Australian mining magnate and billionaire businesswoman Gina Rinehart has backed the Gold Coast’s bid to host the 2026 Commonwealth Games following an appeal to the federal sports minister by the city’s mayor this week.
Ms. Rinehart has been reported to join forces with patrons of the Commonwealth Games, such as major sporting bodies, to salvage the games after plans for its hosting were axed by the Victorian government in July.
It is understood that Ms. Rinehart will not be funding the Games, reported to cost over $1 billion (US$655 million), but will support them in other ways.
A spokesperson for Ms. Rinehart told The Epoch Times that her company, Hancock Prospecting, and at times her foundations have over the past decade dedicated more than $60 million to support Commonwealth Games athletes—from swimming to beach volleyball—“to directly support Australian athletes represent their country at their best.”
“Having seen the joy that athletes and their families experienced when competing in front of a home crowd for the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games, Mrs. Rinehart would certainly welcome the 2026 event to again be held in Australia, especially at the Gold Coast, where it was run so successfully before,” the spokesperson said.
“Direct athlete support remains the focus of Hancock’s sports funding program.
“A global event like the Commonwealth Games benefits many local businesses, and improves (subject to securing Government funding support that was heading to Victoria for the Games) the venues for wider benefit for years to come.”
Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate said Ms. Rinehart “sent a clear message.”
“We must show what we are capable of as a country,” he said.
“The Aussie athletes deserve it, as does every young kid who dreams of representing their country… the momentum behind a 2026 Gold Coast Games is growing.”
In July, Mr. Tate said his city could turn “Victoria’s lemon” into the city’s “lemonade,” adding that Victoria’s decision to scrap the games was “not an Aussie way of doing things.”
Victoria’s premier, Daniel Andrews, cited a cost blowout of $7 billion, up from $2.6 billion, as his reason to cancel the event.
Mr. Tate said his bid for his city to host the games needs bipartisan support at the federal level.
Ms. Rinehart’s spokesperson added that upgrades to the Gold Coast’s current pool to an Olympic pool—“instead of taxpayers’ funding a temporary pool in Brisbane”—would benefit Australian swimmers and artistic swimmers in the lead up to the Olympics, and at the Brisbane Olympics.
“Most of our Olympic and World Championship swimmers and anticipated Commonwealth Games swimmers, train in the Gold Coast area and Brisbane, so such venue at the Gold Coast, would be an ongoing long term great plan with terrific benefit.”
Meanwhile, Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has ruled out accommodating the event, saying that her state is “100 percent focused” on preparing for the 2032 Olympics and Paralympics.
‘Where There is a Will, There is a Way,’ Says Mayor
In a letter sent to Federal Sports Minister Anika Wells on Aug. 31, Mr. Tate urged the minister to consider his proposal and said the games would cost as little as $1 billion.He added that “there is no time to waste” and would provide Ms. Wells with a “thorough preliminary proposal” given that the Gold Coast successfully held the games in 2018.
“Where there is a will, there is a way, and with the Gold Coast being such a recent host of the Commonwealth Games (so recent that the same Mayor and Premier remain in place), I have no doubt that the Games can be delivered again on the Gold Coast in 2026,” he wrote to Ms. Wells.
“The Commonwealth Games give Australia’s best swimmers a vital opportunity to hone their racing skills for the pinnacle events on the world stage: the World Aquatics Championships and the Olympic Games.”
Mr. Tate said that he was concerned for Australia’s international reputation and its athletes, who would miss out on representing Australia on home soil.
“Given the infrastructure already in place on the Gold Coast and our demonstrated competence in Games delivery, it seemed an obvious solution for the Games to be relocated to the Gold Coast for a range of compelling reasons,” he wrote.
“We will take it from there and I’m well advised that if we do manage to save the 2026 Games, the Commonwealth Games Federation may reconsider its legal action against the state of Victoria.
“That alone could save Victorian taxpayers up to $900 million in costs for the contract breach.
“It would seem appropriate … for the Federal Government to redivert funds intended to be committed to the Victorian Games.”
Infrastructure remains in place from the 2018 Games on the Gold Coast.
In July, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak called for an Australian solution to hosting the 2026 Games; however, no other jurisdiction has offered to step in.
