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I always knew deep down that Bob Parker was a dork

by Whaleoil on October 26, 2011

I knew it, there is always one fool politician who wants to stage a Commonwealth or Olympic Games. I only backed him because he wasn’t Jim Anderton.

Christchurch Mayor Bob Parker is suggesting that New Zealand should bid to host the 2022 Commonwealth Games with a rebuilt Christchurch City hosting the opening and closing events.

“We have seen how well Rugby World Cup 2011 worked having Auckland as the central venue for what was truly a stadium of four million people. I can envisage the same scenario for Christchurch’s role in hosting the 2022 Commonwealth Games,” says Mr Parker. “I am suggesting that Christchurch would host the opening and closing ceremonies along with both the track and field and swimming events, with other events spread throughout the country.

“To host the 2022 Commonwealth Games would be a wonderful goal for the city. The city needs an aspirational target and in 2022 we will have a stunning new city to introduce to the world. Let us, along with our Government, embrace this challenge. We have to rebuild our sports facilities anyway and will have the greater part of the budget to do this from insurance payouts.”

Good luck insuring a Commonwealth games fool.

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  • Andrew McMillan

    The idea of hosting the 2022 Commonwealth Games in New Zealand, with Christchurch being the main focus is both brilliant and achievable. Wellington still remains a far greater earthquake risk than Christchurch in the longer term.

    The people of Christchurch aren’t going to leave the city, it’s going to be rebuilt and part of the re-building required will be a new athletics facility to replace QEII Stadium (which was used for the 1974 Commonwealth Games).

    The Commonwealth Games could help immensely with setting targets and expectations around the re-build and has my full support.

  • Cadwallader

    The Commonwealth Games are an outdated event. If NZ wishes to host a major event we ought begin attending the Asian Games, then strive for hosting rights at a future date. A few years ago some CHCH residents advocated for the Winter Olympics. This idea seems to have died in its infancy.

  • Gazzaw

    If Bob Parker and the people of Christchurch are happy to fully fund the 2022 Commonwealth Games then good on them. As a citizen of NZ I am quite happy to contribute part of my tax take towards the rebuilding of Christchurch, however, I do not consider the 2022 Commonwealth Games as an essential part of the recovery.  Parker’s statement ‘along with our Government, embrace this challenge’ does not indicate that the Games would be unilaterally funded by Christchurch.  Please clarify, Bob Parker. 

  • MrV

    May not be an entirely silly idea, perhaps push the timeframe out to 2026 (or some such). Would be worth looking into if the Commonwealth Games association is serious about reforming the number of events to ensure host countries can better manage costs.

  • Honcho

    For the people of Christchurch, learn to crawl before you try to run.

  • Kthxbai

    If Bob can get private funding for his grandiose schemes, then good on him.  But there’s no way NZ can afford to use public money to fund the construction of the oversized venues required to host a games.

    ChCh’s main swimming pool is a good example – far too large for the population base.  Very nice for those who used it, certainly, but other cities with higher populations have smaller, more crowded pools on the whole.

  • thor42

    I’m against them hosting the Commonwealth Games. One of my main concerns is that the Alpine Fault is well overdue for its next quake (likely to be magnitude 8+).  It’s anyone’s guess as to how a quake like that would affect Christchurch.
    Anyway – as far as money goes, you can bet anything you like that Bob will be going cap-in-hand to the government, asking them to fund the Games (if Chch got them). No thanks – I don’t want my taxes going towards “Parker’s Folly”.  

  • Geoff Houtman

    Bob is nuts. But then again so is Banksie according to Cam’s rule..

  • Dion

    He’s a leader trying to instill hope in a crisis – I don’t think it has anything to do with what he believes will actually happen.  At least I hope it doesn’t.

    Or maybe I’m just being easier on him because he’s not Leanne “Patsy” Dalziel.

  • Kokila Patel

    Well, he isn’t the only mayor (or aspiring mayor) to suggest the ridiculous.  Remember Banksie….http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10655645