bradley-corruption-in-professional-sport-should-be-no-surprise/7101508">emergence of cynicism</a> towards commercialised sports, amid a growing sentiment that big business has too much of an impact on sport. </p>
<p>For many there is no point rejoicing in the success of Australian Commonwealth Games athletes while there has been a <a href="https://theconversation.com/our-sporting-nation-is-a-myth-so-how-do-we-get-youngsters-back-on-the-field-78186">decline in sport at the grassroots level</a>. Sport funding models prioritise elite competition but have failed to provide the necessary infrastructure and opportunities for many to participate in Commonwealth Games sports. </p>
<p>Put these together and you begin to understand why at these particular games, the medal count has been greeted with far less exuberance than before.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/94909/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Steve Georgakis does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The lack of Commonwealth relevance doesn’t entirely explain the lack of exuberance of the medal tally.Steve Georgakis, Senior Lecturer of Pedagogy and Sports Studies, University of SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/948892018-04-13T14:21:36Z2018-04-13T14:21:36ZFit for nothing: where it all went wrong for Glasgow’s Commonwealth Games legacy<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/214756/original/file-20180413-127631-123pllx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.paimages.co.uk/image-details/2.20475330">PA</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><blockquote>
<p>Our vision is to host a successful, safe and secure Games that deliver a lasting legacy for the whole of Scotland, and to maximise the opportunities in the run up to, during, and after the Games.</p>
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<p>This was the <a href="http://www.gov.scot/Publications/2014/06/6891/1">promise</a> made by the Scottish government to the Commonwealth in 2014. In the 12 days of competition that followed, the city of Glasgow achieved a “<a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-30493980">hero-like status</a>”, Team Scotland achieved its biggest-ever medal haul of 53 medals, and the games recorded the highest number of tickets sold for a sporting event in Scottish history.</p>
<p>Minister for sport Aileen Campbell hailed the event as a huge success by <a href="https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/uk/no-step-change-in-activity-levels-following-glasgow-commonwealth-games-36770188.html">announcing</a> that Glasgow’s Commonwealth Games was the largest sporting and cultural event ever held in Scotland and had changed the lives of thousands of people.</p>
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<p>The message from the host nation was clear: the games were not just about showcasing elite athletes, but about delivering a legacy that would provide a flourishing economy, celebrate cultural diversity, embrace sustainable living, and create a more physically active nation. But four years on, not all those ambitions have been achieved.</p>
<h2>Getting a nation off the couch</h2>
<p>The games were considered a golden opportunity for Scotland to harness the power of sport to motivate a sedentary nation. A <a href="https://beta.gov.scot/publications/more-active-scotland-building-legacy-commonwealth-games/">ten-year implementation plan</a> was launched in 2014 to tackle physical inactivity across Scotland as well as myriad other initiatives to support communities in improving the local sporting infrastructure. </p>
<p>Two and a half years after the games, an <a href="https://sp-bpr-en-prod-cdnep.azureedge.net/published/HS/2017/5/3/Sport-for-Everyone-Interim-Report/4th%20Report.pdf">interim report</a> by the Scottish parliament’s Health and Sport Committee was undertaken to assess the progress made in increasing physical activity levels across Scotland.</p>
<p>The report concluded that there was no evidence of an active legacy being achievable. More alarmingly, any evidence of a relationship between the hosting of a major sporting event and raising the host nation’s physical activity levels was inconclusive.</p>
<p>This raises serious questions as to why such an ambitious legacy aim was included in the first place given the likelihood of failure. It could be that the Scottish government included the aim of increasing participation within its legacy pledge as a desperate attempt to address <a href="http://www.scotpho.org.uk/comparative-health/excess-mortality-in-scotland-and-glasgow/">Scotland’s poor health profile</a>, one of the worst in Europe. </p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/214757/original/file-20180413-540-1mppbx7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/214757/original/file-20180413-540-1mppbx7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=437&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/214757/original/file-20180413-540-1mppbx7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=437&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/214757/original/file-20180413-540-1mppbx7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=437&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/214757/original/file-20180413-540-1mppbx7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=549&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/214757/original/file-20180413-540-1mppbx7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=549&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/214757/original/file-20180413-540-1mppbx7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=549&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Glasgow’s east end, the main site of the 2014 Commonwealth Games, is considered one of the poorest urban areas in Europe.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/134335020@N03/22803305513/in/photolist-AK3UgT-djBFWi-qmSsZo-RJrsj5-TSBFwu-4Wdb3L-pMmfGE-Vg7Um3-qSHWdd-6FeRyc-gfmXi-4A84Bq-3TnBQV-6EUVDY-UC8Xuo-6hcA6Z-85NKiy-VUxQQx-8SZpKt-6Qf4v7-qdDB4u-8cg3Ax-dqYc43-bfLRk4-bE38FV-iaUGYT-CV8pQw-9eAt4r-pJk1K3-bEF7C6-dqXMXs-dcyBT2-7uENdN-dqXnP2-der5B4-UGG4Hq-kMVAVM-7zFTdp-dqXxji-oS9g77-5c7a19-6hgTyo-qgr8Sv-6UTC6c-6QaXJz-dcgumi-6hcG84-qtT1J9-ocKgTL-aAV6d1">Chris Perkins/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
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<p>A <a href="http://www.gov.scot/Publications/2018/04/5418/6">final evaluation report</a> on the impact of the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games published by the Scottish government days before the opening ceremony of the <a href="https://www.gc2018.com/">Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games</a> highlighted the harsh reality that the active legacy programme had not “resulted in a step change in population levels of physical activity in Scotland”.</p>
<p>In fact, the <a href="https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/941017/glasgow-commonwealth-games-failed-health-impact-scotland">GoWell East study</a> that tracked participant levels within the surrounding area of Glasgow found that overall rates had actually declined, with just over 53% achieving the recommended physical activity levels in 2016, compared to 62% in 2012.</p>
<p>However, the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/feb/23/glasgow-east-end-frontline-battle-scotland-independence">east end community</a> surrounding the main games site is one of the most deprived areas in Scotland, with some of the worst statistics in Europe for child poverty, health, crime, and alcohol and drug abuse. This could account for the declines in physical activity levels in the east end of Glasgow as the underlying reasons behind <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02640410410001712430">social inequalities</a> in sports participation is poverty – not having the income to spend on sport.</p>
<h2>Policy fail</h2>
<p>But Glasgow is not alone. Other nations hosting major sporting events have failed to capitalise on the perception that a sprinkling of magic over a big sports event will motivate a population to become active. Data that tracked participation levels of Australians before, during and after the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games <a href="http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?pid=S1980-65742013000300008&script=sci_arttext">found</a> they had declined, due – ironically – to Australians spending more time watching sport on TV than taking part themselves. </p>
<p>Undoubtedly, many nations believe that elite sporting success and the hosting of major sporting events on home turf can encourage mass involvement, and in turn create an active nation. An example of this is London’s <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/77720/DCMSLeafletAdobev5andlaterTPL.pdf">2012 Olympic Games</a>, which promised to “do something no other Olympic Games host nation had done before”: inspire a new generation of young people to get involved, get active and take part in sport. This bold statement from the UK government has since been questioned, because in fact, no previous games had even attempted to leverage improved physical activity as a <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/16184742.2014.998695?journalCode=resm20">legacy outcome</a>. </p>
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<span class="caption">Despite their glossy success, London’s Olympics also failed to improve rates of participation in sport.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.paimages.co.uk/image-details/2.14134837">PA</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
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<p>It became abundantly clear post-London 2012 that the Olympic Legacy promise had failed to come to fruition with <a href="https://www.sportengland.org/research/about-our-research/active-people-survey/">figures</a> showing no more young people taking part in sport than before the games. As has been <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/23750472.2015.1010278?src=recsys&journalCode=rmle21">argued</a> elsewhere, there is still a lack of robust evidence to suggest that the presumed trickle-down effect of hosting a major sporting event can trigger an increase in physical activity.</p>
<h2>Big spend but no return</h2>
<p>The failure of London 2012 and Glasgow 2014 to create and inspire a nation to get active is not really surprising. For more than 40 years, community sports policy in Britain has been plagued by failings to meet physical activity performance indicators set by governments.</p>
<p>This could be down to a variety of factors including: poor policy analysis to inform future policy-making decisions; overambitious or naïve participation targets; inadequate resources to deliver long-term programmes; and changes in direction leading to ambiguity regarding who is responsible for delivery.</p>
<p>Given these issues, it is understandable that grass-roots sport policies and major sporting events have failed to encourage more people to get active. Future government policy on community sport needs to have an all-party group commitment, that is evidence-based to ensure objectives are realistic. It needs to have a long-term plan and be adequately funded to ensure that there are real and lasting results.</p>
<p>In the end, we have to face a difficult truth: governments continue to invest in costly elite sport and big extravagant sporting events that come at the expense of community sport.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/94889/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lynda Challis does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Why do big events that showcase elite sport fail to motivate people to get active?Lynda Challis, Academic in Sports Development, Bournemouth UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/948772018-04-13T11:56:40Z2018-04-13T11:56:40ZHow the Gold Coast games transformed a resort region into a city<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/214578/original/file-20180412-566-1a3ntdi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/gold-coast-queenslandaustralia-14-january-2018-792866440?src=_hdvY59s4C-mzgdYS3NjEw-1-0">DCP Stock/Shutterstock. </a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Australia’s Gold Coast has long <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0264275114001577">been derided</a> as an “overgrown resort town” and a “cultural desert”. But the 2018 Commonwealth Games allowed the host region to develop and communicate its big city credentials. Mega-events have been <a href="https://theconversation.com/five-reasons-why-your-city-wont-want-to-host-the-olympic-games-52289">heavily criticised</a> in recent years, but if planned properly they can bring many benefits for host cities, including <a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1080/00420980701256039">social and economic regeneration</a>. Gold Coast authorities were also interested in urban development: they wanted to show the world their coastline has matured from tourist resort to fully fledged city. </p>
<p>This part of southeast Queensland has been known as the Gold Coast since 1958, when the local council adopted the name to boost the area’s growing reputation as a seaside resort. In 1959, Gold Coast Town Council <a href="http://www.goldcoast.qld.gov.au/council/council-history-408.html">was renamed</a> the City of Gold Coast – underlining its ambitious expansion plans. </p>
<p>In the 1970s and 1980s, the Gold Coast became Australia’s most renowned holiday spot, and a popular destination for both interstate and international tourists. It was during this period that the coastline became highly urbanised – earning Gold Coast its reputation as a commercialised, hedonistic place dominated by nightlife, hotels and holiday apartments.</p>
<h2>High-rise hotels</h2>
<p>Today, the City of Gold Coast is home to more than <a href="http://www.population.net.au/gold-coast-population/">500,000 residents</a>, making it Australia’s sixth-largest city and second-biggest local government administration. Coastal settlements such as Southport, Surfers Paradise, Burleigh Heads and Coolangatta integrate with inland suburbs such as Nerang and Mudgeeraba to form a long, narrow urban conurbation. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/214561/original/file-20180412-584-10dkgsr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/214561/original/file-20180412-584-10dkgsr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/214561/original/file-20180412-584-10dkgsr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/214561/original/file-20180412-584-10dkgsr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/214561/original/file-20180412-584-10dkgsr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/214561/original/file-20180412-584-10dkgsr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/214561/original/file-20180412-584-10dkgsr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Skyscrapers-on-Sea.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/bgphotos/270565521/sizes/l">Gibtach/Flickr.</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
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<p>Often described as Australia’s most “American” city, Gold Coast features clusters of high-rise buildings in Surfers Paradise and Broadbeach. But these are not clusters of office blocks – they are vertical tourist resorts. Because of Gold Coast’s unusual development history – <a href="http://www.ijurr.org/article/tourism-urbanization/">described by</a> academic Patrick Mullins as “tourism urbanisation” – there is no obvious centre. </p>
<p>Determined to shake off Gold Coast’s reputation as a cultural void, organisers of the games staged an <a href="https://www.gc2018.com/festival2018">extensive cultural programme</a> called Festival 2018 alongside the games. A series of 160 free events staged in <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Events-in-the-City-Using-public-spaces-as-event-venues/Smith/p/book/9781138788855">parks, streets and squares</a> created a festive atmosphere and engaged audiences less interested in sport. The City of Gold Coast sees arts and culture as “<a href="http://www.goldcoast.qld.gov.au/documents/bf/econmic-dev-strategy.pdf">a key economic driver</a>”, and the A$30 million Festival 2018 is part of a wider strategy to develop local creative industries in the area. </p>
<h2>Clearing the hurdles</h2>
<p>But, at times, this strategy has been inconsistent. While the aim was to present Gold Coast as a city that is cultural and cosmopolitan, rather than crass and commercialised, much of the promotional material and media coverage has actually reinforced its image as a beach resort. </p>
<p>The opening ceremony was full of references to beach culture: teams entered the stadium led by their nation’s name displayed on a kid’s surfboard, and dancers with beach towels performed on sand. Television coverage of the games has emphasised the Gold Coast’s reputation as a pleasure periphery, rather than a bona fide city. This shows how important – and how difficult – it is to deliver consistent messages about a city during a global media event.</p>
<p>Despite these difficulties, Gold Coast has cleared hurdles that have sent other host cities tumbling in the past. Organisations such as the International Olympic Committee, FIFA, UEFA and the Commonwealth Games Federation are all attempting to spread their events over a wider area – even allowing events to be staged across <a href="http://www.uefa.com/uefaeuro-2020/#/">continents</a>. Gold Coast 2018 has provided a textbook example of how mega-events can work well in regions with many centres. </p>
<p>The 17 Gold Coast 2018 sports venues were <a href="https://theconversation.com/building-for-the-community-is-a-win-for-the-gold-coast-games-94413">spread across</a> a large geographical area – from Coomera in the north to Coolangatta in the south. There were even sports events in Townsville and Cairns - over a thousand miles from the Gold Coast in <a href="https://www.business.uq.edu.au/momentum/going-gold-how-regions-can-reap-benefits-games">northern Queensland</a>. Combined with the extensive use of existing venues and <a href="http://digital.la84.org/digital/collection/p17103coll10/id/13752/">temporary seating</a>, this approach minimises the chances of white elephants later on.</p>
<h2>A city in the making</h2>
<p>While dispersing events helps to avoid “investment overdose” in one particular part of the city, Gold Coast authorities are also trying to use the Commonwealth Games to develop a more conventional urban form, by reinforcing <a href="http://www.goldcoast.qld.gov.au/business/southport-cbd-16933.html">Southport</a> as the central business district while diversifying the local economy away from tourism and construction, and towards knowledge industries.</p>
<p>There’s no doubt the Commonwealth Games have assisted this ambition. The AU$520m Commonwealth Games Village has been located near the region’s main university (Griffith) and hospital (Gold Coast University Hospital), and <a href="http://www.goldcoast.qld.gov.au/thegoldcoast/gold-coast-health-knowledge-precinct-24268.html">the plan</a> is to develop a precinct here dedicated to health and education. </p>
<p>Over the past 50 years, various municipal authorities have tried to use mega-events to revive their fortunes and reinvent themselves as <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Events-and-Urban-Regeneration-The-Strategic-Use-of-Events-to-Revitalise/Smith/p/book/9780415581486">post-industrial cities</a>. The Gold Coast marks a departure from this model. In this rapidly growing region, we are now witnessing the ways that mega-events can be used to help turn a series of coastal settlements into a coherent city. </p>
<p>One of the most significant legacies of the Commonwealth Games might be to further the idea among citizens and visitors that Gold Coast is actually a city, rather than a tourism brand. It is too early to judge the outcomes of this event, but coastal resorts, city regions and event organisers across the world will be watching to see whether the 21st Commonwealth Games will be the making of the Gold Coast.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/94877/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Andrew Smith is a Jim Whyte Fellow at the University of Queensland.</span></em></p>The main winner of Commonwealth Games 2018 is … the City of Gold Coast.Andrew Smith, Reader in Tourism and Events, University of WestminsterLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/949862018-04-13T05:47:53Z2018-04-13T05:47:53ZAthletes seek asylum at almost every games, as is their right<p>The missing Commonwealth Games athletes <a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/2018/04/12/12/07/commonwealth-games-2018-more-athletes-missing-from-village">from Cameroon, Rwanda and Uganda</a> aren’t the first to walk out of an athletes village, even in Australia. At least 26 athletes <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2006-04-26/commonwealth-games-athletes-seek-asylum-in/1739568">claimed asylum in Australia</a> at the 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games. Two of them, originally from Cameroon, are <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2018/apr/11/cameroon-athletes-missing-from-commonwealth-games">now representing Australia in these Commonwealth Games</a>.</p>
<p>When <a href="https://www.business.qld.gov.au/industries/commonwealth-games/about">large numbers of people</a> attend an international sporting event it can be expected that not all of them will return home. And those who fear ill treatment in their home countries are lawfully able to apply for protection in Australia.</p>
<p>The reality is that host countries are prepared for refugee claims as a byproduct of international sporting events.</p>
<p>While we don’t know the individual cases of the missing athletes, we know that serious <a href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/countries/africa/cameroon/report-cameroon/">human rights abuses are prevalent in Cameroon</a>. There is an ongoing conflict in the north of the country and <a href="http://www.refworld.org/country,,,,CMR,,5a0959fd4,0.html">thousands of refugees have fled to neighbouring Nigeria</a>. </p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-case-of-the-lost-athletes-when-olympians-seek-asylum-8783">The case of the lost athletes – when Olympians seek asylum</a>
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<p>Games organising committee chairman Peter Beattie <a href="https://www.thecourier.com.au/story/5337633/cameroon-athletes-missing-from-games">has said</a> none of the athletes have breached Australian law:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>This happens at every games, it’s no surprise … If there is a breach (home affairs minister) Peter Dutton and his team will deal with it. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Dutton has been firm that if the athletes remain here past May 15 2018, the limit of their temporary visas, <a href="https://www.2gb.com/dutton-comm-games-deserters-need-to-hear-this-message-very-clearly/">they will be detained and removed from Australia</a>. </p>
<h2>‘This happens at every Games’</h2>
<p>Since the second world war <a href="https://www.seeker.com/when-olympic-athletes-defect-1765918549.html">nearly every</a> Olympic Games has had athletes seeking asylum in the host country. Cold War politics made it opportune for Western countries to welcome asylum seekers from Eastern Bloc countries. </p>
<p>The Melbourne Olympics in 1956 saw <a href="https://www.theaustralian.com.au/arts/review/melbourne-1956-olypic-games-politics-at-cold-wars-height/news-story/6429e83638d1db9ef2c5cfc2f7318c6c">one of the largest defections of athletes ever</a>, with 61 individuals (mostly Hungarian) deciding not to return to their home countries.</p>
<p>More recently the country of origin of asylum seekers has reflected shifting global conflicts. At the <a href="https://www.npr.org/2012/08/09/158520725/missing-athletes-join-long-list-of-olympic-defectors">2012 London Olympics</a> athletes from Cameroon, Sudan and Ethiopia sought refuge. </p>
<p>This is also a reality of other international sporting events in Australia. At the Homeless Persons World Cup in Melbourne in 2008, <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/world/fifteen-seek-asylum-in-australia-after-homeless-world-cup-reports-20081210-6vp1.html">15 individuals sought asylum</a>, including athletes from Rwanda, Zimbabwe and Afghanistan.</p>
<h2>What happens if they don’t return?</h2>
<p>Athletes granted entry to Australia are likely to have visas with conditions limiting the time they can remain in Australia. Those who overstay may become unlawful and face being detained in immigration detention. </p>
<p>Whether they can apply for another visa to remain in Australia depends on the conditions of their visa.</p>
<p>Most Commonwealth Games athletes from African countries will have a “<a href="https://www.homeaffairs.gov.au/about/corporate/information/fact-sheets/fact-sheet-52b">no further stay</a>” condition on their visa. This prohibits them applying for any other visa apart from a <a href="https://www.homeaffairs.gov.au/trav/refu/onsh">protection visa</a>.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.homeaffairs.gov.au/trav/refu">refugee and humanitarian program</a> provides options for people who are in Australia and want to apply for protection (or asylum). Those who apply for a <a href="https://www.homeaffairs.gov.au/trav/visa-1/866-">protection visa</a> before their temporary visa expires should be able to remain in the community while Home Affairs considers their case. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-case-of-the-lost-athletes-when-olympians-seek-asylum-8783">The case of the lost athletes – when Olympians seek asylum</a>
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<p>Athletes remaining in the host country for political reasons are often referred to as “defectors”. In international human rights law an individual who is seeking protection is <a href="https://www.humanrights.gov.au/our-work/asylum-seekers-and-refugees/asylum-seekers-and-refugees-guide">known as an asylum seeker</a>.</p>
<p>Australia has obligations to protect the human rights of all asylum seekers and refugees who arrive in Australia, regardless of how or where they arrive and whether they arrive with or without a visa.</p>
<p>The right to seek asylum is recognised as a fundamental human right. Remaining in Australia and applying for protection is not breaching Australian law. Indeed, Australia has recognised that any person in Australia who has a fear of persecution in their home country can seek protection. </p>
<p>This is in accordance with Australia’s international <a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-how-australia-decides-who-is-a-genuine-refugee-72574">obligations under the 1951 United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and other human rights treaties</a>. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-how-australia-decides-who-is-a-genuine-refugee-72574">Explainer: how Australia decides who is a genuine refugee</a>
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<p>A refugee is <a href="http://www8.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/viewdoc/au/legis/cth/consol_act/ma1958118/s5h.html">defined</a> as someone who does not want to return to their country of origin owing to a “well-founded fear of persecution” on the grounds of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion. The person can also receive <a href="http://www8.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/viewdoc/au/legis/cth/consol_act/ma1958118/s36.html">complementary protection</a> if there are “substantial grounds for believing that there is a real risk he or she will suffer significant harm”.</p>
<p>Those who apply go through a <a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-how-australia-decides-who-is-a-genuine-refugee-72574">rigorous assessment process</a>. While no official statistics are available for processing times, experience shows it <a href="https://www.homeaffairs.gov.au/about/access-accountability/service-standards/refugee-or-humanitarian-program-visa-processing-times">can often take several years</a> for claims to be assessed.</p>
<p>During that time those who apply for protection are able to live and work in the community. However, having left their home country, they may need assistance and support to find accommodation and work. </p>
<p>The codes of conduct of most sports organisations reflect the spirit of human rights. Those representing their country are proud to do so, and leaving a team must come at great emotional and personal cost. Being an international athlete does not mean a person is impervious to human rights abuses in their home country. </p>
<p>Hosting an international sporting event brings with it significant prestige and honour for the host nation. Respecting the right to seek asylum is an integral part of the example Australia has set in the past and should continue into the future.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/94986/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mary Anne Kenny has received funding from the Australian Research Council. She receives sitting fees from the Department of Immigration and Border Protection.</span></em></p>Since the second world war nearly every Olympic Games has seen athletes seeking asylum in the Games host country.Mary Anne Kenny, Associate Professor, School of Law, Murdoch UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/945042018-04-12T19:55:34Z2018-04-12T19:55:34ZLooking past the Gold Coast the world sees today<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/214101/original/file-20180410-536-1n3lvsg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The familiar images of high-rise development, looking north here from Surfers Paradise, tell only one part of the story of the Gold Coast.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Andrew Leach</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>One of the most prominent images of the Commonwealth Games host city is of the bank of high-rise apartment buildings and hotels that loom over the beach of Surfers Paradise. Although the Games are taking place across the city, from its dense edge, past sprawling suburbs to its quasi-rural hinterland, one can be forgiven for conflating Surfers with the entire Gold Coast. More than anywhere else in Australia the Gold Coast hovers between being a traditional city and an urbanised territory — with all the stuff of a city but its density. </p>
<p>Frank Moorhouse <a href="http://www.couriermail.com.au/ipad/a-stately-pleasure-dome-in-paradise/news-story/6c706268e4891a401920b386ee8e8aec?sv=df1504d13cf9d26df36c048487c83557">once said</a> the Gold Coast:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>resembled a city that had been designed as an architect’s model of a high-rise city which had washed up on a stretch of beautiful beach where it grew magically into real dimensions.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>There is something in this observation in each photograph taken of its most built-up moments.</p>
<h2>A shiny new city masks a deep history</h2>
<p>Surfers Paradise shares this apparent and sometimes odd superficiality with the holiday cities of Spain’s Costa del Sol and Florida’s Atlantic edge. Behind it, though, lies a deep history that has been written and overwritten in successive layers that have become thinner and thinner as time goes on. </p>
<p>Not far from the high-rises of Surfers Paradise is Kombumerri Park, in the canal estate of Broadbeach Waters. There, landscapers in 1965 <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-11-13/gold-coast-indigenous-burial-ground-marks-50-years/6939962">discovered a burial site</a> that had been in continual use from the eighth century to the colonial era, more than a millennium. It should surprise nobody that the waterways, swamps and arable land of Moreton Bay and the coast to the south, on which the Gold Coast sits, sustained the region’s first people for tens of thousands of years before James Cook charted the coastline in the 18th century. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/214393/original/file-20180411-592-xg1q2h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/214393/original/file-20180411-592-xg1q2h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/214393/original/file-20180411-592-xg1q2h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/214393/original/file-20180411-592-xg1q2h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/214393/original/file-20180411-592-xg1q2h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/214393/original/file-20180411-592-xg1q2h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/214393/original/file-20180411-592-xg1q2h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/214393/original/file-20180411-592-xg1q2h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Broadbeach and Lennons Broadbeach Hotel in 1960, five years before the discovery of an ancient burial ground at neighbouring Broadbeach Waters.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source"> Photographer unknown. Gold Coast City Libraries Local Studies Collection</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But the Gold Coast as it stands today would seem vastly changed to anyone returning to the city after a mere ten years – in part a response to the massive task of hosting the Commonwealth Games, but largely because that is the pace of change here. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/214386/original/file-20180411-560-61422y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/214386/original/file-20180411-560-61422y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/214386/original/file-20180411-560-61422y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=778&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/214386/original/file-20180411-560-61422y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=778&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/214386/original/file-20180411-560-61422y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=778&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/214386/original/file-20180411-560-61422y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=978&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/214386/original/file-20180411-560-61422y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=978&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/214386/original/file-20180411-560-61422y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=978&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The announcement of Rio Vista and Miami Keys in The Courier Mail in 1957.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">State Library of Queensland</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The Gold Coast was named as such in 1958. “South Coast” didn’t quite capture the ambitions of developers like <a href="http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/grant-alfred-frank-gallard-12559">Alfred Grant</a>, who with the help of architect and planner <a href="http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/langer-karl-10783">Karl Langer</a> laid out the first canal estates of Rio Vista and Miami Keys across the mid-1950s in today’s Broadbeach Waters. He inverted the so-called <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radburn_design_housing">Radburn Plan</a> – an American invention in which houses face each other across grass, turning their backs on the street – to create communities over water. </p>
<p>Plenty of decent and half-decent modernist buildings have been raised and razed over the last six or seven decades. But the urban-scale structures of the canal estates are the most enduring monuments to a vision for the Gold Coast. They capture the moment when rapid growth seemed inevitable, but had not yet begun.</p>
<p>In the 1960s, developer-mayor <a href="http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/small-sir-andrew-bruce-11714">Bruce Small</a> (“Think Big, Vote Small!”) set out to cement the image of the Gold Coast as one of uninhibited pleasure: a lifestyle city. His schemes, like Paradise City (another Langer project), were less the standalone townships he envisaged and more a blueprint for the first generation of the Gold Coast’s suburban sprawl. First extending west from the Nerang River, it now reaches as far as it can to both north and south.</p>
<p>More than a century earlier, British settlement of the area had also arrived from these opposite directions. Timber-fellers made their way north along the Pacific coast from Sydney and past Port Macquarie, putting the area into play with the regional and global trade in native Australian timbers. Soldiers and prisoners also travelled south from the <a href="http://www.qhatlas.com.au/convict-brisbane">penal settlement at Brisbane</a>, sometimes with official blessing, but just as often not. </p>
<p>Violence could be met with violence as locals encountered these new visitors, just as trade and the exchange of goods and skills could be conducted peaceably. (Witness the traditional bark-roofed dwellings of those first “explorers”.) The arrival of the British Empire to Moreton Bay changed life there irredeemably – but set the tone for its history from the 1840s onwards.</p>
<p>One image of the Gold Coast’s agricultural history that sticks in my mind dates from 1865. It depicts Pacific Island workers in the fields of the Manchester Cotton Company in what remains today a low-density riverside suburb behind Surfers Paradise. The American Civil War had made a hole in the supply of raw materials for England’s textile industry, which enterprising farmers and local industrialists sought to plug by experimenting with new kinds of crops. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/214381/original/file-20180411-587-rig4jt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/214381/original/file-20180411-587-rig4jt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/214381/original/file-20180411-587-rig4jt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/214381/original/file-20180411-587-rig4jt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/214381/original/file-20180411-587-rig4jt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/214381/original/file-20180411-587-rig4jt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=500&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/214381/original/file-20180411-587-rig4jt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=500&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/214381/original/file-20180411-587-rig4jt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=500&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A drawing of Captain Towns’s ‘Townsvale’ cotton plantation, Veresdale, ca. 1865.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source"> Artist unknown. Gold Coast City Libraries Local Studies Collection</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The experiment ultimately failed. But other crops took their place in a series of efforts to match the qualities of the land and climate with regional and international demand, even as timber continued to be extracted and waterways were tamed for transportation, the mitigation of flooding provoked by timber extraction, transformation of swamplands into farms, and forms of aquaculture. </p>
<p>These successive efforts gave rise to villages, each requiring basic infrastructure and communication, one with the next. Although the impression today is of the Gold Coast as a string of seaside towns melded together through infill growth, these agricultural towns are the basis for the city’s current extent and structure. </p>
<h2>Transformed by tourism</h2>
<p>Among the industries tried and tested on the Gold Coast, none matched the <a href="https://www.destinationgoldcoast.com/corporate/research">prominence or impact of tourism</a>. Its importance has been both economic and cultural, decisively reorientating the city towards the beaches of today’s Broadwater, site of the Gold Coast Aquatic Centre, and, to the south, the Pacific beaches from Main Beach to Tugun. </p>
<p>The first house in coastal Southport was among the most remote outposts of a major sheep station, looking inland rather than towards the ocean. From the 1880s to the 1920s, though, Australia took to the beach with vigour. Southport’s early success as a township is a product of that national reorientation, just as the Gold Coast was later a product of the enthusiastic post-war embrace of the vacation. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/214389/original/file-20180411-536-fux7lx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/214389/original/file-20180411-536-fux7lx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/214389/original/file-20180411-536-fux7lx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=378&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/214389/original/file-20180411-536-fux7lx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=378&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/214389/original/file-20180411-536-fux7lx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=378&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/214389/original/file-20180411-536-fux7lx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=475&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/214389/original/file-20180411-536-fux7lx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=475&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/214389/original/file-20180411-536-fux7lx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=475&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A postcard of Southport Pier looking east from Star of the Sea Convent, ca. 1900.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Photographer unknown. Gold Coast City Libraries Local Studies Collection</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The proliferation of motels, caravan parks and travellers’ lodges was already marked by the 1950s. By the 1960s these had started giving way to apartment towers of ten, 20, 40 floors in height. </p>
<p>It all happened quickly and with few controls. This gave the Gold Coast a <a href="https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1300&dat=19870209&id=hQJVAAAAIBAJ&sjid=35MDAAAAIBAJ&pg=3890,4857476&hl=en">reputation as a developers’ playground</a>. It gave it, too, its distinctive shape. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/214395/original/file-20180412-584-1yzguvn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/214395/original/file-20180412-584-1yzguvn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/214395/original/file-20180412-584-1yzguvn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=407&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/214395/original/file-20180412-584-1yzguvn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=407&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/214395/original/file-20180412-584-1yzguvn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=407&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/214395/original/file-20180412-584-1yzguvn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=511&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/214395/original/file-20180412-584-1yzguvn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=511&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/214395/original/file-20180412-584-1yzguvn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=511&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Pacific Highway, Surfers Paradise, in 1965, when the development boom was picking up pace.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Photographer: George Barnes/Gold Coast City Libraries Local Studies Collection</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Architect Bill Heather, in the late 1970s, likened the city to 19th-century Chicago: not in the scale of building, but in the rapidity of change. The cranes have, over the decades, come and gone, always, though, offering a visible sign of the Gold Coast’s economic health. </p>
<p>Over time, though, the trend has been to build higher and higher. Integrated resort towers fulfilled the desires of their investors and residents while altering one by one the city’s skyline. This, too, has played out at ground level, with the Gold Coast’s urban figure changing with each new subdivision, shopping centre and railway station. </p>
<p>The cameras trained on the Commonwealth Games expose this fascinating variety and depth, but this is easily overlooked if we see it as a simple dichotomy of a city core and its suburbs; Surfers Paradise and everywhere else. </p>
<hr>
<p><em>This article is based on observations presented to the Commonwealth Club at the residence of the Australian Ambassador to Italy in Rome on April 12.</em></p>
<p><em>This article has been updated to correct a caption error and clarify the location of the Gold Coast.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/94504/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Andrew Leach received funding for the research from which this article was drawn from the Australian Research Council, as well as Griffith University (an official partner of the Commonwealth Games). His new book about his research, Gold Coast: City and Architecture (Lund Humphries), is published this month.</span></em></p>Behind the built-up glitz of Surfers Paradise lies a deep history that has been written and overwritten in successive layers that have become thinner and thinner as time goes on.Andrew Leach, Wallace Fellow, Villa I Tatti, the Harvard University Center for Italian Renaissance Studies, and Professor of Architecture, University of SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/944082018-04-05T02:30:49Z2018-04-05T02:30:49ZFrom ‘good temper and pluck’ to fierce international rivalry: the story of netball<p>Commonwealth Games netball is effectively a proxy world championship. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.gc2018.com/article/upsets-expected-competitive-netball-field">In the 2018 lineup</a> of 12 competing teams are world champs Australia (the <a href="https://netball.com.au/team/2018-quad-series-team/">Diamonds</a>), world runners up New Zealand (the <a href="https://www.silverferns.co.nz/">Silver Ferns</a>) and the remaining teams that make up the <a href="http://netball.org/events-and-results/current-world-rankings">world’s top ten ranked countries</a>. </p>
<p>The Australia – New Zealand rivalry has a long history of close clashes. Incredibly fit, the women are physically strong and up to 188cm (over 6 feet) tall. They put their bodies on the line to win. </p>
<p>But that’s not how netball started. It was <a href="http://library.la84.org/SportsLibrary/SportingTraditions/2001/st1801/ST1801i.pdf">designed as a game</a> that allowed women to wear modest clothing, and that did not place undue physical, competitive or moral demands on players. </p>
<p>It’s a bit different now. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/can-the-commonwealth-games-change-perceptions-of-the-gold-coast-94170">Can the Commonwealth Games change perceptions of the Gold Coast?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Like basketball, but different</h2>
<p>The sport of netball is an English invention that traces its roots to basketball. </p>
<p>In 1891 an American physical educator, <a href="https://www.biography.com/people/james-a-naismith-9420059">James Naismith</a>, created the court and ball game we now know as basketball. It was designed for students linked to the Young Men’s Christian Association, or YMCA. </p>
<p>However, at the time women’s dress conventions of ankle length skirts and wrist length shirts <a href="http://library.la84.org/SportsLibrary/SportingTraditions/2001/st1801/ST1801i.pdf">hindered their physical movements</a>, and meant that playing basketball with dribbling, and throwing long passes was difficult.</p>
<p>So some female educators formed a modified version of the game. Instead of changing the female attire to fit the needs of the basketball rules, they modified the game to fit within the accepted feminine practices. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/213077/original/file-20180404-189827-1p88prl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/213077/original/file-20180404-189827-1p88prl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=370&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/213077/original/file-20180404-189827-1p88prl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=370&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/213077/original/file-20180404-189827-1p88prl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=370&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/213077/original/file-20180404-189827-1p88prl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=465&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/213077/original/file-20180404-189827-1p88prl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=465&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/213077/original/file-20180404-189827-1p88prl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=465&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Glennie School netball team, Toowoomba, Queensland, 1924.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/statelibraryqueensland/39750259215/in/photolist-GMYJi3-23yAtbP-7Ndod6-GMYJsm">statelibraryqueensland/flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Women’s basketball, as netball was originally known, emerged as an identifiable sport in the late 1890s when the rules of dribbling were omitted, and the inaugural “<a href="http://library.la84.org/SportsLibrary/SportingTraditions/1991/st0801/st0801e.pdf">rules for women’s basketball</a>” were established. Under these rules the court was divided into three zones, the number of players were increased from five to nine, a smaller ball was used, and there were two umpires, two scorers and two timekeepers.</p>
<p>The modern game of netball still features three zones and two umpires, but has seven players on court. </p>
<h2>Netball reaches Australia</h2>
<p>Netball – then still known as women’s basketball – was introduced to Australian women in the <a href="http://library.la84.org/SportsLibrary/SportingTraditions/2001/st1801/ST1801i.pdf">late 1890s</a>, when games were first played in school around Melbourne. </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/213075/original/file-20180404-189807-15tauw1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/213075/original/file-20180404-189807-15tauw1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=770&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/213075/original/file-20180404-189807-15tauw1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=770&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/213075/original/file-20180404-189807-15tauw1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=770&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/213075/original/file-20180404-189807-15tauw1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=968&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/213075/original/file-20180404-189807-15tauw1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=968&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/213075/original/file-20180404-189807-15tauw1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=968&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Netball players in action in Brisbane, circa 1940.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/statelibraryqueensland/4461115477/">statelibraryqueensland/flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA) – the sister organisation of the YMCA – was instrumental in progressing the game in Australia during the early part of the 20th century. YWCA introduced netball to school children, and also formed women’s competitions in the <a href="https://opus.lib.uts.edu.au/bitstream/10453/19822/1/lstwp2.pdf">broader community</a>. </p>
<p>Early Australian versions of the game were played with <a href="http://library.la84.org/SportsLibrary/SportingTraditions/2001/st1801/ST1801i.pdf">makeshift equipment</a> including broomsticks, wet paper bags, and washing baskets. The rules were also flexible, and often passed on via word of mouth from those who had prior experience in playing the game. </p>
<p>Netball was initially played indoors but <a href="http://library.la84.org/SportsLibrary/SportingTraditions/1991/st0801/st0801e.pdf">soon included outdoor matches</a> as the number of participants were outgrowing the venues they were originally playing in. Outdoor courts were an important contributor to the game’s early growth since they were easy to construct, and not costly to maintain.</p>
<h2>A game for women</h2>
<p>Netball was introduced into Australia as a preferred alternative to women’s field hockey. This occurred on the grounds that it was less demanding, had less “rough and tumble”, and was perceived as a less masculine activity for young girls. Netball was viewed as an <a href="https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/9781134870141">ideal women’s game</a> since it did not require excessive strength, aggression, or physical exertion.</p>
<p>The belief that netball was not overly competitive and was played with a cooperative and “ladylike” spirit reflected the <a href="http://library.la84.org/SportsLibrary/SportingTraditions/2001/st1801/ST1801i.pdf">accepted notion of femininity of the time</a>. Netball was seen as a space for the socialisation of women within specific behavioural boundaries, and as a means through which to develop sound morals, strong leadership and exemplary citizenship. It aimed to instil a set of values that emphasised respectability and polite behaviour. </p>
<p>A 1916 publication on the game <a href="http://library.la84.org/SportsLibrary/SportingTraditions/2001/st1801/ST1801i.pdf">stated</a>: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>good temper, pluck, determination, extreme agility of mind and body, are traits universally found among Net-Ball players, and best of all perhaps, that inexpressibility happy attitude, esprit de corps. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>It was assumed that netball would socialise women into the norms, values, and manners of middle-class culture. These elements made the sport an acceptable past-time hobby for women to engage with, since it did not challenge ideals regarding femininity and competitiveness. </p>
<p>The idea that netball is a women’s game is still evident in the beliefs of many Australians.</p>
<h2>No threat to men</h2>
<p>From the outset, netball was developed and promulgated <a href="http://library.la84.org/SportsLibrary/SportingTraditions/2001/st1801/ST1801i.pdf">without male association or supervision</a>. </p>
<p>The control of teams and competitions remained with women, and men were denied participation as players, coaches and umpires. Women were also selected for all the major management or administration positions. The consensus was that women’s interests would be best served by limiting the game’s administration to women only.</p>
<p>Netball has been highly feminised from its beginnings. With men excluded from the netball scene, some believe this actually advantaged netball’s development. It meant that netball was isolated from male sporting arenas, and <a href="https://opus.lib.uts.edu.au/bitstream/10453/19822/1/lstwp2.pdf">did not intrude</a> on the sacred spaces of male-dominated sports such as soccer, cricket, rugby codes and Australian rules football. </p>
<p>Netball did not duplicate male sport practices, and <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09523369408713870">did not threaten men’s sport</a>.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-commonwealth-games-are-an-opportunity-to-face-up-to-the-history-of-colonialism-93752">The Commonwealth Games are an opportunity to face up to the history of colonialism</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>The modern game</h2>
<p>It was <a href="http://library.la84.org/SportsLibrary/SportingTraditions/1991/st0801/st0801e.pdf">not until 1970</a> that the game known as women’s basketball in Australia officially became netball. </p>
<p>Although netball is still often stereotyped as a women’s game, the rules and expected behaviours of the game have eased. Societal expectations and ideologies surrounding femininity and sport have been challenged. </p>
<p>The traditional expectation that spectators be quiet, players be polite, and everyone else well-mannered have been loosened, and as a result women can be just as competitive as their male sporting counterparts.</p>
<p>Netball continues to be a popular female participation sport, especially in rural and regional areas of Australia where there are restricted leisure opportunities. <a href="https://netball.com.au/netball-participation-numbers-dominant-capping-off-a-massive-year-in-the-sport/">Figures from 2016</a> show that over half a million adult women play netball in Australia each year, along with more than 300,000 girls. </p>
<p>The social team and club environment of netball contribute not just to physical health, but also the <a href="https://ijbnpa.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1479-5868-10-98">psychological and social health</a> of participants and build healthy individuals and communities.</p>
<p>At the Commonwealth Games, <a href="https://www.gc2018.com/sport/netball">netball matches</a> in Pools A (including Australia) and B (including New Zealand) start on April 5, with finals scheduled for April 14 and 15.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/94408/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rochelle Eime receives funding from the Government of Victoria, Vic Health and Netball Victoria. She holds a joint academic position at Victoria University. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Bob Stewart does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Commonwealth Games netball is an intensely physical and competitive affair. It’s a far cry from netball’s roots – the game was designed to shape women into model middle-class citizens.Rochelle Eime, Associate Professor of Sport Participation, Federation University AustraliaBob Stewart, Visiting Fellow, La Trobe UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/938802018-04-04T21:27:49Z2018-04-04T21:27:49ZWhy the Commonwealth Games still matter<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/213188/original/file-20180404-189816-1e05l2g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Fireworks go off at the opening ceremonies for the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>There was a buzz of excitement in the air for athletes, coaches and volunteers — and for me — when the 2018 Commonwealth Games started with spectacular opening ceremonies in Gold Coast, Australia. But despite the glitzy ceremony, the shine of the Commonwealth Games appears to have dulled.</p>
<p>There is declining media coverage for these Games, while a cultural shift has lead many to question the merit of the Commonwealth.</p>
<p>Considering the waning interest, why do the Commonwealth Games still exist?</p>
<p>The Commonwealth is rooted in its <a href="http://nationalpost.com/news/canada/how-exactly-does-the-commonwealth-work-anyway">historical past</a> of sovereign and independent states that formally made up the British Empire and its traditional trade relations between member states.</p>
<h2>An equal voice</h2>
<p>What sets the Commonwealth apart from other assembled nations is that all members share a commitment to democracy, humanity and equality. Unlike the United Nations, all countries have an equal voice, no matter their size.</p>
<p>This ensures even a small country like Nauru, with a population of just 10,000, has a voice as equal as India’s, with a population of more than 1.2 billion.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/213211/original/file-20180404-189801-kfkxxx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/213211/original/file-20180404-189801-kfkxxx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=422&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/213211/original/file-20180404-189801-kfkxxx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=422&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/213211/original/file-20180404-189801-kfkxxx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=422&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/213211/original/file-20180404-189801-kfkxxx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=531&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/213211/original/file-20180404-189801-kfkxxx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=531&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/213211/original/file-20180404-189801-kfkxxx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=531&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Australian swimmer Susie O'Neill waves as she runs into Carrara Stadium with the Queen’s Baton during the opening ceremony for the 2018 Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast, Australia.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The Commonwealth Games celebrates this commonality every four years. In fact, the <a href="http://thecommonwealth.org/media/news/sporting-games-sporting-movement-all-communities">Commonwealth Sport Movement</a> is an extension of the Games. Through the power of sports, there is continuous engagement with communities in between the Games years, embracing and celebrating diversity while promoting sport for development. Evolving with the times, <a href="https://thecgf.com/our-relevance">the modern Commonwealth vision</a> is “building peaceful, sustainable and prosperous communities globally, by inspiring Commonwealth Athletes to drive the impact and ambition of all Commonwealth Citizens through sport.” </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/JA3m7Et6NCI?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">The Case for the Commonwealth Games.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>A recent study <a href="https://www.degruyter.com/downloadpdf/j/pcssr.2017.73.issue-1/pcssr-2017-0004/pcssr-2017-0004.pdf">exploring positive sports diplomacy</a> found the Commonwealth Games effectively foster co-operation and friendship among member nations and territories, successfully achieving its objective.</p>
<p>The Commonwealth Games have a long history that dates back as far as 1891, five years before the birth of the modern Olympic Games. An English minister, Rev. Astley Cooper, proposed that a <a href="https://www.topendsports.com/events/commonwealth-games/history.htm">Pan-Britannic-Pan-Anglican Contest and Festival should occur every four years as a means of “increasing the goodwill and good understanding of the British Empire</a>.”</p>
<h2>First held in Canada</h2>
<p>However, it would take three decades before this notion was realized. In 1930, Melville Marks (Bobby) Robinson, a Canadian sports editor and official in athletics, championed the first Games which took place in Hamilton, Ontario, with 400 athletes from 11 countries participating. Known as the British Empire Games at the time, this event also introduced various hosting concepts including the <a href="https://journals-scholarsportal-info.ezproxy.lib.ryerson.ca/pdf/17460263/v34i0003/390_baractbeacg1.xml">first Athletes Village, awards podium, volunteerism and media press box</a>.</p>
<p>Each time Canada has hosted the Commonwealth Games has been a game-changer to the Commonwealth movement.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/213218/original/file-20180404-189821-inbuhu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/213218/original/file-20180404-189821-inbuhu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/213218/original/file-20180404-189821-inbuhu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=455&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/213218/original/file-20180404-189821-inbuhu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=455&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/213218/original/file-20180404-189821-inbuhu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=455&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/213218/original/file-20180404-189821-inbuhu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=572&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/213218/original/file-20180404-189821-inbuhu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=572&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/213218/original/file-20180404-189821-inbuhu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=572&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Roger Bannister of England is supported by handlers after winning the so-called Miracle Mile race at the British Empire Games held in Vancouver in 1954.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP WIREPHOTO)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The 1954 Empire Games in Vancouver featured one of the first live televised sporting events in Canada — the iconic <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/archives/entry/vancouvers-four-minute-miracle-mile">Miracle Mile</a>. Three months after England’s Roger Bannister became the first person to run the mile under four minutes, he faced off against John Landy from Australia, who had since bettered Bannister’s time. Bannister won the showdown in what is still considered one of the greatest races of all time.</p>
<h2>Exposure for para athletes</h2>
<p>Another game-changing moment was the renaming of the British Empire Games to the “Commonwealth Games” at the 1978 Games in Edmonton. And in 1994, the Commonwealth Games in Victoria, B.C., was the first time able-bodied and para athletes competed in the same Games.</p>
<p>Despite the central role Canada has played in the Commonwealth Games, there appears to be a lack of knowledge, awareness and value of these Games.</p>
<p>Perhaps the declining media exposure over the years may be partly to blame. In the past, CBC provided full coverage. This year, the only way Canadians will be able to see the events live will be if they sign up for <a href="http://nationalpost.com/pmn/sports-pmn/cbc-enters-agreement-with-dazn-to-show-commonwealth-games-highlights">DAZN, a subscription-based live streaming platform — CBC will only show highlights.</a></p>
<p>The symbiotic relationships of sport and media offers sport a promotional platform. To illustrate this point, a moment that will forever stay with me was watching Donovan Bailey, Glenroy Gilbert, Carlton Chambers and Bruny Surin win gold in the men’s 4x100 metres at the 1994 Victoria Commonwealth Games. I had just begun training in the high jump and found myself glued to the television, paying particular attention to athletics.</p>
<h2>An inspiring event</h2>
<p>As I watched the men’s relay team take their victory lap with the Canadian flag, I was deeply inspired. In that moment, I decided I too wanted to represent Canada at the Commonwealth Games and perhaps even the Olympic Games. I had no reason to believe I would ever be good enough to be a national team athlete, but it ignited a desire in me.</p>
<p>To my surprise, four years later I was representing Canada at the Commonwealth Games in Malaysia – my first of four Commonwealth Games. Eventually, I too would take a victory lap around the track waving proudly the Canadian flag when I won the gold medal at the 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/213199/original/file-20180404-189795-58arv1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/213199/original/file-20180404-189795-58arv1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=407&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/213199/original/file-20180404-189795-58arv1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=407&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/213199/original/file-20180404-189795-58arv1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=407&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/213199/original/file-20180404-189795-58arv1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=512&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/213199/original/file-20180404-189795-58arv1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=512&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/213199/original/file-20180404-189795-58arv1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=512&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Canada’s Nicole Forrester, the author of this article, celebrates after winning the women’s high jump final during the 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi, India.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Lack of media coverage of a sporting event is like a tree falling in the forest. If no one is around to hear the tree fall, does it make a sound? Likewise, if coverage of a mega sporting event like the Commonwealth Games is not freely accessible and wide-reaching, can the Games be said to exist or even be important?</p>
<h2>71 nations at the Games</h2>
<p>The Commonwealth Games include athletes from 71 nations and territories, estimated to be approximately one third of the world’s population. </p>
<p>The 2018 Gold Coast Games will be the most inclusive international Games in history. These Games will be the first international Games to achieve gender equality, with the same number of medal events for women and men; the first international Games to have a reconciliation action plan, respecting and celebrating Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures; and the largest integrated para-sport program in Commonwealth Games history.</p>
<p>The Commonwealth Games also play an integral role in an athlete’s pursuit of excellence. Certainly, I attribute my ability of being ranked in the Top 10 in my sport and becoming an Olympian because of the Commonwealth Games. The depth of competition is high, and winning a medal at these Games can signify for an athlete they have arrived, and are among the best in the world at their sport.</p>
<h2>Building confidence</h2>
<p>Most importantly, this can go a long way in enhancing the confidence of an athlete — the cornerstone behind any great performance. In fact, <a href="http://www.commonwealthgames.ca/news/road-rio-glasgow-2014-rio-2016.html">53 per cent of Canadian athletes who competed at the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games were on the 2016 Rio Olympic Games. And of the 22 medals won at the Rio Games, 14 of them came from athletes who competed at the 2014 Glasgow Games</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/213222/original/file-20180404-189804-e1a557.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/213222/original/file-20180404-189804-e1a557.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=428&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/213222/original/file-20180404-189804-e1a557.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=428&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/213222/original/file-20180404-189804-e1a557.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=428&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/213222/original/file-20180404-189804-e1a557.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=538&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/213222/original/file-20180404-189804-e1a557.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=538&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/213222/original/file-20180404-189804-e1a557.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=538&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Canada’s flag-bearer diver Meaghan Benfeito walks into Carrara Stadium as Canadian athletes take part in the Parade of Nations Commonwealth Games 2018 opening ceremony in Gold Coast, Australia.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The Commonwealth Games serve as a gateway to podium performances at the Olympic Games. Athletes are able to assess how they are they are progressing midway through the quadrennial cycle while also comparing how they measure up to their competitors while taking part in a mega sporting event. </p>
<p>For many Canadian athletes competing in Gold Coast, these Games are a direct <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/sports/commonwealthgames/news/canada-momentum-commonwealth-games-2018-gold-coast-1.4596560">pathway for 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games</a>. For non-Olympic sports, these Games may be the pinnacle event in their sporting career. The Commonwealth Games are not to be taken lightly.</p>
<p>The Commonwealth Games are to Canada what the Olympic Games are to Greece. They exist because Canada created them. The Games continues to exist because they are driven by shared values, offering excellence both on and off the field of play. For those reasons and more, the Commonwealth Games are still important.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/93880/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nicole Forrester is a member of the Athletes Commission for Commonwealth Games Federation, as well as the Athlete Representative and a Board of Directors member for Commonwealth Games Canada.</span></em></p>The Commonwealth Games do not get the same level of media coverage as the Olympics. But a one-time Commonwealth gold medallist says the Games are still an important athletic competition.Nicole W. Forrester, Assistant Professor, School of Media, Toronto Metropolitan UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/934882018-03-25T19:00:29Z2018-03-25T19:00:29ZThe Commonwealth Games of exclusion: what are authorities so afraid of?<p>Sport, race and racism are entwined. It was always so, and it will always will be so – even in the Commonwealth Games, the event we <a href="https://www.gc2018.com/history-games">dub the “friendly games”</a>. </p>
<p>In a throwback to the 1982 Commonwealth Games in Brisbane, preparations for next month’s event on the Gold Coast are <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-03-15/homelessness-increases-across-nsw/9547686">forcing the homeless</a> to move out of town, and even out of the state – to Tweed Heads in New South Wales. Women who run soup kitchens for the poor and indigent have been told to close their shops until these “friendly games” are over.</p>
<h2>Australia, the Commonwealth Games, and race</h2>
<p>In the 1930s, Australia’s sporting authorities deemed the previously named Empire Games worthier than the Olympics. Empire above all else, Australia second, was the motto.</p>
<p>Some British officials even <a href="https://books.google.com.au/books?id=IRE4DwAAQBAJ&pg=PT48&lpg=PT48&dq=%E2%80%9Ca+narrower+local+patriotism%E2%80%9D&source=bl&ots=FfzVdHezhX&sig=oFYdQ9wxJEnF1axBSzPK3ojp6vs&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiEttfElPzZAhUBTrwKHXiSCzAQ6AEIJzAA#v=snippet&q=british%20empire%20team&f=false">advocated a British Empire Olympic team</a>. The Empire Games appealed to “<a href="https://books.google.com.au/books?id=IRE4DwAAQBAJ&pg=PT48&lpg=PT48&dq=%E2%80%9Ca+narrower+local+patriotism%E2%80%9D&source=bl&ots=FfzVdHezhX&sig=oFYdQ9wxJEnF1axBSzPK3ojp6vs&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiEttfElPzZAhUBTrwKHXiSCzAQ6AEIJzAA#v=onepage&q=%E2%80%9Ca%20narrower%20local%20patriotism%E2%80%9D&f=false">a narrower local patriotism</a>” and that was the healthier way to go, The Sydney Morning Herald editorialised, hinting that Australia avoid intimate contact with “foreigners” at the Olympics. But all that changed after the second world war. </p>
<p>The “friendly games” have since tended to be the tense and the nervous games. Race has marred several events. Australia made extraordinary efforts to keep South Africa and (the then) Rhodesia in the fold when no-one else wanted to have dealings with them. </p>
<p>A near-calamitous era for sport resulted from the highly divisive Springbok rugby union tours to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2016/oct/09/the-1971-springboks-coming-between-these-blokes-and-their-sport-was-the-most-dangerous-thing-ive-done">Australia</a> (1971) and to <a href="https://nzhistory.govt.nz/culture/1981-springbok-tour">New Zealand</a> (1981), the 28-African nation <a href="http://montrealgazette.com/sports/montreal-olympics-african-boycott-of-1976-games-changed-the-world">boycott of the Montreal Olympics</a> (1976) – because of New Zealand–South Africa rugby ties – and the 61-nation <a href="https://2001-2009.state.gov/r/pa/ho/time/qfp/104481.htm">boycott of the Moscow Olympics</a> because of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan (1980). </p>
<p>Many will remember Commonwealth Games head Arthur Tunstall <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/sport/arthur-tunstalls-reign-of-error-as-commonwealth-games-chief-20170405-gvdz23.html">threatening to punish</a> Cathy Freeman for wrapping herself in an Aboriginal flag in Canada at the 1994 Games. This was hardly the friendliest event on racial matters, and we can tie them to Moscow.</p>
<p>The Moscow Olympics in 1980 was held at the time of Western outcry at the treatment of “dissidents”, <a href="http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Columnists/Borderline-Views-Remembering-the-Soviet-refuseniks-310720">of <em>refuseniks</em></a> – those refused the right to emigrate to Israel and elsewhere. Aimed mainly at Jews, refusal also applied to Ukrainian Greek Catholics, Jehovah’s Witnesses and Volga Germans. By the time of the Olympics, the ban on Jews had been lifted (largely through Australian-led pressure), but some were still being held as financial hostages. </p>
<p>To give the appearance and the message that Moscow was “clean”, the Soviet regime removed all the “unsightly ones” from that city for the two weeks of sport.</p>
<h2>Remembering the protests of 1982</h2>
<p>Two years after the Moscow Olympics, in September 1982, Brisbane hosted the Commonwealth Games. At the helm of draconian government was Joh Bjelke-Petersen, a fundamentalist Lutheran and a man intolerant of democracy and its institutions. He ruled Queensland from 1968 to 1987. </p>
<p>Bjelke-Petersen <a href="https://books.google.com.au/books?id=G60Cgsnzc7AC&pg=PA225&lpg=PA225&dq=martial+law+1971+queensland&source=bl&ots=ENa3mVD1qk&sig=79MDjlHvxEf_3tvwJs60eYGe__0&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwixjr76q_zZAhXDUrwKHdJ3D7UQ6AEIczAJ#v=onepage&q=martial%20law%201971%20queensland&f=false">placed all of Queensland</a> under a state of emergency, declaring martial law, when the Springbok rugby team toured, disastrously for all, in 1971. He made dubious history as the first leader in a democracy to declare a state of emergency in peacetime over a sporting event. Martial law reigned for three weeks to enable matches, with indemnities given to all police against lawsuits.</p>
<p>The Bjelke-Petersen government passed the <a href="https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/15140198?q&versionId=17809259">Commonwealth Games Act</a>, a statute not commented on then or later. The law ensured Brisbane was free of Aboriginal people and their “friends”. </p>
<p>Possibly the Western world’s most punitive law on sport, police had the power under the act to declare a state of emergency. It also gave specially deputised non-police full police powers and enabled seizure of people and property “on suspicion”.</p>
<p>The act provided for palm, foot, toe and voice-printing, with a A$2,000 fine or two years’ jail for offences under the act, and disallowed any consequent criminal or civil charges against real or “temporary” police. But human rights organisations – especially the vociferous rights body in Queensland – said nary a word on this statute.</p>
<p>Bjelke-Petersen was adamant there would be no Aboriginal land rights marches in Brisbane at that time, and the statute was meant to ensure that. By coincidence or not, the ABC ran a Saturday-night Four Corners special program on land rights mid-Games, and that led to much press publicity. </p>
<p>I was there, reporting on the event for The Australian. Two land rights marches <a href="https://collections.museumvictoria.com.au/articles/2766">took place</a>, peacefully.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/211465/original/file-20180321-165557-aql49b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/211465/original/file-20180321-165557-aql49b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/211465/original/file-20180321-165557-aql49b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/211465/original/file-20180321-165557-aql49b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/211465/original/file-20180321-165557-aql49b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/211465/original/file-20180321-165557-aql49b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/211465/original/file-20180321-165557-aql49b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Land rights marches attracted foreign media attention at the 1982 Commonwealth Games in Brisbane.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Museums Victoria</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Interestingly – but not surprisingly – the British, Canadian and New Zealand journalists were much more interested in learning about the Aboriginal story than in the sporting contests, and I was able to help them file stories of greater import than the discus thrower’s ankle.</p>
<p>Aboriginal protests didn’t stop or disrupt the Games, and police generally behaved politely. True, there was a great deal of camera scrutiny of events. The land rights marches hastened native title change in Queensland, with the Mabo case <a href="https://aiatsis.gov.au/explore/articles/mabo-case">starting that year</a> and ending in native title in 1992.</p>
<h2>In America as in Australia</h2>
<p>Atlanta was the low-water mark of a city using <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/1996/07/01/us/as-olympics-approach-homeless-are-not-feeling-at-home-in-atlanta.html">anti-loitering statutes to keep it “clean” during the 1996 Olympics</a>. Whole suburbs were vacuumed to eliminate the “black spots”, literally.</p>
<p>So, two decades on, what are sports officials and governmental authorities still so afraid of? That we will be seen as a normal country, with normal problems like poverty, homelessness and hunger? </p>
<p>Are we really still mired in the mentality of yesteryear — that the deranged, the mentally ill, the vagrant must be kept out of sight lest they remind us of human frailty?</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/93488/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Colin Tatz does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Preparations for next month’s Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast are pushing homeless people out of town, and out of the state. Sadly, that’s not unusual for events of this sort.Colin Tatz, ANU Visiting Professor, Politics and International Relations, Australian National UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/893082018-01-29T01:27:53Z2018-01-29T01:27:53ZThe ties that (still) bind: the enduring tendrils of the British Empire<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/201099/original/file-20180108-195527-flqw2k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The Commonwealth Games at the Gold Coast will set the scene for a year of challenges for this grouping of nations.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>This piece is republished with permission from <a href="https://griffithreview.com/editions/commonwealth-now/">Commonwealth Now</a>, the 59th edition of Griffith Review. Articles are a little longer than most published on The Conversation, presenting an in-depth analysis on the relevance of the Commonwealth of Nations in today’s geopolitical landscape.</em></p>
<hr>
<p>Twelve years after William the Conqueror sailed across what’s now known as the English Channel to invade England, kill the king and claim the crown in 1066, he constructed the Tower of London. </p>
<p>Defiant locals viewed the stone tower, built into the remnants of the city’s Roman wall, as a symbol of the oppression of the continental regime. For the new monarch it was an important defensive hold on the north bank of the Thames, a useful place for temporary retreat if needed.</p>
<p>Over the following millennia the tower, more than any other building, has represented the power of the throne: a palace, treasury, public-record office, mint, menagerie and, most famously, a prison – the place where opponents were imprisoned and, sometimes, executed. </p>
<p>Now it has more than a touch of Disneyland – a World Heritage site <a href="http://alva.org.uk/details.cfm?p=607">visited by</a> nearly 3 million people a year, and home to the crown jewels, the most glittering embodiment of a former empire.</p>
<p>Sentiment, glamour, heritage and power are a heady mix, and over the past decade the tower has gone from being a dour embodiment of imperial might to the place that one in ten of those who come to the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/the-most-visited-cities-around-the-world-in-2017-2017-9?IR=T/#3-paris-france-161-million-international-visitors-28">second-most-visited city in the world</a> pay to see. </p>
<p>It is one of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historic_Royal_Palaces">six historic Royal Palaces</a>, a royal charity with commercial and political clout. This was symbolised most compellingly in 2014 when the precinct <a href="https://www.hrp.org.uk/tower-of-london/history-and-stories/tower-of-london-remembers/">was covered</a> with nearly 1 million red ceramic poppies – one for each of the 888,246 British and Commonwealth soldiers killed in the first world war.</p>
<p>The unexpected and overwhelming success of Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red, and subsequent sale of each flower, presented the challenge of success for the tower’s management. What next could match this achievement? </p>
<p>In 2017, I was a member of a group of international cultural leaders invited to meet with the tower’s executive to brainstorm new ideas that could help continue this success. We were a diverse group of artists and administrators from many countries. </p>
<p>Those from the former colonies – South Africa, Uganda, India, Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, New Zealand and Australia – had plenty of suggestions: </p>
<ul>
<li><p>include the history of the empire (those jewels…)</p></li>
<li><p>invite artists from the Commonwealth to create and present works that engage with history</p></li>
<li><p>provide new points of connection with the City of London, and with local communities in East London – many of whom trace their heritage to lands once ruled by Britannia.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>The initial reaction was swift and somewhat unexpected. “What has that got to do with the tower?” one executive asked, his face revealing his genuine astonishment. </p>
<p>To those of us from the former colonies, who had grown up in places named for long-forgotten monarchs and were quickly discovering how much we had in common, it was straightforward. The empire had been built in the name of, and to the benefit of, the Crown. In country after country, on five continents, when independence was granted or won, the royals presided and then departed.</p>
<p>By the end of the day, it seemed there was a polite hint that this unexpected idea might possibly be something that might be considered – maybe. None of us left the meeting thinking it was likely the tower would include a more robust representation of the legacy of empire anytime soon, let alone attempt to reconcile what had been done in the name of the Crown. </p>
<p>As those who opposed William the Conqueror had learnt, like their successors in far-flung lands who were later subjected to British rule: to the victor goes the spoils.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/201096/original/file-20180108-195531-1xhvtex.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/201096/original/file-20180108-195531-1xhvtex.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=411&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/201096/original/file-20180108-195531-1xhvtex.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=411&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/201096/original/file-20180108-195531-1xhvtex.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=411&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/201096/original/file-20180108-195531-1xhvtex.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=516&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/201096/original/file-20180108-195531-1xhvtex.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=516&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/201096/original/file-20180108-195531-1xhvtex.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=516&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">In 2014, the Tower of London precinct was covered with nearly 1 million red ceramic poppies.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Reuters/Toby Melville</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>A changed power balance</h2>
<p>We are so accustomed to hearing about American exceptionalism that British exceptionalism is rarely discussed. But, as the epigenetic precursor of the American condition, it deserves consideration. It may help make sense of the Brexit vote, which mystifies those not steeped in centuries of British myth-making and its resurgent Europe-as-other drumbeat over the past two decades.</p>
<p>It did not take long after the <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/politics/eu_referendum/results">narrow vote</a> to leave the European Union was declared in June 2015 before a new phrase intruded into public discussion. </p>
<p>Seventy years after the war that marked the end of the British Empire, a quaint, ahistorical notion emerged. In the jargon of the day, it was time for the Commonwealth to become Empire 2.0: a sphere of influence with one-third of the world’s population, one-fifth of global trade, and the dominant global language.</p>
<p>It did not take long before British political leaders were invoking this revival, reciting Rudyard Kipling on journeys abroad, conjuring a nostalgic vision of a wealthy mother country enriched by trade with the former colonies. </p>
<p>No-one bothered to ask whether this vision was shared by the independent states that had once been part of an empire. When they did, the answer was unexpected. The power balance had changed – trade with Europe, China and the US were more important.</p>
<p>If there is a moment that marks the end of the British Empire it was when the Royal Yacht Britannia sailed out of Hong Kong’s Victoria Harbour at midnight on June 30, 1997, on her last voyage. Charles, Prince of Wales, was there to oversee the <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-40426827">handover to China</a>, or what he called <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/a-breach-of-the-princes-trust-charles-and-the-great-chinese-takeaway-6108450.html">“the great Chinese takeaway”</a>, with accompanying displays of military might and unlikely promises of “one country with two systems”.</p>
<p>On the flight back to London, Charles wrote in his diary that Prime Minister Tony Blair:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>… understands only too well the identity problem that Britain has with the loss of an empire and an inability to know what to do next. Introspection, cynicism and criticism seem to have become the order of the day and clearly he recognises the need to find ways of overcoming apathy and loss of self-belief by finding a fresh national direction.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Charles was surprised to realise that he was seated in business class, and the Labour politicians were on the lower deck of the British Airways jumbo in first class: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Such is the end of empire, I sighed to myself.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Two decades later, as the Empire 2.0 dream gained some traction in Britain, Chinese President Xi Jinping celebrated the anniversary of the handover <a href="http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/2100856/full-text-president-xi-jinpings-speech-one-country-two">by stressing</a> the overwhelming importance of China being “one country”. </p>
<p>At that moment it was unequivocally clear that power and influence had moved east. Beijing was now the emerging global epicentre.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/201097/original/file-20180108-195558-8yqt89.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/201097/original/file-20180108-195558-8yqt89.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/201097/original/file-20180108-195558-8yqt89.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/201097/original/file-20180108-195558-8yqt89.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/201097/original/file-20180108-195558-8yqt89.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/201097/original/file-20180108-195558-8yqt89.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/201097/original/file-20180108-195558-8yqt89.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">China under Xi Jinping is emerging as the global epicentre.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Reuters/Damir Sagolj</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The decline of British exceptionalism</h2>
<p>The creation in the 1960s of what was called the “New Commonwealth” was an example of British exceptionalism. </p>
<p>The New Commonwealth was conceived as a progressive league of nations with some shared history, values, institutions and language, which came into its own as negotiated settlements and bloody wars of independence in the former colonies concluded in the years after the second world war. Never before had a fallen empire found such an ingenious way to hold on to influence.</p>
<p>The New Commonwealth marked the beginning of a grand experiment. It extended rights and recognised the connection of people from beyond the eight nations that founded the Commonwealth in 1949, to those from former colonies in the rest of the world. </p>
<p>During the years of Empire, the “mother country” had a special appeal, and people gravitated to the “green and pleasant land” in the north Atlantic to study and work. </p>
<p>As the Commonwealth grew, more people came from equatorial lands to work and live in British cities. As novelist Zadie Smith <a href="http://www.nybooks.com/articles/2016/12/22/on-optimism-and-despair/">reflected</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>… to have been raised in London, with, say, Pakistani Muslims in the house next door, Indian Hindus downstairs, and Latvian Jews across the street, is thought of, by others, as evidence of a specific historical social experiment … </p>
<p>Of course, as a child I did not realise that the life I was living was considered in any way provisional or experimental by others: I thought it was just life. And when I wrote a novel about the London I grew up in, I further did not realise that by describing an environment in which people from different places lived relatively peaceably side by side, I was “championing” a situation that was in fact on trial and whose conditions could suddenly be revoked.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Britain changed as a result. But when it <a href="http://www.parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/transformingsociety/tradeindustry/importexport/overview/europe/">joined the Common Market</a> in 1973, the hard work of interrogating and reconciling the past was pushed aside, before a settled understanding of the legacy of empire could be fully realised.</p>
<p>Britain’s leap into Europe cast countries – including Australia and New Zealand – adrift, like teenagers thrown out of home before they were ready. They found new partners and geographic destinies, and the past was buffed with nostalgia.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/201098/original/file-20180108-195555-1y2qlsf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/201098/original/file-20180108-195555-1y2qlsf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/201098/original/file-20180108-195555-1y2qlsf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/201098/original/file-20180108-195555-1y2qlsf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/201098/original/file-20180108-195555-1y2qlsf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=533&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/201098/original/file-20180108-195555-1y2qlsf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=533&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/201098/original/file-20180108-195555-1y2qlsf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=533&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The ‘New Commonwealth’ marked the beginning of a grand experiment.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Reuters/Andrew Winning</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>What now for the Commonwealth?</h2>
<p>The history of the Commonwealth during the period from 1973 to 2015, when Britain shifted focus to Europe – and its four freedoms of movement of people, goods, services and capital – is an interesting story of redefinition, shifting power relations and emerging values. </p>
<p>During those decades, the Commonwealth of Nations and its London-based secretariat pursued, with varying degrees of persuasiveness, an increasingly human-rights-focused agenda: educating, empowering, encouraging the rule of law and sustainability, excluding countries that stepped beyond acceptable norms. </p>
<p>As time went on, the Commonwealth seemed to make less sense. Surveys suggested it was a relic from another age – today, only <a href="http://www.monarchist.org.uk/the-commonwealth.html">16 of the 52 member countries</a> retain the Queen as head of state. The Commonwealth Games endured as an important international sporting fixture, but royal tours became less frequent and the once relatively free movement of people between the former colonies became more complicated.</p>
<p>Expert groups were appointed to test the continuing relevance of the institution in the face of public “indifference”. They recommended reforms to ensure the Commonwealth of Nations might continue to exercise geopolitical and cultural influence. </p>
<p>The tensions between the Global North, and its focus on human rights, and the Global South, which resented any hint of imperialism, took a toll on its legitimacy.</p>
<p>After the underwhelming Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Perth in 2011, The Economist took the advocates of what was to become Empire 2.0 <a href="https://www.economist.com/blogs/bagehot/2011/10/britain-and-eu-3">to task</a>.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Talk of the Commonwealth forming the dynamic, like-minded, free-trading core of a new British global network for prosperity is, to use the technical term, cobblers. The Commonwealth is many things: a talking shop, a useful place to exchange best practice on everything from education for girls to fighting malaria, an occasionally effective forum for putting pressure on regimes to clean up their governance or face the embarrassment of suspension. But it is also seriously dysfunctional.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Following negotiations, a new <a href="http://thecommonwealth.org/our-charter">Commonwealth Charter</a> was signed by the Queen, as head of the organisation, in March 2013. Designed to give new meaning to an institution crafted for another era, it restates democratic and independent values and notes:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>… that in an era of changing economic circumstances and uncertainty, new trade and economic patterns, unprecedented threats to peace and security, and a surge in popular demands for democracy, human rights and broadened economic opportunities, the potential of and need for the Commonwealth – as a compelling force for good and as an effective network for co-operation and for promoting development – has never been greater.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The resilience of the new charter and the commitment of member countries to “mutual respect, inclusiveness, transparency, accountability, legitimacy and responsiveness” will be tested in 2018. The Commonwealth Games at the Gold Coast will set the scene, with an inclusive, competitive, people-to-people exchange, followed by the People’s Forum of civil society groups, and then CHOGM in London in April 2018.</p>
<p>These meetings will consider the many challenges of creating a robust multilateral organisation that represents most of the world’s poorest, most populous and youthful countries, against the uncertain backdrop of succession planning for the new head of the Commonwealth. </p>
<p>Despite the added complication of Brexit negotiations and the nostalgic attachment to past glory, the prospect of Commonwealth becoming Empire 2.0 remains, as The Economist suggested, “cobblers”.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>You can read other essays from Griffith Review’s latest edition <a href="https://griffithreview.com/editions/commonwealth-now/">here</a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/89308/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Julianne Schultz receives funding from Australia Council, Arts Queensland and Copyright Agency.</span></em></p>We are so accustomed to hearing about American exceptionalism that British exceptionalism is rarely discussed.Julianne Schultz, Founding Editor of Griffith REVIEW; Professor, Griffith Centre for Social and Cultural Research, Griffith UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/901812018-01-17T12:53:18Z2018-01-17T12:53:18ZWhy countries should break the crippling cycle of hosting big sporting events<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/202057/original/file-20180116-53310-1ty3zja.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Local residents holding Chinese and Olympic flags attend a rehearsal in Chongli county of Zhangjiakou ahead of the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Reuters/Jason Lee</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>All over the developing world, metropolises are rushing to cement their status as “<a href="https://theconversation.com/in-their-rush-to-become-global-cities-risk-creating-spatial-apartheid-77200">global cities</a>”. <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/global-city">These are</a> metropolitan centres that compete to become important hubs of cultural and economic activity in the interlinked global world. It’s all part of what scholars describe as “<a href="https://newleftreview.org/II/108/melissa-myambo-africa-s-global-city">the modernity game</a>”. And sport is rapidly emerging as an important way to display modernity and earn the “global city” mantle. </p>
<p>In earlier times, Western countries played host to massive events like the <a href="http://time.com/79600/the-fall-of-the-fair/">World’s Fair</a> to cement their status as modern world cities. Non-Western countries were left to “<a href="http://theyonseijournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/spring-2013_critical-review-of-modernization-theory.pdf">catch up</a>” – and despite their best efforts, few beyond Japan, South Korea and Singapore managed to do so.</p>
<p>International sporting competitions are the new World’s Fair and can propel cities up the <a href="https://www.atkearney.com/documents/10192/12610750/Global+Cities+2017+-+Leaders+in+a+World+of+Disruptive+Innovation.pdf/c00b71dd-18ab-4d6b-8ae6-526e380d6cc4">global city rankings</a>. Hosting the Olympic Games (in summer or winter, depending on their climate), the Commonwealth Games or a single discipline event like the FIFA World Cup offers cities prestige. </p>
<p>Pyeongchang County, South Korea is hosting the 2018 Winter Olympics and Tokyo will host the 2020 Summer Olympics. For “globalising” cities in emerging market economies, these sporting extravaganzas offer a way to demonstrate their “rising” geopolitical importance.</p>
<p>For proponents of the “global city” model, this is reason to celebrate. But it also illustrates the ongoing attempt by non-Western countries to compete not only in sports but economically and culturally with the former colonial powers. Who are the modernity game’s score-keepers? Who decides who is winning and who is losing? Who determines what counts as “global” and what constitutes the “modern”? </p>
<p>For the moment, the referees still seem to be primarily Western in terms of historical, geographical or philosophical orientation. The rankings after all originate from the West and are judged by Western entities. So, win or lose, it is still the West’s game. They make the rules.</p>
<p>When elites in emerging market economies accept the rules of today’s modernity game and agree to play by them, they’re re-enacting a centuries-old <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02589001.2014.979608">inferiority complex</a> in relation to the coloniser. By accepting the rules, they’ve already lost the game.</p>
<p>They’ve lost in more than one sense. By allowing the (former) coloniser to define the field of competition, they’ve conceded the ability to craft their own definition of “modern” and “global.” </p>
<p>Internalising the rules of the modernity game entails an acceptance of equating positive judgement with “successfully” adhering to Western ideals. This sounds abstract but concretely, it results in the misdirection of money that could be better spent elsewhere. </p>
<h2>Flexing geopolitical muscle</h2>
<p>Countries are using sporting events to illustrate their increasing geopolitical significance. There are plenty of examples.</p>
<p>China hosted the <a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0956247813501139">2008 Beijing Olympics</a>. India hosted the Commonwealth Games in 2010, the same year that South Africa staged FIFA’s World Cup 2010. Russia will host the soccer showcase later this year and Qatar will host it in 2022. </p>
<p>Brazil hosted the 2014 FIFA World Cup and, two years later, the <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2016/08/04/rio-olympics-2016-economists-question-wisdom-of-hosting-olympics.html">controversy-ridden</a> Summer Olympics. </p>
<p>The BRICS nations – Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa – and other “developing” countries had to direct already limited resources away from important social projects to stage these expensive events.</p>
<p>Citizens of these countries have become <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-south-africa-will-be-sacrificing-by-hosting-the-commonwealth-games-47166">increasingly wary</a> of the huge costs and question the wisdom of spending national monies on a once-off spectacle.</p>
<p>South Africa’s 2010 World Cup and the same event in Brazil four years later were met with <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/jun/12/anti-world-cup-protests-brazilian-cities-sao-paulo-rio-de-janeiro">protests</a> by citizens who wanted to see their countries’ scarce resources put to better use. Both countries have <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-06-14/the-olympics-cost-rio-at-least-13-1-billion-and-probably-more">high levels of income inequality</a>.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2016/08/04/rio-olympics-2016-economists-question-wisdom-of-hosting-olympics.html">Similar protests</a> took place before the Rio 2016 Summer Olympics. </p>
<p>Governing elites in each of these instances overrode the waves of dissent with a dismissive, “on with the games” attitude. </p>
<p>Why do governments direct scarce resources to hosting games over their citizens’ more basic needs? Why are elites in developing countries so determined to succeed at the modernity game and make their cities “global”? </p>
<p>One line of argument is that “global cities” attract investment, tourism and knowledge workers which all help the economy to grow. To attract professionals, many aspiring “global cities” have also made large investments in <a href="http://theprotocity.com/high-end-art-and-the-quest-for-global-city-status/">expensive art</a>. Hosting sporting events and <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/yjeanmundelsalle/2016/04/07/the-art-fair-boom-is-forever-changing-the-way-the-art-market-does-business/#2e105eb36c64">art fairs</a> are useful in building “global cities” for highly-skilled workers and high-end consumers. </p>
<p>But there’s <a href="https://www.ted.com/talks/olutimehin_adegbeye_who_belongs_in_a_city">little space</a> for the <a href="https://theconversation.com/in-their-rush-to-become-global-cities-risk-creating-spatial-apartheid-77200">working-class majority</a> in any “global city”. These places tend to suffer heightened <a href="https://www.thechicagocouncil.org/blog/global-insight/inequality-global-cities-chicago-forum">social divisions and high inequality</a>. </p>
<p>Global sporting events exacerbate these problems: cities’ poorer citizens are often <a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/olympics-poor-rio-atlanta_us_57aa27a2e4b0db3be07bde67">displaced</a>, “making way” for new stadiums and other infrastructure.</p>
<h2>A colonised mentality?</h2>
<p>Instead of playing the modernity game, why don’t “developing” countries change the rules? My research indicates that the elite obsession with “catching up” with the West does not result in erasing an inferiority complex vis-à-vis “superior” Western modernity. Instead, it entrenches the inferiority complex that took root through colonialism.</p>
<p>The Japanese philosopher <a href="https://cup.columbia.edu/book/what-is-modernity/9780231133272">Takeuchi Yoshimi</a> argued that Japan’s post World War II modernisation efforts amounted to trying to “catch up” with the “colonial master”. This, he writes, represents the intensification of the master-slave relationship between the coloniser and the colonised.</p>
<p>The modernity game, although not modernity, originated in the West. Cities can only “win” if they adhere to Western standards. Yes, that adherence can be positive when it yields good infrastructure and access to clean water and services – assets that benefit many people. But when the “game” only results in <a href="https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-creative-cities-unequal">more inequality</a>, it’s clearly time to change the rules.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/90181/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Melissa Tandiwe Myambo does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Sporting extravaganzas are a way for globalising cities in emerging market economies to try and play the “modernity game”. But they don’t make the rules, and so they can never “win”.Melissa Tandiwe Myambo, Research Associate, Southern Centre for Inequality Studies, University of the Witwatersrand, University of the WitwatersrandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/769292017-05-05T02:26:52Z2017-05-05T02:26:52ZFor cities, hosting major sporting events is a double-edged sword<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/167792/original/file-20170503-21620-1m0xdpv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The Gold Coast is preparing to host the 2018 edition of the Commonwealth Games.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Just as the publicity machine is cranking up for the <a href="https://www.gc2018.com/">2018 Commonwealth Games</a> on the Gold Coast, new Australia-based bids have already been signalled to host the same event in the future.</p>
<p>Shepparton is <a href="http://greatershepparton.com.au/whats-happening/news/news-article/!/456/post/the-2030-greater-victoria-commonwealth-games">leading a bid</a> by 11 regional Victoria cities and towns for the 2030 Commonwealth Games. And western Sydney is <a href="http://www.parramattasun.com.au/story/4628349/western-sydneys-games-bid/?cs=993">interested in hosting</a> the event in either 2026 or 2030.</p>
<p>Nobody in Australia seems to have been deterred from bidding by Durban losing the rights to hold the 2022 Commonwealth Games because the South African city could not afford it. Adelaide, Melbourne, Perth, Sydney, and even a <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-03-15/gold-coast-offers-to-host-two-commonwealth-games-in-a-row/8354956">Gold Coast reprise</a> have been <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/sport/commonwealth-games/sydney-plan-attempt-to-host-2022-commonwealth-games-report-20170318-gv19on.html">mooted as replacements</a>.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, a 2017 V8 Supercars Championship event is controversially to be held <a href="http://www.theherald.com.au/story/4629360/supercars-road-show-rolls-into-newcastle/">for the first time</a> amid the heritage streets and green foreshore spaces of Newcastle East this November.</p>
<p>Despite the event’s under-performance at – and subsequent departure from – <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/sport/motorsport/v8-supercars-close-book-on-sydney-olympic-park-street-circuit-race-20160322-gnovxc.html">Sydney’s Olympic Park</a>, Newcastle City Council, the New South Wales state government and Destination NSW have been happy to <a href="http://www.theherald.com.au/story/4411637/residential-streets-no-place-for-motor-racing/">wave it through</a> with minimal consultation and attention to due process.</p>
<p>But what is the appeal of hosting big sporting events and does the economic equation stack up?</p>
<h2>Economic justifications</h2>
<p>In a world where <a href="https://books.google.com.au/books?id=ujm5BgAAQBAJ&pg=PA3&lpg=PA3&dq=place-marketing&source=bl&ots=0hSjH8S-fM&sig=KuljYQHmzPdmPAzYGUXPlqwAbq4&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiB3pzHgNPTAhUCHZQKHfDhAFY4ChDoAQhHMAk#v=onepage&q=place-marketing&f=false">place-marketing</a> is seen as essential to the success of urban centres large and small, grabbing attention is imperative. </p>
<p>Sports stars and brands attract people to watch contests close up. But, even more importantly, they attract the media. So, investing in staging sport is ultimately a matter of turning the entire host environment into a stage.</p>
<p>This can be called the showcase justification, which conceives the sport as less intrinsically important than its picturesque location. This is why TV establishment shots always focus on key landmarks like Cape Town’s Table Mountain during the 2010 football World Cup, London’s Big Ben at the 2012 Olympics, and Rio de Janeiro’s Christ the Redeemer statue at the 2014 FIFA World Cup and 2016 Olympics. </p>
<p>For Gold Coast 2018, it will be the Surfers Paradise skyline.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/d1YJ0wtAjYo?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">The Gold Coast’s bid video for the 2018 Commonwealth Games.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Although attracting sport tourists to the event is the immediate aim, it is intended to lodge appealing imagery of place to a wider audience for a much longer period. </p>
<p>Like Barcelona after its 1992 Olympics, a buzz can be created about a city that has little to do with sport. General tourist and convention traffic may be drawn to the place, along with companies looking to relocate to smart places where their employees would like to live. </p>
<p>Where place recognition and appeal are not immediately obvious, some marketing hyperbole is needed. For example, in justifying why the V8 Supercars should zoom through inner Newcastle, the street circuit <a href="http://www.theherald.com.au/story/4336120/monaco-of-the-southern-hemisphere/">is presented</a>, in reference to the Formula One Grand Prix, as “the Monaco of the southern hemisphere”.</p>
<p>Such attempts to take sport away from dedicated stadiums in often-isolated locations to the heart of the city are integral to the idea of selling the space rather than the sport. Inevitably, though, it results in additional cost and community disruption.</p>
<p>This objection is frequently met with the urban redevelopment justification. In its pre-Games makeover, Barcelona spent millions of dollars and sacrificed many old streets, vineyards and gardens to turn itself into an Olympic city. </p>
<p>The same occurred to different degrees with the Athens, Beijing, London and Rio Olympics. And the Manchester 2002 Commonwealth Games <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10286630802445864">stimulated</a> an estimated £2 billion in public and private investment in the city’s east over 15 years. </p>
<p>Because hosting sport means tight, immovable deadlines, work in and outside the stadium has to be completed much faster than usual for sizeable building projects. The result can be a <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Sport-Media-and-Mega-Events/Wenner-Billings/p/book/9781138930391">thoroughly unpleasant experience</a> for affected communities, including <a href="https://theconversation.com/brazils-world-cup-preparations-showcase-celebration-capitalism-27291">forced and permanent displacement</a>, corrupt and unethical conduct by government and business, and shoddy work requiring subsequent rectification.</p>
<p>Worse still, overly optimistic and unreliable financial projections mean the promised economic bonanza is often a long, painful event hangover. As both <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2723515/Athens-Olympics-leave-mixed-legacy-10-years-later.html">Athens</a> and <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/olympics/rio-olympic-venues-disrepair-2016-brazil-worst-recession-economy-ruin-a7572786.html">Rio</a> have discovered, urban debt and decay quickly become the real legacy of the exhilarating moment of playing host to big sport. </p>
<p>The International Olympic Committee’s demand for prestige venues that can quickly become white elephants <a href="https://qz.com/748894/nobody-wants-to-host-the-olympic-games-anymore-can-you-blame-them/">has caused</a> a sharp decline in host city bids. As a result, there is increased emphasis on recycling existing sport infrastructure in affluent cities like Tokyo, Paris, Los Angeles and Sydney that have previously hosted the event. </p>
<h2>Social justifications</h2>
<p>If the economic arguments for playing host still look shaky, there can always be a resort to the participation stimulation justification. </p>
<p>This is the familiar idea that sport watchers will be inspired to be sport players through exposure to big events. The problem is, hosting sport events <a href="http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20160805-do-big-sporting-events-make-us-do-more-sport">rarely leads to</a> sustained higher levels of participation. And, in cases such as motor sports, mass participation is neither feasible nor desirable. </p>
<p>When all else fails, the “sleeper awakes” justification can be deployed against those who oppose or are sceptical about the event by <a href="http://www.theherald.com.au/story/4615541/hilarious-new-rap-video-about-newcastle-whingers/">portraying them as whingers</a>, NIMBYs, party-poopers, and – in the go-to insult of the Trump/Brexit era of political populism – elitists.</p>
<p>This championing of hosting events is partially dependent on sporting taste. But if that doesn’t convince, it can rely on the tried-and-tested unforgettable party justification. As with other great parties, those who enjoy them most tend to forget the stomach-churning clean-up afterwards.</p>
<p>In 2015, <a href="https://theconversation.com/australias-summer-of-sporting-events-has-it-been-worth-it-37477">Australia hosted</a> the men’s cricket World Cup and football Asian Cup, as well as the netball World Cup. This was a particularly busy year, but recent developments indicate that its state and territory capitals, provincial cities and regions are now continually on the hunt for a large or medium-sized sporting event to host.</p>
<p>In other parts of the world, potential hosts including Berlin, Boston, Cardiff, Edmonton, Hamburg, Rome and Singapore have withdrawn bids for the Olympic or Commonwealth Games.</p>
<p>This is not an argument against hosting big sport events. But it does advocate looking closely at the hyperbole, concealed self-interest, confected populism and voodoo economics that try to submerge the enduring question: <a href="https://definitions.uslegal.com/q/qui-bono/">“cui bono”</a> (who benefits)?</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/76929/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>David Rowe has received funding from the Australian Research Council to support research relating to this article: 'A Nation of "Good Sports"? Cultural Citizenship and Sport in Contemporary Australia' (DP130104502), and 'Australian Cultural Fields: National and Transnational Dynamics' (with Tony Bennett et al, DP140101970).</span></em></p>Investing in staging sport is ultimately a matter of turning the entire host environment into a stage.David Rowe, Professor of Cultural Research, Institute for Culture and Society, Western Sydney UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/650472016-09-13T20:17:43Z2016-09-13T20:17:43ZFirst person: how the Paralympics changed my life<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/137515/original/image-20160913-19269-f154xg.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The author competing at the 2012 London Paralympics.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Australian Paralympic Committee</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>I lost the use of my legs at age four through illness. There are family photos of me walking around as a toddler, but it was so long ago I can’t remember it now. So perhaps it is like the old saying that “you can’t miss what you never had”. </p>
<p>While I was examined by myriad health professionals, there was no clear explanation as to why I had lost the feeling and use of my lower limbs. Eventually the feeling returned but I have never gained any substantial muscle in my legs. A medical mystery in 1974! Since then I have required crutches or a wheelchair to get around.</p>
<p>Growing up I was lucky that I never felt any jealousy or resentment of my able-bodied friends but I did often feel very frustrated. Deep down I knew it wasn’t my fault I couldn’t walk or run, so I think I just accepted that fact and got on with my life. </p>
<p>I suppose at an early age I learnt two simple rules.</p>
<p>One is that life’s not always easy. And the second, in the words of some great 20th century philosophers – The Rolling Stones – “you can’t always get what you want, but if you try sometimes you just might find, you get what you need”. I feel this has been very true for me.</p>
<p>Always a very active child, I would give everything a go, often against the requests and sometimes pleas of my parents and teachers. Sometimes I would fail, we all do. However, I’m sure by simply having a go I quickly earned the respect of my peers and have never been short of friends.</p>
<p>At age seven, my parents bought me a skateboard. For years I wore the prints off my fingertips, following my friends around the Canberra suburbs on that skateboard. I’d come home missing bark off my elbows and knees and plenty of times my parents must have asked themselves why they’d even bought it. </p>
<p>I loved my skateboard; it gave me independence. Skinned knees and elbows taught me valuable lessons: if you have a buster, you pick yourself up, dust yourself off and go again.</p>
<h2>Origins</h2>
<p>My sporting journey began in 1982 at age 12 in archery. Less than a year later, on the suggestion of a high school PE teacher, Max Green, I began training and competing in mainstream gymnastics. </p>
<p>I met gymnastics coach Chris Timpson at my first competition. That was a watershed moment in my life. Chris lit a spark in me, a love for sport that still burns today. </p>
<p>I trained, competed and eventually coached gymnastics for the next six years. I was competing against able-bodied athletes and I was forced to land on my knees. As this constitutes a “fall”, my routines were always marked down accordingly. </p>
<p>Unfortunately, the better I became on the apparatus the less competitive I became overall, as the penalty for landing on my knees was far too much to give away. So my gymnastics career finished at age 18, at which point I was spending more time coaching than training. </p>
<p>During this period I reinforced my passion for sport and developed some physical and psychological attributes that laid the foundations for an elite sporting career.</p>
<p>I was nearly 24 when I finally found my way to disability-specific sport. My first sport was powerlifting. I was well suited to this, with very thin legs and a well developed upper body, which gave me a great power-to-weight ratio. </p>
<p>I made my Paralympic debut at Atlanta in 1996, but Sydney 2000 was the highlight. Weighing 58.1 kg, I bench-pressed 175kg. It was a personal best, a new national record for the 60kg division, and the first ever triple my bodyweight bench-press for an Australian. I was lucky enough to win the silver medal on that day. </p>
<p>Standing on the podium I wasn’t actually thinking “wow! I’m number 2 in the world”. I realised that this was just the culmination of many years of dedication, some compromise and, most of all, hard work. It justified all the decisions I had to make to get there.</p>
<p>In 2002, I competed in the Manchester Commonwealth Games where I also won a silver medal. Then a couple of months later I competed in my final international powerlifting competition at the World Championships in Malayasia. </p>
<p>I placed a very close fourth. At that time I felt that a number of athletes and countries were not “playing within the rules”. So I decided to transfer sports to track and road racing in search of more opportunities to compete and a more level playing field. I was a sprinter at first, but slowly transitioned into more middle-distance events.</p>
<p>I also made this decision to change sports because I never want to stop challenging myself. Motivation for me is about putting your front wheel on the start line against the best in the world and giving it a red hot crack. </p>
<p>So if I didn’t qualify for the 2004 Athens Paralympics for some reason, at least I would know I wasn’t good enough and won’t live my life wondering “what if?” I’ll know 100% as a wheelchair racer I make a bloody great weightlifter!</p>
<p>As American football player Preston Pearson is reputed as saying, “anyone can stand tall on the high peaks. It is the people who survive the valleys between the peaks who will emerge the strongest”.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/137466/original/image-20160913-19225-1ezxlrj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/137466/original/image-20160913-19225-1ezxlrj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/137466/original/image-20160913-19225-1ezxlrj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=392&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/137466/original/image-20160913-19225-1ezxlrj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=392&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/137466/original/image-20160913-19225-1ezxlrj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=392&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/137466/original/image-20160913-19225-1ezxlrj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=493&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/137466/original/image-20160913-19225-1ezxlrj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=493&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/137466/original/image-20160913-19225-1ezxlrj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=493&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A highlight was the Sydney 2000 Paralympics.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Australian Paralympic Committee</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The Paralympic journey</h2>
<p>My fist Paralympic games was in Atlanta in 1996. I was 26 years old, and I had some previous international competition experience in New Zealand, Noumea, Netherlands and Belgium national championships. But the Paralympics is another level altogether. </p>
<p>While driving into the Olympic/Paralympic village for the first time, my excitement quickly turned to dismay. There were workman everywhere literally dismantling large parts of the village; all the “good parts”, as it were.</p>
<p>The 1996 Olympic Games were largely funded through commercial sponsors and many of these withdrew their support for the Paralympics. This left a significant hole in the budget to deliver the games. Last minute philanthropic donations literally saved the 1996 Paralympics.</p>
<p>Having just watched the Atlanta Olympic Games on TV (although plagued with their own logistical problems, especially transport issues) I felt the Paralympic Games were now seen as more of an obligation, something that had to be delivered, rather than a celebration of sporting excellence and human triumph. </p>
<p>The volunteers – the heart and soul of any games – were fantastic in spite of clear shortfalls, and made our stay and competition experiences the best they could be.</p>
<p>Logistical problems aside, the games finished with Australia placing second on the medal table behind the United States with (now Paralympic legend) Louise Sauvage’s outstanding performances winning four golds including the 400m, 800m, 1,500m and 5,000m). </p>
<p>My competition in the 56kg division in the men’s powerlifting was not quite so fruitful. I was successful in just one of my three lifts and finished with 145.0kg, 7.5 kg’s below my (then) best and placing 8th on the day. </p>
<p>On reflection, this was probably a fair result. Physically I was well prepared but psychologically I was not in the elite athlete “ballpark”. I could have placed 4th had I lifted at my previous best.</p>
<p>Luckily, I have found disappointing results to be highly motivating, and after returning from Atlanta, with the next games to be held in Sydney, I knew I had to a lot of work to do both in and out of the gym.</p>
<p>The luxury of being an athlete and having a home Games is something I feel very privileged to have experienced. Thinking about marching into the Olympic Stadium on the October 18, 2000 with my fellow team members (285 athletes and 148 officials) with Midnight Oil blaring from the speakers and 110,000-strong crowd cheering us on still gives me goose bumps.</p>
<p>The Sydney Games provided many highlights for me. This included winning my silver medal and sharing that experience with my family and friends, some of whom I had not seen in 15 years since high school, but who had somehow managed to be there on that day to see me compete! </p>
<p>An unexpected highlight came while I was walking through Olympic park during the games on my way to watch some athletics when a small boy holding his mum’s hand and pointing at me with the other said “I wonder what sport that man plays”. </p>
<p>This remains one of my most memorable moments from those Games, as for the previous 26 years inquisitive young minds would generally say “what’s wrong with that man mummy” or “why does he have those” (pointing to my crutches). This very young man changed my understanding of sport for people with disability and my role within it.</p>
<p>No longer was my involvement in sport simply about results and challenging myself but my role was also to promote sport as a vehicle for greater social inclusion and understanding disability. </p>
<p>I realised sport has the ability to change the perception of the community about people with a disability and, more importantly, how people with a disability think and feel about themselves. </p>
<p>For individuals, sport can build self-belief, confidence, a feeling of success and achievement, and provide a sense of future and reengage those who are most isolated and disconnected from the community.</p>
<p>Sport can help reduce stigma and challenge communities’ expectations of those with a disability. I have been lucky enough to be part of the Paralympic movement for more than 20 years now and seen not only the games evolve in size and prestige, but more importantly the attitude and acceptance of the athletes change over that time.</p>
<h2>The Paralympics evolves</h2>
<p>Sydney’s successful delivery of the Olympic and Paralympic Games created a blueprint that has essentially been moulded to fit each new host city and culture. In some instances this blueprint has been significantly improved on at successive Games through to London, which was my last games.</p>
<p>The increase in media coverage at the Sydney Paralympics via 2 x 1 hour highlights packages per day by the ABC saw an almost meteoric rise in profile of Australia’s Paralympic athletes during and after the Games. </p>
<p>Athletes’ results and stories were featured in Australia’s leading newspapers and the Australian public seemed to embrace the athletes and the stories behind their results.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/137518/original/image-20160913-19228-92h1mj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/137518/original/image-20160913-19228-92h1mj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/137518/original/image-20160913-19228-92h1mj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=608&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/137518/original/image-20160913-19228-92h1mj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=608&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/137518/original/image-20160913-19228-92h1mj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=608&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/137518/original/image-20160913-19228-92h1mj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=764&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/137518/original/image-20160913-19228-92h1mj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=764&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/137518/original/image-20160913-19228-92h1mj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=764&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Sydney 2000 Paralympics was a highlight of Nicholson’s career.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Australian Paralympic Committee</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The 2004 Athens Paralympics was a great experience hosted in the spiritual home of the Olympic Games. Australia finished 5th on the medal table, with my contribution being a silver medal as part of the 4 x 100m relay team, finishing just behind Thailand in 0.12 of a second and inside the previous world record. </p>
<p>This Games heralded the emergence of <a href="http://www.kurtfearnley.com/">Kurt Fearnley</a> as the man to beat. He won the 5,000m, was a member of the 4 x 100m relay team and won the wheelchair marathon by over four minutes in a time of 1:25.37. With a determination to win that race so strong that he was grinding his teeth while climbing a steep hill and he cracked one of them!</p>
<p>By the 2008 Beijing Paralympic Games the funding and services provided to the Paralympic athletes via the Australian Sports Commission, Australian Institute of Sport and the State Institute and Academy network had significantly increased. This facilitated Australia’s best Paralympic athletes to not only train alongside our able-bodied peers but receive funding to help with other living costs.</p>
<p>Outside of opening and closing ceremonies, the Beijing Paralympics was the first time I had experienced a full stadium for competition. The “<a href="https://www.travelchinaguide.com/attraction/beijing/national-stadium.htm">Bird’s Nest</a>” stadium was at near capacity of 80,000 almost every session, morning and night, for the entirety of the Games. </p>
<p>When Chinese athletes were competing – or more likely winning – the sound in the stadium was almost deafening. I was a part of the 4 x 100m relay team that made the final. Unfortunately a team member crashed on the first bend putting paid to our medal hopes. </p>
<p>The Australian television coverage of the Beijing Paralympics was hosted by the ABC, which dedicated an entire channel to covering ten hours a day. The unprecedented crowds at all venues during the Beijing Games demonstrated that the Paralympic movement was still on a steady ascent in terms of its acceptance, popularity and value.</p>
<p>The professionalism of the athletes reached new levels in the intervening years between Sydney and London. Most developed countries were now funding their Paralympic programs at increasingly high levels, many at comparative levels to their able-bodied programs. The pursuit of wining world championships, world cups and other benchmark events took on increasing significance across the Paralympic sport spectrum.</p>
<p>Selected “para” events were now a fixture on the Commonwealth Games program. The prize money and support at the major marathons around the world had increased to a level that made it lucrative for wheelchair athletes to race four to eight-plus marathons a year. </p>
<p>There was now a strong belief among many of the elite level athletes that we were now building something much bigger than a sporting festival that happens only once every four years.</p>
<h2>Becoming elite</h2>
<p>Less than four weeks before the opening ceremony for the London 2012 Games I was training at a staging camp in Switzerland and was involved in a serious collision that left me hospitalised, requiring surgery and leaving me permanently scarred. </p>
<p>Fortunately for me, I chose to not let this accident deny me my opportunity to race against the best in the world and continued my journey to London. </p>
<p>The psychological scars from the accident were actually harder to deal with than my physical ones. At times, my preparation felt more like a daily test of my resilience than an elite athlete fine tuning before a major event. Maintaining a my enthusiasm and motivation around my team mates was my biggest concern.</p>
<p>The London Paralympics in 2012 provided me with numerous highlights and firsts. Before arriving in London I took note that anytime <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sebastian_Coe">Lord Sebastian Coe</a>, Chairman of the London Organising Committee, was speaking about the Olympics he never failed to mention the Paralympic Games in the same sentence. He promoted The Games as “one sporting festival with two events”. This was a notable and positive change from the language used at previous games.</p>
<p>On the bus from Heathrow to the Paralympic village for the first time, I noticed Paralympic athletes’ photos adorning large billboards, the entire side of a building, and on the back of buses or taxis. This level of promotion had not occurred in any host city I had previously been too.</p>
<p>Like Beijing, the venues and sessions across the Paralympic program were a near sell out. Inside the 80,000 main stadium athletics fans were lapping up the some of the most extraordinary athletic performances to date. Home town hero <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Weir_(wheelchair_athlete)">David Weir</a> would finish the games with four gold medals including the 800m, 1,500m, 5,000m and the blue ribbon marathon event.</p>
<p>There was one particular night while I was spectating when something happened in the stadium that changed my perception of the Paralympics. In that moment I knew that the Paralympics had arrived. </p>
<p>It was the final of the T44 100m, a race for athletes with a below knee amputation. On the start line was the now infamous Oscar Pistorius from South Africa lining up against Jonnie Peacock from Great Britain among the rest of the field. </p>
<p>The 80,000 strong crowd started chanting “Peacock… Peacock… Peacock”. It was akin to David Beckham taking a penalty for England in a World Cup match. I had no idea who Jonnie Peacock was. I knew he had not run at this level before, but 80,000 others in stadium knew who he was. </p>
<p>The sound was so loud the Peacock himself had to shush the crowd for the start. The atmosphere in the stadium was tangible. The silence before the gun, the eruption of the crowd after the gun, this was a crowd captivated by competition. Forgotten were the disabilities and carbon prosthesis, this was elite level sport, athlete vs. athlete, country vs. country and the bragging rights that go with it.</p>
<p>My individual results in London were a little disappointing for me. My confidence was quite low after the recent crash and it affected my top-end speed on the track. However, my London Games were salvaged on the last night when I won a bronze medal as part of the 4 x 400m relay team when we finished behind Thailand by just 0.14 seconds, again!</p>
<p>It is also with a measure of disappointment that I narrowly missed selection for this year’s Games in Rio, falling short by just 0.3 seconds of the required sub 3.00 minute time for the men’s wheelchair 1500m. But I now get to finally watch the Paralympics unfold with great television coverage and genuine interest from an appreciative Australian (and world) audience. </p>
<p>I can take considerable pride that I have played a small part to help build reputation of the games, the professionalism of the athletes and feel the legacy is in great hands with our current Australian team members.</p>
<p>Finally, I should stress that I owe everything to my parents for the way they handled my initial illness and limitless supply of love and support for me as a child growing up with disability. Without them I none of what I have achieved would have been possible.</p>
<h2>Sporting record</h2>
<p><strong>Powerlifting</strong></p>
<p>2002 Silver medal Commonwealth Games, 60.0kg division – Manchester, England</p>
<p>2000 Silver medal Paralympics, 60.0kg division – Sydney, Australia</p>
<p>1996 8th place Paralympics, 56.0kg division – Atlanta, USA</p>
<p><strong>Athletics</strong></p>
<p>2012 Bronze 4 x 400m relay London Paralympics</p>
<p>2008 Beijing Paralympic Team member</p>
<p>2004 Silver 4 x 100m relay Athens Paralympics</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/65047/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Richard Nicholson currently works for the Australian Institute of Sport and is the Athlete in Residence at the University of Canberra.</span></em></p>Richard Nicholson has experienced first hand the evolution of the Paralympics, and with it, the shift in perception of disabilities and para-athletes.Richard Nicholson, Athlete in Residence, University of CanberraLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/619792016-08-17T05:03:50Z2016-08-17T05:03:50ZWhy being a sporting role model isn’t as simple as most people think<p><a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-08-17/olympic-spirit-displayed-after-fall-on-track-in-rio/7749930">New reports</a> of Nikki Hamblin (New Zealand) stopping during the 5000m finals at the Rio Olympics to help fellow competitor Abbey D’Agostino (US) after they’d crashed on the track have evoked the “Olympic spirit”. The New Zealander also waited until D'Agostino, who was injured in the fall, could continue the race, sacrificing any chance of catching up to the main pack.</p>
<p>Hamblin’s actions are reminiscent of a small handful of other such moments at previous Olympics. Canadian sailor Lawrence Lemieux abandoned his silver medal position in the 1988 Seoul Olympics to rescue the crew of a capsized competing vessel. Lemieux missed out on a regular medal in the event, but was awarded the Pierre de Coubertin Medal for Sportsmanship by the International Olympic Committee president, who said his act embodied the Olympic ideal.</p>
<p>Athletes are increasingly expected to be good role models. But while Lemieux is outstanding, we don’t usually expect athletes to sacrifice their chance of winning to help others. In fact, the ideal of good sportsmanship carried to this extreme would be in tension with that other aim of Olympic competition – winning. </p>
<p>What, then, is the right balance between sportsmanship and coming out on top?</p>
<h2>The right stuff</h2>
<p>Discussion about athletes as role models often arises in response to bad behaviour. Recent on and off-court incidents involving tennis player Nick Kyrgios, for instance, prompted a public discussion about his <a href="https://theconversation.com/character-and-behaviour-off-the-field-should-not-be-selection-criteria-for-the-olympics-60520">suitability for Olympic selection</a>.</p>
<p>The contrasting cases of Lemieux and Kyrgios invite a distinction between two different meanings of role model. On the one hand, it picks out exceptional individuals such as Lemieux who exemplify qualities like sportsmanship. And, in a more mundane sense, it applies to anyone in the public eye. </p>
<p>All Olympic athletes are role models in the mundane sense. They represent their country, wearing its Olympic colours. Their performance is televised and commented on. Often, commentators also recount the athlete’s personal story to engage the audience watching their performance on television. </p>
<p>Given this, and since children are encouraged to follow and emulate their achievements, perhaps it is reasonable to expect that Olympic athletes meet a minimum standard of conduct. </p>
<p>Some minimum standards are already built into the rules of sport. An athlete such as Oscar Pistorius, who is <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jul/06/oscar-pistorius-jailed-for-xx-years-reeva-steenkamp">serving time for murder</a>, for instance, cannot represent his country in the Olympics during his sentence. </p>
<p>Likewise, athletes who are involved in match-fixing or use performance-enhancing drugs are usually suspended. In extreme cases, unsporting behaviour can also be punished by disqualification. Several women’s badminton players <a href="http://articles.latimes.com/2012/aug/01/sports/la-sp-on-badminton-scandal-20120801">were disqualified</a> during the London 2012 Games, for instance, when they were found to be attempting to lose matches to secure easier finals.</p>
<h2>Increasing scrutiny</h2>
<p>But should we require more than this? Public scrutiny of athletes is increasing. This includes their political views, how they use their money and free time, and how they treat their partners and children. </p>
<p>Social media give us access to athletes’ personal lives and opinions. Improved microphones and cameras capture more of what happens on the field than ever.</p>
<p>One justification for this scrutiny is the influence of sports culture on wider society. When Kyrgios made a comment about opponent <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2015/aug/14/nick-kyrgios-apologises-stan-wawrinka-comment--atp-fine">Stan Wawrinka’s girlfriend</a>, it rang alarm bells for those worried about <a href="https://theconversation.com/playing-the-woman-healy-and-kyrgios-expose-sports-sexism-problem-46137">sexism in sport</a>. </p>
<p>Identifying his outburst as an instance of “<a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3196589/Nick-Kyrgios-sledge-Stan-Wawrinka-puts-Thanasi-Kokkinakis-Donna-Vekic-spotlight-Australian-tennis-bad-boy-said-pair-slept-Vekic-started-dating-Wawrinka.html">slut shaming</a>”, mainstream media outlets drew attention to the way athletes’ behaviour can normalise sexist cultural practices. </p>
<p>Unfortunately, we are often blind to the social injustices around us. So while current sensitivity to sexism means Krygios’ comments to Wawrinka were widely condemned, in many cases it is those who draw attention to social problems who are criticised.</p>
<h2>Negative publicity</h2>
<p>In fact, some of the greatest role models in Olympic history were initially censured for their commitment to causes that were controversial at the time. </p>
<p>Tommy Smith and John Carlos’ <a href="http://time.com/3880999/black-power-salute-tommie-smith-and-john-carlos-at-the-1968-olympics/">black power salute</a> on the podium at the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico is remembered by many as a defining moment in Olympic history. But, at the time, they were expelled from the Olympics and vilified at home. </p>
<p>More recently Australia’s beloved Indigenous runner, Cathy Freeman, was criticised for flying the Aboriginal flag at the 1994 <a href="http://nga.gov.au/federation/Detail.cfm?WorkID=27708">Commonwealth Games</a>. She was described as “un-Australian” and accused of politicising sport. </p>
<p>Six years later, the public felt differently. Freeman’s gold medal run in the 400m sprint at the Sydney 2000 Olympics was hailed as a moment of <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/sport/athletics/15-years-ago-today-cathy-freeman-ran-her-way-into-the-nations-heart-20150925-gjuo2q.html">reconciliation</a> between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians.</p>
<p>Out gay athletes such as 2008 diving <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/news/diving/a-perfect-10-as-mitcham-dives-for-gold/2008/08/23/1219262633209.html">gold medallist</a> Matthew Mitcham are widely hailed as role models for gay, lesbian and bisexual kids. In contrast, intersex athletes still face accusations of cheating and risk of <a href="https://oii.org.au/30507/special-rapporteur-fgm/">human rights violations</a>. </p>
<p>Polish sprinter Ewa Klobukowska, who was stripped of her 1964 Olympic medals due to a failed gender test, was listed recently as one of the Olympics’ <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/olympics/tarnished-gold-some-of-the-great-olympics-cheats-7869830.html">greatest cheats</a>. But she would not fail current testing criteria. In a different era, Klobukowska might be regarded as a role model and trailblazer for intersex rights.</p>
<p>This suggests that it’s very difficult to pin down which athletes are good role models. But to underline just how subjective it is, it is worth considering one final type of role model athlete: the redeemed sinner. </p>
<h2>When prodigals return</h2>
<p>Perhaps the best example at this Olympic Games is US swimmer Michael Phelps. He is almost as well known for his drink-driving arrests and recreational drug use as for his achievements in the pool. But in a recent <a href="http://espn.go.com/espn/feature/story/_/id/16425548/michael-phelps-prepares-life-2016-rio-olympics">feature article</a>, journalist Wayne Drehs argues that the swimmer has changed. </p>
<p>The new Phelps is presented as a self-aware teetotaller, rehabilitated from his addictions and reunited with his father. He sounds like the sort of person we would be happy for children to emulate. </p>
<p>But is Phelps a really a good role model, or has Drehs just spun a good story? </p>
<p>Given that there is no bright line between those who are good role models and those who are not, we need to be cautious about making rules for athletes’ conduct. Such rules are as likely to be used against the next Tommy Smith or John Carlos as Nick Kyrgios. </p>
<p>But what about the influence of athletes on kids? This is more of a problem if bad behaviour goes unremarked. Quality conversations at home and in the media about the things athletes do can help. This is perhaps most important when behaviour reflects social practices, such as how we treat women or those from different backgrounds.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/61979/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Katrina Hutchison does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Athletes are increasingly expected to be good role models. But we don’t usually expect them to sacrifice their chance of winning to help others.Katrina Hutchison, Postdoctoral research fellow, Macquarie UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/471662015-09-08T03:42:28Z2015-09-08T03:42:28ZWhat South Africa will be sacrificing by hosting the Commonwealth Games<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/94033/original/image-20150907-2002-epv7na.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Seabelo Senatla of South Africa scores a try against New Zealand during the gold medal match of the Rugby Sevens at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Reuters/Russell Cheyne </span></span></figcaption></figure><p>As a sports fan, I was disappointed to find myself thinking more about economics than track-and-field events after hearing that the South African city of Durban had been named as the <a href="http://sanews.gcis.gov.za/south-africa/sa-host-2022-commonwealth-games">host</a> of the <a href="http://www.durban-2022.com/">2022 Commonwealth Games</a>.</p>
<p>This turn towards money and its management is to be expected. After all, an all-too-familiar logic these days <a href="http://www.durban-2022.com/assets/files/durban-2022-cg-candidate-city-file.pdf">links</a> the staged sporting spectacle to the creation of jobs through tourism.</p>
<p>In a statement made after the announcement, South African Sports Minister Fikile Mbalula directed his attention towards money and the <a href="http://www.sport24.co.za/OtherSport/South-Africa/Mbalula-Commonwealth-Games-will-be-a-success-20150902">legacy issue</a>. Unsurprisingly, there was nothing really new: essentially, he gave the same assurances that were issued after the country was awarded the <a href="http://www.sa2010.gov.za/">2010 FIFA World Cup</a>.</p>
<p>But just to put the figures on the present table, much less will be spent than the mind-bogging <a href="http://www.southafrica.net/media/en/news/entry/news-media-and-stakeholder-the-2010-south-africa-world-cup-in-numbers">US$3 billion</a> that was spent in 2010. The eThekwini Games (as I predict they’ll become known, as Durban is known in isiZulu) will reportedly cost about US$480 million (R6.5 billion).</p>
<p>But my own reach for the economic, not the sporting, end of all this was not driven by South Africa’s <a href="http://www.statssa.gov.za/publications/P0211/P02111stQuarter2015.pdf">soaring unemployment</a> figures. Nor did I think of another economic point made by the minister – namely, that Durban was well-served by <a href="http://www.safarinow.com/destinations/durban/sportsstadiumsclubs.aspx">stadiums</a> and sporting facilities. </p>
<p>I was also not alive to the fact that most of these mega-sporting events have <a href="http://www.insidethegames.biz/articles/13816/delhi-2010-cost-16-times-more-than-budgeted-auditors-report">over-run budgets</a> and left both city and national treasuries indebted for decades. This was the worry of Canadian city <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/edmonton-drops-2022-commonwealth-games-bid-1.2952565">Edmonton</a>, Durban’s only real rival which withdrew its bid in February this year. There is a nagging notion that the 2004 Athens Olympic Games may have triggered Greece’s ongoing <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/bw/articles/2012-08-02/how-the-2004-olympics-triggered-greeces-decline">financial crisis</a>.</p>
<p>It also didn’t immediately occur to me that the Commonwealth Games was small financial potatoes when set against, say, the English Premier League or the American National Football League. Both have enormous TV and branding rights.</p>
<p>These sporting behemoths are not only strangling the 19th-century idea of sport, with its notions of fair play. They have also corroded the 20th-century ideal that sport is a proxy for war.</p>
<p>No, my immediate focus on hearing the news was on the economic concept of <a href="http://www.econlib.org/library/Enc/OpportunityCost.html">opportunity cost</a>.</p>
<h2>The opportunity cost</h2>
<p>Known initially as “alternative cost”, this approach to investment decisions was introduced by the Austrian economist and one-time finance minister <a href="http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Friedrich_von_Wieser">Friedrich von Wieser</a>.</p>
<p>Closely associated with that often painful truism that <a href="http://quoteinvestigator.com/2010/05/14/time-is-money/">“time is money”</a> opportunity cost is the value of the best alternative option or, put differently, the cost of sacrificing alternatives by making a particular economic choice.</p>
<p>By investing in the 2022 Commonwealth Games, the possibility of investing elsewhere in society has been sacrificed. This wider dimension is important because, while the idea of opportunity cost is mostly associated with money, it can be measured across society as a whole.</p>
<p>As South Africa learnt from the <a href="http://www.sa2010.gov.za/">2010 FIFA World Cup</a>, staging sporting events requires not only financial investment but, to succeed, they demand public mobilisation. And, surely, as we build towards 2022, South Africans will be called upon to support eThekwini’s Games.</p>
<p>This mobilisation, too, can be measured in opportunity cost terms. Instead of mobilising for the Games, we could direct public energy into concern for climate change, for example.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/94040/original/image-20150907-1996-qa08ig.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/94040/original/image-20150907-1996-qa08ig.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/94040/original/image-20150907-1996-qa08ig.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/94040/original/image-20150907-1996-qa08ig.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/94040/original/image-20150907-1996-qa08ig.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/94040/original/image-20150907-1996-qa08ig.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/94040/original/image-20150907-1996-qa08ig.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Children write notes from a makeshift blackboard at a school in Mwezeni village in South Africa’s Eastern Cape Province.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Reuters/Ryan Gray</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>My economic worry is this: by electing to stage the 2022 Games, what has been sacrificed? More prosaically, what else could we have bought with money and energy we will spend on the Games?</p>
<p>Or, to put a parallel point in the language of the minister for sport, what might be the alternative legacy left both by this investment and the wide-scale public mobilisation? Put in the terms that immediately crossed my mind on hearing the news, what was the opportunity cost of these Games?</p>
<h2>What the money could best be spent on</h2>
<p>International ranking after ranking, comparative study after study, put South Africa near the <a href="http://www.unicef.org/southafrica/education_344.html">bottom of the class</a> when it comes to schooling. </p>
<p>Almost 40 years after Soweto’s brave <a href="http://overcomingapartheid.msu.edu/sidebar.php?id=65-258-3">Class of ’76</a> sacrificed their lives against the poor quality of apartheid education, very little fundamentally has changed. The truth is that we have a national education system which reproduces apartheid. And to speak a wholly unpleasant truth to those in power: successive post-apartheid governments have failed South Africa’s children, as much as apartheid ideologues did.</p>
<p>I believe that it would have been preferable to spend the money and the seven-year social capital we will expend on the 2022 Games on a root-and-branch overall of South Africa’s schooling system.</p>
<p>This could not be another half-hearted fiddling at the edges of the system nor the importation of hare-brained ideas – like <a href="http://www.nwu.ac.za/sites/www.nwu.ac.za/files/files/p-fasrek/pdf/2012/MOUTON%20et%20al%20%282012%29%20A%20Historical%20Analysis%20Of%20The%20Post-Apartheid%20Dispensation%20Education%20In%20South%20Africa%20%281994-2011%29.pdf">Outcomes Based Education</a> – from elsewhere.</p>
<p>To succeed it would have to be to be purposefully driven by a national consensus that no single child should be excluded.</p>
<p>The urgency around schooling might well have been declared in the very same words that eThekwini’s mayor James Nxumalo used on his return from New Zealand, where the announcement on the Commonwealth Games host was made:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The work begins now; the preparations must start now. We must not wait. We must <a href="http://www.timeslive.co.za/sundaytimes/stnews/2015/09/06/Can-Team-SA-scoop-gold-in-2022-Commonwealth-Games">not lose a single day</a>, a single hour, or even a single minute. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>In the many emergencies that will follow in the build up to eThekwini 2022, local rules, routines – and even politics – will have to be suspended as South Africa discovered in the months leading up to the FIFA World Cup.</p>
<p>In the field of education, a declared state of emergency (or urgency) will help remove obstacles which stand in the way of the desired goal: this might well include taming the teachers’ union <a href="http://www.iol.co.za/news/politics/sadtu-must-be-curbed-jansen-warns-zuma-1.1859401#.Ve1foBGqqko">SADTU</a>, the Leviathan that continues to hold up better schooling.</p>
<p>A country mobilised around the national goal of schooling for all – now that will be competition well worth winning – indeed, it may even be one on which economists could agree on!</p>
<p>There is no undoing the decision around the 2022 eThekwini Games, and, yes, with bated breath I’ll be watching the track and field to see how many medals South Africa wins. But in the back of my mind, this question will linger:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Could the money have been better spent?</p>
</blockquote><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/47166/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Peter Vale does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>By investing in the 2022 Commonwealth Games, South Africa sacrifices investment in pressing societal needs. Instead, the country should be mobilised around the national goal of fixing schooling.Peter Vale, Professor in Humanities, University of JohannesburgLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/471422015-09-07T04:07:57Z2015-09-07T04:07:57ZWhy the Commonwealth endures despite being written off by the left and the right<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/93986/original/image-20150906-14645-cyzea2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Leaders at the last Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in November 2013. Malta will host the next one in November 2015.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Reuters/Dinuka Liyanawatte</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The South African city Durban has made history by being named the first in Africa to host the <a href="http://www.glasgow2014.com/">Commonwealth Games</a> since they started 85 years ago. </p>
<p>The port city’s decision to bid for the 2022 Commonwealth Games has sparked controversy. Supporters say the games will boost tourism and <a href="http://mg.co.za/article/2015-09-02-durban-first-african-city-to-host-commonwealth-games">create jobs</a>. Detractors question their <a href="http://www.timeslive.co.za/sundaytimes/stnews/2015/09/06/Value-for-money-Durbans-R6.4bn-Commonwealth-Games-bet">affordability</a>, citing grinding poverty and acute shortages of basic necessities such as housing. </p>
<p>This article seeks to explain the Commonwealth of Nations as an organisation and its enduring power. The <a href="http://www.commonwealthofnations.org/commonwealth/">Commonwealth</a> is an example of a concept that ought to be politically fraught. The (English) language-based association comprises a former imperialist power plus its dismantled empire of former colonies, protectorates, and mandates.</p>
<p>But far from the <a href="http://thecommonwealth.org/member-countries">53-member</a> Commonwealth unravelling, it has inspired three imitators – and imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. These are: the <a href="http://www.francophonie.org/Welcome-to-the-International.html">Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie</a>, the <a href="http://www.cplp.org/">Comunidade dos Países de Língua Portuguesa</a>, and the <a href="http://www.cisstat.com/eng/cis.htm">Commonwealth of Independent States</a>.</p>
<h2>Commonwealth history</h2>
<p>The British Empire began evolving into the Commonwealth between the <a href="http://variety.com/2014/tv/reviews/tv-review-historys-the-world-wars-1201183621/">two world wars</a>. Sovereign independence was granted to what white supremacists termed the <a href="http://newsgroups.derkeiler.com/Archive/Soc/soc.culture.brazil/2011-11/msg00044.html">“white dominions”</a> – Australia, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa. These governments all shared close political, diplomatic, and military alliances, and enjoyed, by the standards of the day, similar economically developed status.</p>
<p>Today’s Commonwealth covers a spectrum of Western and non-aligned governments, developed and developing economies, democracies and authoritarian regimes. They differ remarkably in other respects too: </p>
<ul>
<li><p>They almost never vote the same way at the United Nations;</p></li>
<li><p>They diverge on most diplomatic issues;</p></li>
<li><p>They have a plethora of official languages (more than 16 in India alone);</p></li>
<li><p>Their dominant religions range from Christianity and Islam to Hinduism and Buddhism; and </p></li>
<li><p>They are members of separate economic blocs and unions. </p></li>
</ul>
<p>Yet none of the current Commonwealth members wish to leave. Temporary suspension of membership, as with <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8231717.stm">Fiji</a>, <a href="http://thecommonwealth.org/history-of-the-commonwealth/nigeria-suspended-commonwealth">Nigeria</a> and <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/pakistan-suspended-from-commonwealth-1.641388">Pakistan</a>, serves as public naming and shaming for errant behaviour.</p>
<p>Not all former British colonies want to join the Commonwealth. The US <a href="http://www.quora.com/Why-isnt-the-United-States-a-member-of-the-Commonwealth-of-Nations">does not</a>. Ireland <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/northernireland/7526873/Could-Ireland-really-rejoin-the-Commonwealth.html">does not</a>. Not one of Britain’s former Arab colonies, protectorates, and mandates ever joined, nor Israel, nor Myanmar. By contrast, Algeria, with its bloody seven-year <a href="http://www.britannica.com/event/Algerian-War">war of liberation</a>, was the only former French colony not to join the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-13882233">Mauritius</a> and the <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-14093816">Seychelles</a> enjoy membership of both the Commonwealth and the Francophonie, reflecting their histories as having been colonies of both empires.</p>
<p>Only Zimbabwe’s authoritarian leader <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/3299277.stm">Robert Mugabe</a> and the dictator of <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/oct/03/gambia-quits-commonwealth-yahya-jammeh">The Gambia</a> have chosen to resign from the Commonwealth. But <a href="http://www.larouchepub.com/eiw/public/1997/eirv24n29-19970718/eirv24n29-19970718_051-a_case_study_in_britains_new_emp.pdf">Mozambique</a> and <a href="http://www.voanews.com/content/rwanda-formally-welcomed-into-commonwealth-87013602/153618.html">Rwanda</a>, never ruled by Britain, both applied for and were accepted as members. Rwanda followed this up by introducing cricket in its schools and encouraging the use of English. </p>
<p>Ironically, the Commonwealth <a href="http://www.channel4.com/news/jubilee-prompts-questions-about-commonwealths-role">enjoys lowest support</a> among the British public, and highest support among its third-world member publics.</p>
<h2>British international soft power</h2>
<p>Clearly, the Commonwealth gives Britain the international soft power of language and culture. In the long term this soft power might become less Anglo and more Anglophone since India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nigeria each have larger populations than the UK. </p>
<p>This becomes clear as we look at the Commonwealth family. The <a href="http://thecommonwealth.org/">Commonwealth Secretariat</a> and <a href="https://chogm2015.mt/">Commonwealth Heads of Government Meetings</a> (CHOGM) attract less publicity than the <a href="http://www.glasgow2014.com/">Commonwealth Games</a> or the <a href="http://www.themanbookerprize.com/">Man Brooker Prize for literature</a>. While football has spread to the whole globe, cricket and rugby remain based within Commonwealth countries.</p>
<p>This is not to downplay the importance of the episodic CHOGM. In addition to the formal multilateral conference, occasions where more than 50 heads of government are in the same town are eagerly used for bilateral and trilateral negotiations.</p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.cpahq.org/cpahq/">Commonwealth Parliamentary Association</a>, the <a href="http://www.commonwealthlawyers.com/">Commonwealth Lawyers Association</a>, and the <a href="https://www.acu.ac.uk/">Association of Commonwealth Universities</a> are among the most prominent of over 100 Commonwealth non-governmental organisations. </p>
<p>Economically, Commonwealth countries are divided between those who are members of the European Union (EU), the <a href="http://www.caricom.org/jsp/community/community_index.jsp?menu=community">Caribbean Community</a> (Caricom), <a href="http://www.ecowas.int/">Economic Community of West African States</a> ECOWAS, <a href="http://www.sadc.int/">Southern African Development Community</a> and the <a href="http://www.eac.int/">East African Community</a>, and the <a href="http://saarc-sec.org/saarc-charter/5/">South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation</a>. But trade between Commonwealth countries tends to be higher than with other states. The Commonwealth Business Council is a corporate sector entity that encourages this.</p>
<p>From time to time, a diversity of commentators and activists denigrate the Commonwealth. These range from right-wing old-school imperialists to leftist critics denouncing Western hegemony. Liberals periodically deplore the Commonwealth’s failure to denounce human rights abusers or, usually, to expel dictators. One pernicious heritage of the British Empire includes <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/nov/10/homosexuality-illegal-in-41-out-of-53-commonwealth-countries-report">anti-homosexual laws</a> in 41 Commonwealth countries, quite different from the heritage of the French empire.</p>
<h2>Looking to the future</h2>
<p>But such episodic outbursts swiftly fade away, while the trickle of third-world countries wishing to join the Commonwealth continues. Clearly, the Commonwealth is for most of its members a soft, not a primary identity. After all, Commonwealth members such as India and Pakistan have fought three wars with each other. </p>
<p>But the 21st century is an era of multiple identities. Cameroon, Mauritius and the Seychelles are examples of countries happy to enjoy both Commonwealth and Francophonie memberships. Pan-Africanism and the African Union also form strong bonds between states who are also Commonwealth members. Mozambique is a member of both the Commonwealth and the Comunidade.</p>
<p>So the Commonwealth comprises some valued strands in the warp and weft of 53 nations’ contemporary fabric of being. It has passed the test of time, as have also the <a href="http://www.francophonie.org/Welcome-to-the-International.html">Francophonie</a> and Comunidade dos Países de Língua Portuguesa. It is more likely to gain one or two more countries in future than to lose members. And under future rulers it is probable that The Gambia and Zimbabwe will return.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/47142/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Keith Gottschalk does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The Commonwealth is politically fraught, with widely divergent members. But, instead of unravelling as some critics wish, it has instead inspired copycats and appears set to grow and endure.Keith Gottschalk, Political Scientist, University of the Western CapeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/395872015-04-08T10:19:00Z2015-04-08T10:19:00ZManifesto Check: Plaid Cymru’s sports policy – a good shot, but missed opportunity<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/77317/original/image-20150408-18083-tkym1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">If they want to get kids on the pitch, Plaid will have to address inequalities. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/joncandy/8172591234/sizes/l">joncandy/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>First and foremost, it’s worth noting that <a href="https://www.gov.uk/devolution-settlement-wales">sport and recreation are devolved to Wales</a>, which means that the policies in Plaid Cymru’s manifesto will be chiefly relevant to Welsh voters at next year’s National Assembly elections. At the heart of Plaid Cymru’s approach to sport is the aspiration to improve health and well-being, address social inequalities and promote elite-level sport. But overall, the opportunity to grasp the broader contribution that sport can bring to Welsh life has been missed.</p>
<p>The manifesto is launched on the back of a series of sporting successes for Wales. In the 2014 Commonwealth Games, Wales came <a href="http://g2014results.thecgf.com/medals.html">13th on the medal table</a>, with a <a href="http://www.thecgf.com/countries/tally.asp">record number of medals</a>. The nation also attained third place in the <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/rugbyunion/international/wales/11489005/Wales-on-a-mission-to-be-fittest-side-at-the-World-Cup-and-lift-the-trophy.html">2015 Six Nations rugby tournament</a>. And Sportwales, the national agency for sport, has recorded <a href="http://sportwales.org.uk/research--policy/surveys-and-statistics/statistics.aspx">rising participation rates</a> in both walking and exercise, which increased between 2008 and 2012 from 33.8% to 41.7%, and 16.9% to 21.6%, respectively. </p>
<p>The manifesto prioritises the participation of teenage girls’ in fitness programmes. This reflects policy directions in other parts of UK, like Sport England’s “<a href="https://www.sportengland.org/our-work/equality-diversity/women/this-girl-can/">This Girl Can</a>” campaign. It is clear from the <a href="http://sportwales.org.uk/media/1476045/who_is_hooked_on_sport.pdf">Active Adults survey</a>, women in Wales participate in sport less than men. This finding is supported by the <a href="http://archive.sportengland.org/research/active_people_survey/active_people_survey_7.aspx">Active People Survey</a> for England, and the government’s <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/adult-questionnaire-taking-part-survey-2014-to-2015">Taking Part Survey</a>. </p>
<p>Yet Plaid Cymru misses crucial opportunities to grasp the bigger picture, and is short on specific pledges and evidence. For instance, the manifesto makes little mention of jobs in sport or the sporting economy, aside from the short-term boosterism of bidding to host major sporting events like the Tour de France. </p>
<p>The manifesto also commits to promoting sports in schools, but omits to mention the <a href="http://bjsm.bmj.com/content/48/3/265">link between physical activity and educational attainment </a>. And nowhere does the manifesto mention tackling two of most prominent sources of inequality in participation; namely <a href="http://irs.sagepub.com/content/early/2014/07/05/1012690214541101.abstract">class and geography</a>. Without tackling these two issues, there is a real risk of masking the growing polarisation in the consumption of sport between the classes. </p>
<p>Plaid commits to developing the <a href="http://www.welshfootballtrust.org.uk/news/WFT97357.ink">Inspire Wales programme</a>, which is focused upon increasing participation in Wales. This is an impressive project, which has reviewed some of the international evidence and is trying to grasp what would work for Wales. It looks to Nordic and Celtic models of success, and is moving Wales in the correct direction in terms of improved sports participation rates. </p>
<p>That being said, sport has a proven role both in <a href="http://www.coe.int/t/DG4/EPAS/Publications/Handbook-1_Sport-Post-Conflict-Societies.pdf">post-conflict situations</a>, and as a targeted programme of intervention that <a href="http://www.sportanddev.org/en/newsnviews/news/?7599/1/Two-year-social-cohesion-programme-by-UNICEF-and-Generations-for-Peace-to-benefit-five-thousand">contributes to social cohesion</a>. </p>
<p>If you add to this <a href="http://www.sportanddev.org/en/newsnviews/news/?5037/1/Sport-scores-The-costs-and-benefits-of--sport-for-crime-reduction">the role of sport in crime reduction</a>, then one could conclude that – despite Plaid’s acknowledgement of the link between sport and the reduction of child poverty – the significant role of sport in helping to secure social cohesion, and consequently preventative spending capacity, has not been fully grasped. </p>
<p><em>The Conversation’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/manifesto-check-2015">Manifesto Check</a> deploys academic expertise to scrutinise the parties’ plans.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/39587/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Grant Jarvie receives funding from charities and research councils. He currently sits on the board of sportscotland and has provided independent advice on sports policy to governments both within and external to the UK. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Paul Widdop receives funding from charities and research councils. He has previously provided independent advice and consultation services to the Scottish Government on sport and leisure consumption. </span></em></p>Plaid Cymru scores with Inspire Wales programme, but fails to grasp the bigger picture when it comes to sports.Grant Jarvie, Chair of Sport, The University of EdinburghPaul Widdop, Research Fellow in Cultural and Sport Sociology , Leeds Beckett UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.