NZOC, mayor disappointed, realistic over games decision

Screengrab from commonwealthgames.org.nz

Auckland's bid to host the 2018 Commonwealth Games has sunk with the Government's decision not to back it.

Prime Minister John Key said the games would have proved too costly, at $600 million, for taxpayers.

"It's very, very expensive and we can't see the economic pay back... The economic loss was so great that we couldn't justify it," Mr Key said.

He accepted events often ran at a loss, but in this case was largely due to operating costs without investing in new stadia or other long-lasting benefits.

New Zealand Olympic Committee (NZOC) secretary-general Barry Maister told NZPA the committee was disappointed by the decision, as it believed it could have won the bid and successfully hosted the games, but understood the Government's position given the tough financial times.

"We're disappointed, but not totally surprised," he said.

"We know that we could have done it."

He said the games could have been hosted for $600m and the bid money would have come out of that. He was very confident of the costings and said the Government had not disputed them.

Auckland Mayor John Banks told NZPA today he was obviously disappointed but there was simply no money.

"We are not at all surprised. In the context of the global recession it was always going to be a big ask."

He said the games would be run at a heavy financial loss, but how that cost would be shared by the ratepayers and taxpayers had never been assessed.

Auckland also had to convince the African and the Caribbean states that they should support it, instead of a country closer to them.

However, even without that hurdle to overcome, the bid was not economically feasible.

"The cost benefit analysis at this time does not stack up. There is no spare cash from the ratepayers and the Government is borrowing $240 million a week for the next 200 weeks."

He said the Government's decision was pretty much the end of the bid and it was highly unlikely it would be reactivated.

Mr Maister said he hoped that New Zealand could host a future Commonwealth Games beyond 2018. The feasibility study showed it had the capability and capacity to win the bid and host the games.

"We think there is work to be done with the Commonwealth Games Federation."

Many Commonwealth countries were small and without changes, the games would only be hosted by a small number of wealthy nations.

In terms of the events strategy, Mr Maister said he wanted clarity about what the organisation was going to support. He said the country could focus on hosting more single sport events like the rugby and hockey world cups.

The Government last year provided money to assess Auckland's ability to host the Commonwealth Games.

The $325,000 feasibility assessment was commissioned by the NZOC and was funded by New Zealand Major Events, a unit of the Ministry of Economic Development, along with government sport funding agency Sparc and Auckland councils.

- NZPA