A Bold Bid

The history of Campbelltown never fails to surprise me. I recently discovered that in 1974 Campbelltown put in a bid for the 1982 Commonwealth Games. Not having come from the area, this was quite a revelation. In fact, at one point, it looked like our town might beat Brisbane in the race to host the games.

There were a number of aspects of Campbelltown's bid that the delegation believed they had in their favour. Firstly, plans were confirmed by Gough Whitlam that a new university was to be built in the city. The university would be used as the Games village should Campbelltown's bid succeed. Adding to this was the investment in vast sums of money by the Federal and State Governments in freeways, fast transit commuter services, and health and recreation facilities. Campbelltown's population was also forecasted to explode with figures of as much as 300,000 predicted by 1980. 

A delegation was sent to Christchurch, New Zealand for the 1974 games to study the staging of the games. There they would promote the town's case. They claimed that the least of their worries would be finding people to fill the seats at any Games stadium.

Campbelltown's bid attracted strong criticism from the Brisbane delegation. Brisbane's Vice-Mayor at the time, Brian Walsh, commented on Campbelltown's efforts, "I think they're getting past a joke. As a general comment, I'd say the Campbelltown group are humorous people who have ceased being humorous". The Campbelltown delegation was not bothered by Brisbane's reaction and not the least bit daunted by the prospect of a David and Goliath struggle with Brisbane. They simply turned the other cheek when Walsh jibed in Christchurch that he did not know where Campbelltown was!

The two main men in the delegation were the Town Clerk Bruce McDonald and the Deputy Mayor Gordon Fetterplace. They were joined by president of the Chamber of Commerce Russell Hayes and chamber member Rod Lawrence. To help promote the bid, a games symbol of Fisher's Ghost was used.

The bid of course ultimately failed, and Brisbane was chosen as the host city. The Brisbane games would be remembered mostly for Matilda, the winking Kangaroo.

  

Above is a sketch of the plan for a sporting complex for the 1982 Commonwealth Games which Campbelltown City Council hoped would be established near the CBD.