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A Games like no other
The motto survived. The Games did not.
A games like no other, exactly what we promised.
Daniel Andrews, Eureka Stadium, April 2022. Victoria had just been handed the 2026 Commonwealth Games. ABC, quoting the day: “A games like no other, exactly what we promised.” Also: “We’re very, very confident that this will deliver jobs, it’ll deliver better facilities, better housing and it’ll be a showcase to the world.”
The Premier’s release the same week: “we can’t wait to welcome the world to all of our state.” Four regional hubs. Opening at the MCG. Motto on the bid: a Games like no other, in a place like no other.
This card files that promise. It does not file “never bid for a Games.”
What did have a receipt:
- Fifteen months later the same Premier walked away. No world at Eureka. No villages as villages. The motto is what was left.
- Host cities usually get seven or eight years. Victoria signed for four. VAGO: a regional, multi-city model that had never been run, and the business case did not consult the councils that owned the venues.
- “Very, very confident” is a temperature. A contract is a date.
Grammar: like no other, promised, welcome the world. Logic: a motto is not a village. Rhetoric: showcase.