Riddle me this, why is the Federal Government funding a parade for our Athletes through Sydney? Is the Federal Government going to fund parades through Australia's other capital cities?

I think the perth one is on september 9th... can't see the feds handing over any dosh though arse wanks

It should be in SEQ, where the population is nearing 15 million, or thereabouts.

^ lol.

It should be in SEQ, where the population is nearing 15 million, or thereabouts.

LMAO!

It should be in SEQ, where the population is nearing 15 million, or thereabouts.

HAHAHA CLASSIC

nah,

it should be in Sydney, so they can stop feeling so left out and unimportant
or in Melbourne where the weather is so good
or Perth because its so close to everything
or Canberra because its the entertainment capital of Australia

isnt there going to be a parade in every city? thats what normally happens. Sydney will be last.

I don't think the Federal Government should be providing any money for any aparde or function outisde of Canberra. Its is very unAustralian for the Federal Government to part pay for a parade in Sydney and ignoring the rest of the country (as usual!).

The Federal Government should host an Olympic Dinner or Cocktail Party or better still, a BBQ on the lawns of Government House. Now that is what I call very Australian.

What's so un-Aussie about a ticker tape parade through the streets of Sydney? Isn't that how it's always been done?

isnt there going to be a parade in every city? thats what normally happens. Sydney will be last.

There was a parade in Brisbane today.

Why should the federal govt fund a parade through Sydney?

Sydney is our main city - all other smaller cities are insignificant - LOL
John Howard Lives there - and runs the country from there. The only time he goes to Canberra is to see the GG.

jt

Maybe it has something to do with Sydney having the Olympics in 2000?

^^^ Melbourne had the Olympics in 1956 in case anyone in Canberra or Sydney forgot.

^^^ Melbourne had the Olympics in 1956 in case anyone in Canberra or Sydney forgot.


But I bet the ticker-tape parade was held in Sydney :D

The Federal Government should host an Olympic Dinner or Cocktail Party or better still, a BBQ on the lawns of Government House. Now that is what I call very Australian.
It seems that King Johnny likes to also do the job of Governor General, when it comes down to celebrating and hosting sporting success.

Sydney will have theirs on September 15, the fourth anniversary of the Olympics. The members of the team will be flown in and the parade will follow the traditional route up George St from Circular Quay to Town Hall where Clover Moore will then host a civic reception for the team.

^^^ Melbourne had the Olympics in 1956 in case anyone in Canberra or Sydney forgot.

yeh that was like 48 years ago, lol. Sydneys was only 4 years ago. Melbourne gets some things, Sydney gets others, get over it! :runaway:

It seems that King Johnny likes to also do the job of Governor General, when it comes down to celebrating and hosting sporting success.

Well, why waste such a vote winner on an executive that isn't elected. :)

I don't have a problem with Sydney having a parade. I think it will be amazing. The problem I have is that the Federal Government is paying for half of it! The Federal Gvt isn't giving any money to any other capital city for their parades, civic recpetions etc..

Well of course, King Johnnie resides at Kirribilli and he wants to be at the Sydney Town Hall with Clover Moore and NSW Premier Carr. Canberra is sort of secondry, it is not Australia's FIRST CITY, so keep a watch for him at the Town Hall.

Sydney always has proven to produce the biggest and best ticker-tape parades in the country.

Its always been Sydney long B4 Jonny became PM.

Ticker tape parades are overrated. Who cares? Big whoop...stand by the street and shower the paraders with recycled paper, then piss off, and watch the council workers go clean the street.

I'd rather actually watch the stars in action doing what they do best then watch them cruise by in a car waving to people they don't even know and will most likely never know.

The point is why does the Federal Government pay for the Sydney Parade? Surely this money can be better spent on the Scoresby Freeway.

Perth's Welcome Home Ceremony Today 12 Midday, Forest Place CBD (thursday)

WA Olympic heroes welcomed home
Western Australia's 54 Athens Olympians were given a rousing welcome home today in the centre of Perth.

Premier Geoff Gallop said our athletes had proved themselves role models for all Western Australians with their dedication, competitiveness and inspirational performances.

"Ryan Bayley's landmark achievement of two individual gold medals capped off an outstanding performance by Western Australians at the Athens Games," Dr Gallop said.

"This was our biggest national team to leave Australian shores and more Western Australians were part of the Athens Games team than at any other Olympics."

The Premier said the community supported sport and recreation every time they bought a Lotterywest ticket. About $9million was raised each year in this way.

"Every Western Australian can rightly say they made their contribution and supported our athletes in an Olympic journey that reaped 13 medal-winning performances," Dr Gallop said.

Sport and Recreation Minister Bob Kucera said the State had invested $36million in community sport and recreation facilities since Sydney 2000.

"But sporting stars like our WA Athens Olympians would not have achieved so much, had it not been for the grassroots support that mums and dads give our children every week for training and at weekend events," Mr Kucera said.

"Our strong sporting ethos relies on the dedication of volunteers who coach, train and support thousands of young sportsmen and women each week. They give children the chance to aspire to the achievements of our Olympic heroes whom we welcome home today."

Perth cheers home Olympic heroes
http://www.thewest.com.au/pictures/100-gen10bike.jpg
WA's biggest and most successful Olympic team were welcomed home as heroes yesterday with an official ceremony in Forrest Place in the city.

Premier Geoff Gallop lauded the team whose 13 medals were spread between 54 athletes.

"That is not bad for a State with only 10 per cent of the nation's population," he said.

Medallists and athletes were beset by autograph hunters but the day's biggest hero was cyclist Ryan Bayley, who held his winning bike aloft and shook off jokes about his fast-food habits.

Bayley's twin victories made him the first individual gold medallist from WA in 36 years.

He said his success had only just hit him.

"You dream about going to an Olympics but you don't dream of coming home to something like this," he said.

He was one of the many athletes who will focus on the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne in 2006 and the Beijing Olympics in 2008.

"First, I am really looking forward to some time in Perth - usually I only get a month a year at home," he said.

The swimmers were enjoying the festivities but many were already thinking about the afternoon training session in preparation for the world short course trials.

Men's hockey gold medallist Bevan George described the "awesome feeling" of knocking the Dutch off their perch while rower Stuart Reside, who won bronze, told of the team's spirit and the encouragement given by the Australian public.

Rower Sally Robbins was reticent about discussing her controversial race collapse while other athletes were looking forward to a break before gearing up for Melbourne.
http://www.thewest.com.au/20040910/news/general/tw-news-general-home-sto129303.html



Athletes treated like rock stars at welcome home parade
HOLDING his bike aloft, dual Olympic gold medallist Ryan Bayley soaked up the thunderous applause at a welcome home ceremony in Perth yesterday.

The 22-year-old cyclist was the clear favourite of the crowd of several thousand who gathered in Perth's central business district for the lunchtime event honouring all 54 of WA's Athens Olympians.

The patriotic chant of "Aussie, Aussie, Aussie - Oi, Oi, Oi" rang out, flags were waved and family, friends and fans cheered wildly as the Olympians stepped on stage while their achievements were highlighted.

But Bayley, who was introduced as the unquestionable superstar from WA, was the only one to be greeted by cries of "you're the man" and "you're the sexiest".

"It's been unbelievable," the laid-back Perth resident said.

"Just to have all this, you know, how many people are in here. It's absolutely beautiful."

Bayley was nicknamed the "KFC Kid" because of his fondness for fast food. He took out both the sprint and the keirin events at the velodrome, adding to Australia's best ever Olympic gold medal haul of 17.

He now holds the title of the most successful individual West Australian Olympian ever, and took time today to thank his hometown crowd for their ongoing support.

"I want to thank everyone for coming out, it's beautiful," he said.

Sponsorship offers had been "popping up left, right and centre" since his fast-food diet hit the headlines, but Bayley said he was too busy catching up with family and friends, and meeting media commitments to have given them any serious consideration.

His immediate future would involve watching television and riding his BMX bike, he said.

Fellow cyclist Peter Dawson and hockey player Bevan George also paraded their gold medals, while silver medallists including lightweight rowers Glen Loftus and Ben Cureton, swimmers Todd Pearson and Antony Matkovic and sprinter John Steffensen were likewise honoured.

Rower Sally Robbins, who famously stopped rowing during the final of the women's eight, was cheered on warmly by the crowd, many of whom were obliged with autographs from the sports stars after the official event.

Premier Geoff Gallop praised WA's Olympic team and those who supported them.

"We contributed 20 per cent of Australia's tally of 49 medals – not bad from a state that has less than 10 per cent of Australia's population," Dr Gallop said.
http://www.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,10723537%255E2761,00.html

Adelaide's was... pathetic. Very disappointed. It was a Comedy of Errors of Shakespearian proportions.

For starters, we used The Advertiser as our reliable source of information about the parade. Mistake number one. The Murdoch press, getting something wrong? NEVER!

After the Closing ceremony they announced a ticker-tape parade, except the ACC seemed to forget the ticker-tape, which is what really makes a parade of this sort in my opinion. Disappointed.

Anyway we patriotically made our way down King William Street, thinking it didn't look very parade like at all, and eventually to Victoria Square, where it was set to end. They had set up a stage and big screen and there was a reasonable crowd there, smiling politicians looking for a photo op and thousands upon thousands of primary school children. Every single one of said school children had these little plastic clapper things that they were giving away with each copy of the aptly named Advertiser newspaper, and they were the most annoying things on Earth. Grrr!

The Advertiser proclaimed that the parade will start at 10:30 at Adelaide Oval and a presentation would occur at 11:30 at Victoria Square. An hour for that trip? I don't think so. Someone at News Ltd can't count and didn't realise that the parade started at 11.30 and the presentation occurred straight after that, so there's an extra hour standing in Victoria Square, which desperately needs an upgrade, surrounded by thousands of kids with plastic clapping torture devices.

Whist we were waiting in the Square they had some music playing idly on the sound system they had rigged up. Fair enough. Some appropriate tunes for such a patriotic sporting event would be "We Can Be Heroes" by the Wallflowers or some other cliché over-used by the TV networks, but instead they chose, and I kid you not, "77 Percent" by The Heard, which for those who don't know has lyrics along the lines of (and this is one of the tamer bits):

Wake up, this country needs a fucking shake up
Wake up, this country needs a shake up
Wake up, this country needs a fucking shake up
Wake up.

Very patriotic. Mind you, this was played uncensored to a crowd of mostly primary school children and pensioners.

Also proclaimed by the 'Tiser is the athletes, all 24 of them who bothered to show up, will be paraded in 24 open top cars, which we took meaning convertible cars of some variety. But no, there were actually 12 cars, and they weren't so much cars as flat tray utes. Classy.

Finally the parade gets underway and the athletes are all smiles and waves departing from Adelaide Oval as we watch on the big screen. The parade was a true recreation of the Athens games, there was almost NO CROWD. Barely fifty people lined from Adelaide Oval to North Terrace. Sad, sad, sad.

Now I don't say I know much about the Olympic athletes. If you didn't win a gold medal, chances are I wouldn't know your name. But of those 24 who did bother to make it to Adelaide, the only name I recognised was Chantelle Newbury. The rest were... no idea. Then again, I'm not your expert.

Then at Victoria Square there was a presentation of some sort, hosted by Dawn Frasier. Snore. Now I know she is one of our most successful athletes and she does have many great achievements, but after seeing her almost every 5 minutes on TV during the games, frankly, I'm sick of her. She had a speech for what seemed like half an hour which really said little other that what we already knew, that is, we like athletes.

Then some Greek representative guy with an unpronounceable last name presented the City of Adelaide with an olive tree. One thing Adelaide does not have a shortage of is trees, but I get the symbolism. Then Seven's Bruce Abernathy (?) announced that there was a second tree to be presented to those athletes who bothered to show up, except, no tree. The Greek guy looked like a rabbit in head lights, it was a laugh. It was at this point we cut our losses and left.

Oh well, at least it beats Statistics lectures.

sounds like a top day:D

Absolutely quality post.

Go Adelaide :D

Well the great day arrived for the welcome home. What a grand effort by Sydney people, and I love the Sydney Town Hall as the centre stage. Watched it live on CH7 and it was also great to see the Governor General having his say. WELL DONE AUSTRALIA.