The regional, fruit-picking town of Shepparton, located on a floodplain 180 kilometres north-northeast of Melbourne, boasts the tourism slogan: ‘Shepparton; Many Great Things’.
On Thursday the mayor of the region, Dinny Adem, said the town and its surrounds could be made even greater if it won the right to host the Commonwealth Games in 2030.
Adem officially launched the bid on Thursday, saying Greater Shepparton would join 10 other regional cities including Geelong, Ballarat and Mildura to host the Games, breaking the tradition of the event being held in a single host city.
There are already calls for the rapper Briggs, who is from Shepparton and forms one half of the hip-hop duo A.B Original, to perform in the opening ceremony.
“For us, Greater Shepparton with our rich multicultural mix is truly representative of what the Commonwealth Games is all about,” Adem said.
“Thirteen per cent of our population are born overseas and we’re home to the largest Aboriginal community outside of Melbourne, just as the Commonwealth Games is representative of many faiths, races, languages, cultures and traditions.”
He said the proposal was a “ground-breaking concept” that would leave a legacy for millions of people living in regional towns, bring optimism to the area, and provide social and economic benefits.
According to 2016 Census data, the Greater Shepparton region has a population of 63,366, the median age is 38, and the median wage is $40,870. It is located in the Goulburn Valley and is the fourth largest provincial centre in the state.
A taskforce comprising former professional basketballer Lauren Jackson, Athletics Australia board member John Steffensen, and former AFL player for Hawthorn Nick Holland has formed to help the councils involved to develop a feasibility plan.
The mayors and CEOs of the participating municipalities will attend a workshop on 28 April to table their ideas about how the concept could work. Representatives from the City of Melbourne have not been invited to take part, with the proposal calling for the entire games to be held in regional Victoria.
“Naturally, we do envisage that some temporary infrastructure will be required to house athletes and Games activities as part of a satellite approach,” Adem said.
“The legacy of such upgrades is that regional cities and towns would be in a prime position to successfully bid for future national and international events for years to come.
Some of the suggested sports venues are: aquatics including para-swimming events at the Greater Bendigo Indoor Aquatic Leisure Centre; boxing at the Gippsland Regional Indoor Sports and Entertainment Complex; netball at Ballarat Sports and Events Centre; and road cycling through Warrnambool and Port Campbell.
Victoria’s premier, Daniel Andrews, was tentatively supportive of the proposal, saying a cost-benefits analysis would need to be done first.
“You have got to be careful that in prioritising one event you are not having to take money away from a range of other important areas,” he told reporters on Thursday.
“The costs of putting on an event like that, well that money has got to come from somewhere and therefore wouldn’t be available for other things.”
