Christchurch 2026 Commonwealth Games bid ‘risky’ and ‘impractical’

Thursday, 20 July 2023

It will be 50 years in January 2024 since Christchurch hosted the Commonwealth Games and mayor Phil Mauger wants to do it again.

Christchurch needs to focus on improving its grassroots sporting infrastructure before it considers hosting the Commonwealth Games, a city councillor says.

Mayor Phil Mauger’s call for Christchurch to host the 2026 Commonwealth Games has failed to garner much support amongst his council colleagues and other city agencies.

Most councillors, while applauding Mauger’s optimism and ambition, say the city has far more pressing issues that need sorting out first.

They say the idea is “impractical” and “super risky”, especially considering the city’s $683 million stadium, Te Kaha, is not set to open until April 2026 and the unfinished Parakiore Metro Sports facility has been beset by problems leading to long delays in its completion.

Cr Andrei Moore said sports teams have been playing on surfaces that were barely usable all winter.

“We’re not yet ready to showcase this type of sporting event to the world if we’re struggling to keep up with the basics for our own grass roots,” he said.

They pay the rates and need to be the priority.“

Christchurch mayor Phil Mauger wants Christchurch to host the 2026 Commonwealth Games.

Mauger first mooted the idea of Christchurch hosting the Commonwealth Games during last year’s election campaign, and this week he jumped at the chance for the city to step in and save the 2026 games, after the Australian state of Victoria pulled out of the event due to ballooning costs.

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews said on Tuesday that the state was withdrawing its bid after the cost spiralled from A$2.6 billion to at least A$6b (NZ$6.5b).

Cr Sara Templeton said the city needed to look at that decision “as a clear warning and not an opportunity to relive a nostalgic past”.

“It’s neither feasible or a priority for a city that still has significant current challenges and a climate-changed future to plan for.”

Christchurch hosted the Commonwealth Games in 1974, when 1276 athletes from 38 countries competed in 121 medal events.

At the Birmingham games last year, more than 5000 athletes from 72 countries took part in 283 events.

Only one councillor fully supported Mauger’s push.

Mark Peters said it would be wise for the city to take a serious look at whether it could host the 2026 games.

The 1974 games were organised in three and a half years and Christchurch could do it again, according to one of the 1974 organisers.

“I don’t believe simply saying ‘no’ is the right thing … I’m more visionary.”

He said the council owed it to Christchurch to have some urgent discussions with the New Zealand Olympic Committee (NZOC) to see if a plan could be pulled together involving Christchurch and other cities.

However, the committee’s chief executive Nicki Nicol has already ruled out a 2026 bid, saying it was looking toward a bid for the 2034 games.

Any urgent discussions, suggested by Peters, were unlikely to happen as the city’s economic development agency ChristchurchNZ has ruled out a 2026 bid, as has sporting body Sport Canterbury.

Mauger is also on leave from the council for a week, travelling overseas with family and is not contactable, according to a council spokesperson.

Dick Tayler races for gold during the 10,000m race at the 1974 Commonwealth Games.

ChristchurchNZ head of major events Karena Finnie said she believed Christchurch could play a significant role in the 2034 games and it had already expressed an interest in being involved.

Sport Canterbury chief executive Julyan Falloon said realistically it would be too risky for Christchurch to host the 2026 games and it should focus on being part of a countrywide 2034 bid.

“We still have significant infrastructure that is not completed - Te Kaha and Parakiore.”

Dick Tayler, who won gold in the 10,000 metres in Christchurch in 1974, said it would be sad if the games were put in jeopardy because of the Victoria decision.

“Everyone in the Commonwealth needs to do some quick thinking,” he said.

The 74-year-old, who lives in the Otago town of Waikouaiti, said it was nice being a part of the 1974 games, which would mark its 50th anniversary in January.

“It’s hard to believe it ever happened.”

He felt the event could be spread across New Zealand, but 2026 was very short notice.

However, Bruce Ullrich, who was deputy chair of the 1974 games organising committee, reckoned it was possible.

The city had only three and a half years to prepare for the 1974 games and work didn’t start on the new QEII stadium until two years before the event.

Ullrich believed Christchurch needed to take full advantage of the opportunity to host the games in 2026.

He believed the sports should be limited to 10 or 12 mostly individual disciplines, reducing the number of competitors and making the event more manageable.

“It’s an opportunity for us to do it on our own terms,” he said.

“What better way to highlight all our new facilities and show the world we are back in business after the earthquakes?”

Canterbury Employers’ Chamber of Commerce chief executive Leeann Watson said hosting an event of that magnitude in Christchurch would have significant benefits to the city and its businesses.

But whether it was the right thing to do from an economic perspective, was a council decision to make, she said.