The 1982 Commonwealth Games were held in Brisbane, Australia, from 30 September to 9 October 1982. The Opening Ceremony was held at the QEII Stadium (named after Elizabeth II), in the Brisbane suburb of Nathan. The QEII Stadium was also the athletics and archery events venue.[1] Other events were held at the purpose-built Sleeman Sports Complex in Chandler.

XII Commonwealth Games
Host cityBrisbane, Australia
MottoThe Friendly Games
Nations46
Athletes1,583
Events141 events in 12 sports
Opening30 September 1982
Closing9 October 1982
Opened byPrince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh
Athlete's OathTracey Wickham
Queen's Baton Final RunnerRaelene Boyle
Main venueQEII Stadium
← XI
XIII →

The Chairman of the 1982 Commonwealth Games was Sir Edward Williams.[2] The 1982 Commonwealth Games Logo was designed by Paulo Ferreira, who was the winner of a nationwide competition held in 1982.[3][4][5] The symbol is derived from the form of a bounding kangaroo. The three bands, forming stylized A's (for Australia), and a bicycle frame representing Cycling they are in colours which are common to flags of many Commonwealth countries.

The mascot for the games was a cartoon kangaroo called Matilda.[6] A 13-metre-high (42.65 feet) mechanical kangaroo travelled around the stadium and winked at the crowd.

The event was officially opened by The Duke of Edinburgh and closed by Elizabeth II.

Host selection

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Bidding for the XII Commonwealth Games was held in Montreal, Canada, at the 1976 Montreal Summer Olympics. Lagos, Brisbane, Kuala Lumpur, and Birmingham were the bidding cities. On 14 July 1976, it was announced that Brisbane had won the rights to stage the Games[7] after the other candidate cities withdrew bids. Sixteen years after the Brisbane Games, Kuala Lumpur hosted the 1998 Commonwealth Games, while Birmingham hosted the 2022 Commonwealth Games.

Brisbane was awarded the Games by default after being the only candidate city left at the bid election after Birmingham reversed its decision to submit an application.[7] Nigeria's boycott of the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal made Lagos' bid lobbying impractical.[8] The 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal were plagued with cost overruns, and bidding on a sports festival anywhere in the world was not good politically.[9]

Participating teams

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Countries and places which competed at the 1982 games

Forty-six Commonwealth nations and territories took part in the 1982 Commonwealth Games.[10] A total of 1,583 athletes and 571 officials participated in the event.[11] The Griffith University student dormitories in the adjoining Nathan Campus were used as athletes' villages.[12]

Participating Commonwealth countries and territories
Debuting Commonwealth countries and territories

^ Note: The Falkland Islands debut at the games was less than four months after the Falklands War.

Sports

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Sports contested during the 1982 Commonwealth Games included athletics, archery, badminton, lawn bowls, boxing, cycling, shooting, swimming, diving, weightlifting and wrestling.[13]

Table tennis and Australian rules football were demonstration sports,[14] with the latter being demonstrated at a 6 October rematch at the Gabba of that year's VFL Grand Final, which took place just 11 days before at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Richmond won the demonstration rematch with a score of 28.16 (184) to Carlton's 26.10 (166).[15]

Venues

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Main Venues

Standalone Venues

Ceremonies

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Opening ceremony

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Opening ceremony of the 1982 Commonwealth Games in Brisbane with mascot Matilda winking to the crowd

The ceremony at the QEII Stadium was held on a fine but extremely windy day. The wind was so strong that skydivers who were going to descend into the stadium were cancelled.[11] Instead they made an entrance at the closing ceremony.

Closing ceremony

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Her Majesty The Queen at the Closing Ceremony of the Games

Elizabeth II closed the Games during a colourful ceremony, which included parachute jumpers (who had originally been also intended as part of the Opening Ceremony display) jumping and landing in a special target area within the stadium and red, white and blue balloons. Matilda the Kangaroo also winked at the Queen. Following the closing of the Games, the Queen and the Duke left the stand to be driven from the stadium. However, nobody wanted the Games to end and the Australian team formed a 'guard of honour' and ran beside and behind the car in which Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip were travelling, as it circled the stadium several times before finally leaving.[17] Team members from other countries also joined in running after the royal car.

Highlights

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Day 1 (1 October)

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The first event of the Games was 100 kilometres (62 mi) Road Trial in cycling. England won the Gold Medal in the event, and Australia won the Silver Medal—coming second to England by only six seconds.

Other sports which were contested on the first day of competition included swimming and diving, weightlifting, shooting and bowls.

Day 2 (2 October)

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Sports contested included swimming, diving, weightlifting, shooting, cycling, bowls and archery.

The day was marred by both Australia and Canada being disqualified in the 4 × 100 metres relay in swimming, both problems occurring during change-overs. The medals awarded for this race went to England, Scotland and New Zealand.

Day 4 (4 October)

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Sports contested included swimming, diving, cycling, athletics, archery, hammer throwing and shooting.

The day was marred when Canada was again disqualified, this time in the 4 × 200 metres freestyle relay. Canada protested against the winners, Australia, as well as against their own disqualification.

Aboriginal movement protests

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The Brisbane Commonwealth Games were also noted by large-scale protests by the Aboriginal rights movement in Australia, which brought to the centre of international media attention the lack of Indigenous land rights in Australia, poor living condition and suppression of personal and political rights in Queensland in particular, and in Australia as a whole.[18] One of the targets of the protests was Queensland's Aborigines Act 1971,[19] which restricted and controlled the lives of Aboriginal people in Queensland.[20]

There were large marches on 26 September (2,000 people), 20 September (1000), and a sit-in of 104 people on 4 October. Also on that day, around 20 spectators held Aboriginal flags in the stadium during the entire program. On 7 October, about 500 people attended another protest, and 400 police arrested 260 people, including then Governor-General's daughter, Ann Stephen.[21] The protests were all peaceful, but police came out in force and blocked roads, making arrests under Queensland's Traffic Act.[22]

Activists taking part in the protests included Gary Foley[19] and Bob Weatherall (both leaders of the protest); Billy Craigie;[22] Lyall Munro Jnr;[23] Ross Watson;[21] Wayne Wharton;[24] and Selwyn Johnson and his family. Selwyn's brother Hedley Johnson was a musician, of the Brisbane group Mop and the Dropouts. Their song, "Brisbane Blacks", written by Mop Conlon, became a kind of anthem for the protests.[25][26][27]

Bob Weatherall, a Kamilaroi elder, is a lifelong activist,[28] a researcher in Aboriginal history,[29] and musical collaborator with Brisbane band Halfway[30]

The protests, which were followed by large-scale arrests, are a significant event in the history of the Australian Aboriginal rights movement.[31][32][33] When the Commonwealth Games returned to Australia in 2018 at the Gold Coast, it drew a series of peaceful protests.[21][24]

The classic Australian film "Guniwaya Ngigu (We Fight)" documents the Aboriginal protest movement during the Commonwealth Games, and was directed by Madeline McGrady and Tracey Moffatt, and produced by Maureen Watson, Tiga Bayles and Madeline McGrady.

Legacy

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In 2009 as part of the Q150 celebrations, the 1982 Commonwealth Games were announced as one of the Q150 Icons of Queensland for its role as a "Defining Moment".[34] Brisbane also bid for the 1992 Summer Olympics but lost to Barcelona. Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk announced on 9 December 2019 that the state will make an official bid for the 2032 Summer Olympics and Paralympics featuring venues across Brisbane, Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast.[35][36] In 2021, the city won the bid to host the 2032 Summer Olympics and Paralympics.[37]

Medals by country

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This is the full table of the medal count of the 1982 Commonwealth Games. These rankings sort by the number of gold medals earned by a country. The number of silvers is taken into consideration next and then the number of bronze. If, after the above, countries are still tied, equal ranking is given and they are listed alphabetically. This follows the system used by the IOC, IAAF and BBC.

  *   Host nation (Australia)

RankNationGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1  Australia (AUS)*393929107
2  England (ENG)383832108
3  Canada (CAN)26233382
4  Scotland (SCO)861226
5  New Zealand (NZL)581326
6  India (IND)58316
7  Nigeria (NGR)50813
8  Wales (WAL)4419
9  Kenya (KEN)42410
10  Bahamas (BAH)2226
11  Jamaica (JAM)2114
12  Tanzania (TAN)1225
13  Hong Kong (HKG)1012
  Malaysia (MAS)1012
15  Fiji (FIJ)1001
  Zimbabwe (ZIM)1001
17  Northern Ireland (NIR)0336
18  Uganda (UGA)0303
19  Zambia (ZAM)0156
20  Guernsey (GUE)0112
21  Bermuda (BER)0011
  Eswatini (SWZ)0011
  Singapore (SIN)0011
Totals (23 entries)143141154438

Medals by event

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Aquatics

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Archery

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Athletics

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Badminton

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Bowls

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Boxing

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Event Gold Silver Bronze
Light Flyweight Men   Abraham Wachire (KEN)   John Lyon (ENG)   Lucky Siame (ZAM)
  Leonard Makhanya (SWZ)
Flyweight Men   Michael Mutua (KEN)   Joseph Kelly (SCO)   Grant Richards (AUS)
  Albert Musankabala (ZAM)
Bantamweight Men   Joe Orewa (NGR)   Roy Webb (NIR)   Ray Gilbody (ENG)
  Richard Reilly (AUS)
Featherweight Men   Peter Konyegwachie (NGR)   Peter Hanlon (ENG)   Rodney Harberger (AUS)
  Winfred Kabunda (ZAM)
Lightweight Men   Hussein Khalili (KEN)   James McDonnell (ENG)   Brian Tink (AUS)
  Steve Larrimore (BAH)
Light Welterweight Men   Christopher Ossai (NGR)   Charles Owiso (KEN)   Clyde McIntosh (ENG)
  David Chibuye (ZAM)
Welterweight Men   Chris Pyatt (ENG)   Laston Mukobe (ZAM)   Charles Nwokolo (NGR)
  Chenanda Machaiah (IND)
Light Middleweight Men   Shawn O'Sullivan (CAN)   Nick Croombes (ENG)   Roland Omoruyi (NGR)
  Tom Corr (NIR)
Middleweight Men   Jimmy Price (ENG)   Douglas Sam (AUS)   Jeremiah Okoroduddu (NGR)
  Kevin McDermott (CAN)
Light Heavyweight Men   Fine Sani (FIJ)   Jonathan Kirisa (UGA)   Kevin Barry (NZL)
  Joseph Poto (ZAM)
Heavyweight Men   Willie DeWit (CAN)   Harold Hylton (ENG)   William Isangura (TAN)
  Mohammed Abdallah (KEN)

Cycling

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Diving

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Shooting

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Pistol

Event Gold Silver Bronze
50m Free Pistol Men/Open   Tom Guinn (CAN) 553   Geoffrey Robinson (ENG) 543   Phil Adams (AUS) 540
50m Free Pistol – Pairs Men/Open   Phil Adams & John Tremelling (AUS) 1077   Barrie Wickins & Rex Hamilton (NZL) 1075   Geoffrey Robinson & Frank Wyatt (ENG) 1074
25m Centre-Fire Pistol Men/Open   John Cooke (ENG) 580   James Cairns (SCO) 579   Noel Ryan (AUS) 577
25m Centre-Fire Pistol – Pairs Men/Open   Noel Ryan & Alexander Taransky (AUS) 1151   Mohinder Lal & Ashok Pandit (IND) 1138   John Cooke & John Gough (ENG) 1131
25m Rapid-Fire Pistol Men/Open   Lee Kui Nang (HKG) 583   Jim Timmerman (CAN) 583   John Cooke (ENG) 582
25m Rapid-Fire Pistol – Pairs Men/Open   Peter Heuke & Alexander Taransky (AUS) 1160   James Cairns & Hugh Hunter (SCO) 1152   Sharad Chauran & Ramakrishnan Vijay (IND) 1151
10m Air Pistol Men/Open   George Darling (ENG) 576   Phil Adams (AUS) 573   Tom Guinn (CAN) 571
10m Air Pistol – Pairs Men/Open   Phil Adams & Gregory Colber (AUS) 1128   Geoffrey Robinson & George Darling (ENG) 1126   Jim Timmerman & Tom Guinn (CAN) 1125

Rifle

Event Gold Silver Bronze
50m Rifle Prone Men/Open   Alan Smith (AUS) 1184   Malcolm Cooper (ENG) 1184   Bill Watkins (WAL) 1177
50m Rifle Prone – Pairs Men/Open   Malcolm Cooper & Mike Sullivan (ENG) 1187   Colin Harris & Bill Watkins (WAL) 1183   Patrick Vamplew & Ernest Sopsich (CAN) 1180
50m Rifle Three Positions Men/Open   Alister Allan (SCO) 1146   Malcolm Cooper (ENG) 1145   Guy Lorion (CAN) 1144
50m Rifle Three Positions – Pairs Men/Open   Malcolm Cooper & Barry Dagger (ENG) 2301   Guy Lorion & Jean-François Sénécal (CAN) 2279   Alister Allan & Bill MacNeill (SCO) 2277
Full Bore Rifle Men/Open   Arthur Clarke (SCO) 387   Lord John Swansea (WAL) 385   Charles Trotter (GGY) 384
Full Bore Rifle – Pairs Men/Open   Keith Affleck & Geoffrey Ayling (AUS) 572   John Bloomfield & Dick Rosling (ENG) 570   David Calvert & Hazel Mackintosh (NIR) 563
10m Air Rifle Men/Open   Jean-François Sénécal (CAN) 574   Matthew Guille (GGY) 572   Malcolm Cooper (ENG) 570
10m Air Rifle – Pairs Men/Open   Alister Allan & Bill MacNeill (SCO) 1137   Malcolm Cooper & Barry Dagger (ENG) 1126   Norbert Jahn & Anton Wurfel (AUS) 1123

Shotgun

Event Gold Silver Bronze
Trap Men/Open   Peter Boden (ENG) 191   Terry Rumbel (AUS) 190   Peter Croft (ENG) 190
Trap – Pairs Men/Open   Jim Ellis & Terry Rumbel (AUS) 190   Peter Croft & Peter Boden (ENG) 186   James Young & Martin Girvan (SCO) 183
Skeet Men/Open   John Woolley (NZL) 197   Ian Hale (AUS) 196   Wally Sykes (ENG) 195
Skeet – Pairs Men/Open   Brian Gabriel & Fred Altmann (CAN) 191   Jim Sheffield & Wally Sykes (ENG) 190   Alex Crikis & Ian Hale (AUS) 190

Swimming

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Weightlifting

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Event Gold Silver Bronze
Flyweight – Overall Men   Nick Voukelatos (AUS) 207.5   Grunadan Kambiah (IND) 200   Lawrence Tom (NGR) 192.5
Bantamweight – Overall Men   Geoff Laws (ENG) 235   Bijay Kumar Satpathy (IND) 227.5   Lorenzo Orsini (AUS) 222.5
Featherweight – Overall Men   Dean Willey (ENG) 267.5   M Tamil Selvan (IND) 245   Chua Koon Siang (SIN) 242.5
Lightweight – Overall Men   David Morgan (WAL) 295   Bill Stellios (AUS) 285   Patrick Bassey (NGR) 277.5
Middleweight – Overall Men   Steve Pinsent (ENG) 312.5   Tony Pignone (AUS) 305   Jacques Demers (CAN) 302.5
Light Heavyweight – Overall Men   Newton Burrowes (ENG) 325   Guy Greavette (CAN) 320   Cosmas Idioh (NGR) 317.5
Middle Heavyweight – Overall Men   Robert Kabbas (AUS) 337.5   Peter Pinsent (ENG) 335   Mike Sabljak (AUS) 325
Sub Heavyweight – Overall Men   Oliver Orok (NGR) 350   Gary Langford (ENG) 350   Kevin Roy (CAN) 340
Heavyweight – Overall Men   John Burns (WAL) 347.5   Joe Kabalan (AUS) 325   Mario Leblanc (CAN) 315
Super Heavyweight – Overall Men   Dean Lukin (AUS) 377.5   Bob Edmond (AUS) 347.5   Bassey Ironbar (NGR) 320

Wrestling

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Event Gold Silver Bronze
Light Flyweight Men   Ram Chander Sarang (IND)   Steve Reinsfield (NZL)   Maldwyn Cooper (CAN)
Flyweight Men   Mahabir Singh (IND)   Ray Takahashi (CAN)   Ken Hoyt (AUS)
Bantamweight Men   Brian Aspen (ENG)   Ashok Kumar (IND)   Chris Maddock (NZL)
Featherweight Men   Bob Robinson (CAN)   Cris Brown (AUS)   Augustine Atasie (NGR)
Lightweight Men   Jagminder Singh (IND)   Zsigmund Kelevitz (AUS)   Lloyd Renken (CAN)
Welterweight Men   Rajinder Singh (IND)   Ken Reinsfield (NZL)   Brian Renken (CAN)
Middleweight Men   Chris Rinke (CAN)   Wally Koenig (AUS)   Jai Parkash Kangar (IND)
Light Heavyweight Men   Clark Davis (CAN)   Kartar Singh (IND)   Nigel Sargeant (NZL)
Heavyweight Men   Richard Deschatelets (CAN)   Satpal Singh (IND)   Murray Avery (AUS)
Super Heavyweight Men   Wyatt Wishart (CAN)   Rajinder Singh (IND)   Albert Patrick (SCO)

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Queensland Sport and Athletic Centre". Austadiums.com. Retrieved 28 August 2016.
  2. ^ "Commemorating the life of Sir Edward Williams". 2004. Supreme Court of Queensland Library. Archived from the original on 20 July 2008. Retrieved 7 December 2015.
  3. ^ "Medal - XII Commonwealth Games, Brisbane, Gold, Uncirculated, Queensland, Australia, 1982".
  4. ^ "Episode 9 - Hugh Edwards".
  5. ^ "Australian Commonwealth Games Association". Archived from the original on 22 June 2005. Retrieved 2007-02-08.
  6. ^ "Australian Commonwealth Games Association". Archived from the original on 22 June 2005. Retrieved 2007-02-08.
  7. ^ a b Cole, John R. (1984). Shaping a city. Albion, Queensland: William Brooks Queensland. pp. 350–353. ISBN 0-85568-619-7.
  8. ^ Akinbode, Ayomide (12 August 2021). "Why Nigeria, 27 African Countries boycotted the 1976 Montréal Olympic Games – HistoryVille". Retrieved 15 August 2023.
  9. ^ Silverberg, David (4 August 2016). "The Disastrous 1976 Montreal Olympics Should Have Taught Host Cities a Valuable Lesson". Vice. Retrieved 15 August 2023.
  10. ^ "Australian Commonwealth Games Association". Archived from the original on 13 May 2006. Retrieved 2006-03-17.
  11. ^ a b Phil Lutton. "Could the Gold Coast ever beat Brisbane's Games?". Brisbane Times. Fairfax Media. Retrieved 14 November 2011.
  12. ^ "Past Commonwealth Games". Commonwealth Games Federation. Retrieved 25 September 2013.[permanent dead link]
  13. ^ a b McBride, Frank; et al. (2009). Brisbane 150 Stories. Brisbane City Council Publication. pp. 274–275. ISBN 978-1-876091-60-6.
  14. ^ "Provincial Councils". The Official Website of the Government of Sri Lanka. 3 September 2010. Archived from the original on 7 July 2009.
  15. ^ Greenberg, Tony (4 April 2018). "When the Tigers won Games gold". RichmondFC.com.au. Richmond Football Club. Retrieved 31 July 2022.
  16. ^ The XII Commonwealth Games, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, September 30 - October 9, 1982 : The Official History. Brisbane: The XIIth Commonwealth Games Australia Foundation. 1983. ISBN 0959220712.
  17. ^ "Could the Gold Coast ever beat Brisbane's Games?". Brisbanetimes.com.au. 11 November 2011. Retrieved 28 August 2016.
  18. ^ Spencer Reiss with Carl Robinson, "Aborigines Vs. Queensland", Newsweek: International Edition, 11 October 1982, p. 13
  19. ^ a b Gary Foley -Aboriginal activist 1982 on YouTube
  20. ^ "Community history". State Library Of Queensland. Retrieved 23 November 2022.
  21. ^ a b c "Commonwealth Games protested". Deadly Story. 28 February 2018. Retrieved 23 November 2022.
  22. ^ a b Network Ten News (October 1982). "Aboriginal protests at the 1982 Games" (video) – via NFSA.
  23. ^ McBride, Laura (7 December 2021). "Lyall Munro". Australian Museum. Retrieved 21 November 2022.
  24. ^ a b Latimore, Jack (8 April 2018). "'The fight never left': Stolenwealth Games protesters draw on long tradition". The Guardian. Retrieved 23 November 2022.
  25. ^ Forde, Susan (22 October 2019). "Pulling down fences". Griffith Review. Retrieved 21 November 2022. Saturday, 12 August 2016, Moree, New South Wales.
  26. ^ "Mop & The Dropouts' 1982 anthem 'Brisbane Blacks' gave permanence to protest - Double J". Double J. 2 June 2021. Retrieved 23 November 2022.
  27. ^ Curr, Ian (3 October 2022). "Brisbane Blacks". Workers BushTelegraph. Retrieved 23 November 2022.
  28. ^ "Yarnin' Time with Uncle Bob Weatherall". State Library Of Queensland. 13 November 2012. Retrieved 23 November 2022.
  29. ^ ""We've got to bring them home … to journey into the spirit world": Bob Weatherall and his lifelong struggle for the rights of the dead". ABC Religion & Ethics. 6 July 2022. Retrieved 23 November 2022.
  30. ^ Comisari, Jerome (25 September 2021). "Bob Weatherall has a restless dream". ABC Radio National. Retrieved 23 November 2022.
  31. ^ Foley, Gary. "A Short History of the Australian Indigenous Resistance 1950–1990". Kooriweb. Retrieved 12 October 2015.
  32. ^ Land, Clare (27 August 2002). "Commonwealth Games (12th: 1982: Brisbane) - Event". The Australian Women's Register. Retrieved 23 November 2022.
  33. ^ Foley, Gary. "Great Moments in Indigenous History" (photo). Kooriweb. Retrieved 23 November 2022.
  34. ^ Bligh, Anna (10 June 2009). "PREMIER UNVEILS QUEENSLAND'S 150 ICONS". Queensland Government. Archived from the original on 24 May 2017. Retrieved 24 May 2017.
  35. ^ "Queensland government says 'yes' to bidding for 2032 Olympics". 7NEWS.com.au. 9 December 2019. Retrieved 10 December 2019.
  36. ^ "Australia's giant Olympic risk explained". NewsComAu. 10 December 2019. Retrieved 10 December 2019.
  37. ^ "IOC elects Brisbane 2032 as Olympic and Paralympic host". International Olympic Committee. Retrieved 30 August 2024.
  38. ^ "Commonwealth Games Medallists - Boxing". Gbrathletics.com. Retrieved 28 August 2016.

Other sources

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  • "XII Commonwealth Games – The Official Pictorial History" —Channel 9 "Today Tonight", O & B Holdings Pty. Ltd., (1982)
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Preceded by
Edmonton
Commonwealth Games
Brisbane
XII Commonwealth Games
Succeeded by
Edinburgh

27°33′30″S 153°3′44″E / 27.55833°S 153.06222°E / -27.55833; 153.06222