From 1979 to 1982, I was volunteer 0001 at the XII Commonwealth Games Foundation, supporting office odd-jobs and later with planning, marketing, sports and creative planning groups.

46 countries participating with 1,583 athletes with 571 officials involved in 142 events the Brisbane Commonwealth Games are still hailed as one of the very best. Everything went so well from the moment Matilda, a 13-metre mechanical kangaroo, helped out with the opening ceremonies.

Ten sports were featured at the 1982 Commonwealth Games – Archery, Athletics, Badminton, Boxing, Cycling, Lawn Bowls, Shooting, Swimming and Diving, Weightlifting and Wrestling.  The men’s 200m gold was famously shared by England’s Mike McFarlane and Scotland’s Allan Wells, with judges unable to separate the pair at the winning post.

The Opening Ceremony of the Brisbane Commonwealth Games were held at the QEII Stadium, in the suburb of Nathan, Brisbane. The QEII Stadium was also the venue which was used for the athletics and archery competitions during the Games.

My mother was Accreditation and Hospitality Manager.

1982 Commonwealth Games
Brisbane

One of the projects I help work on was a QANTAS partnership, that provided QANTAS with official airline status of the XII Commonwealth Games, and provided the games with a huge amount of marketing reach, and airline tickets for executive staff.   Separately, a lot of special merchandise was created, including these commemorative playing cards issued on board to QANTAS customers on inbound flights to Australia.

Another project was working with another major sponsor Castlemaine Perkins XXXX beer to create a series of souvenir items such as bar trays, bar coasters, bar runners, esky’s and even beer cans. The XXXX brewery is an icon in Queensland, whose brewery in downtown Brisbane is iconic (and smelly) and the alignment between them and sports was a natural fit.

Photo courtesy of Brisbane City Council / BCC-T120-93676