Delivering an event like the Commonwealth Games on budget and on time is an achievement worthy of a gold medal. Adam Carswell asked the man in charge of Melbourne 2006 about the challenges of bringing such a huge event to Victoria.
It was a monster effort. October 8, 1982 the final day of the Brisbane Commonwealth Games, and Rob de Castella, with his trademark handlebar moustache and 'tree trunk' legs, surges from 55 seconds (or 300 metres) behind tiny Tanzanian, Juma Ikangaa, to win the marathon.
'I thought I was going to blow it,' he told journalists after the 42.4 kilometre event.
'But Pat (Clohessy, his coach) had told me the race would be decided in the last 10 kilometres.
'We judged it well. It was spot on.'
More than 20 years down the track, so to speak, and another famous Australian sportsman former champion AFL footballer Justin Madden has his own Everest to climb.
As minister for the Commonwealth Games (Melbourne 2006) in Victoria's parliament, Madden is responsible for delivering the largest sporting and culture event Melbourne has seen since the 1956 Olympics the XVIII Commonwealth Games on time and on budget. The project is a political hot potato of sorts.
When the Bracks Labor government came into office in September 1999, it inherited the event from Jeff Kennett et al, who had started the formal bidding process way back in 1996.
The election victory for Victorian Labor in November last year means that the next poll is due in late 2006 making the March 15-26 Games the perfect platform for a third successive ballot win.
So, not surprisingly, Madden is keen to discuss the benefits that hosting the Commonwealth's finest athletes will bring to the Victorian public.
'Apart from the pre-Games tourism strategy to attract international and interstate visitors to Melbourne for the Games in 2006, the international broadcast of the Commonwealth Games will showcase Melbourne and Victoria to a third of the world's population,' he says.
Perhaps the prickliest issue Madden has had to contend with up until now has been speculation about the Games' budget, including how much his government will contribute, and how costs will be kept under control.
Following a 'significant review' undertaken by the Melbourne 2006 organising committee, the total cost of the Games has now been set at $1.1 billion.
While this compares favourably with the Sydney Olympics ($6.5bn) and the 2002 Manchester Commonwealth Games ($1.2B), the figure is almost $350 million more than previous estimates.
According to the minister, the perceived blowout has occurred because the original bid budget was prepared before the Sydney Olympics which 'set new benchmarks for the transparency and the costing of these types of events.'
He also says previous spending plans did not include the full cost of transport or a realistic security budget, and did not factor in inflation or the $51m in licence fees payable to the Commonwealth Games Federation and Australian Commonwealth Games Association.
The former Essendon and Carlton ruckman says the bulk of the $1.1B will come from the state government, which has announced a capped contribution to the Games operation budget of $447M.
'In addition, the government is investing in $223M of sporting and urban infrastructure projects that while being delivered in time for the Games, will provide an enduring legacy for Victorians.'
However, with $670M locked in, where the balance (more than $400M) comes from is a little more problematic.
The City of Melbourne, lead by Lord Mayor John So has promised only $23 million from existing council funding and programs. The Howard government has not yet finalised its contribution but it has stated its support for the event and negotiations between state and federal departments are in progress.
In terms of actual revenue generated by the Games, Channel Nine has reportedly paid $50 million for the rights to cover the event, while bumper crowds (in Melbourne, a given) and merchandise sales should also help to fill the coffers.
At the sharp end of the Games' finances is Jordan Reeves CPA, finance manager in the state government's office of the Commonwealth Games Coordination.
'My responsibility is to coordinate all the Commonwealth Games financial reporting,' Reeves says, adding that his role involves monitoring the finances of organisations and government bodies involved with the Games.
With prudent financial management so essential for the state government, due to huge sums of public money riding on the event, and the state opposition ready and waiting to pounce on any finance blow-out in its attempt to discredit the Bracks Labor team, the spotlight is certainly on Reeves and his colleagues.
'Financial accountability is extremely important, what with the extra scrutiny that the project is under,' explains Reeves, who works in a tight-knit team of 20.
'Being a high profile major project there is an even greater responsibility for us to have good financial management and accountability.
'We want to contribute to an overall positive Games outcome through promoting sound financial management and governance,' he says.
Despite pressure to make sure the Games come in on budget, Reeves says he enjoys his ride.
Prior to his current position he was finance manager for the royal commission into the building and construction industry, and he says working in a finance capacity with the public sector allows him to 'get a social focus in there as well and work towards the public good as opposed to just profit'.
In a sign that components of the Games may be scaled down to meeting financial objectives, plans for the opening ceremony, which included ferrying all 4500 athletes along the Yarra River on barges (at a potential cost of $50 million) are being reviewed.
The official view, from Madden, is that the kick-off ceremony will 'seek to welcome the athletes of the Commonwealth to Melbourne and showcase our state to the world while being logistically feasible and within budget expectations.'
At two hours nine minutes and 18 seconds, Deek's famous against-the-odds victory in Brisbane was hailed by many as the greatest marathon ever run.
If the cost of the Melbourne 2006 Games is kept in line with current projections, it will be another inspiring victory this time for Madden, but also for people like Reeves too.
