(ATR) The leaders of Gold Coast's successful bid for the 2018 Commonwealth Games tell Around the Rings they will celebrate tonight and then work on the long plane ride back to Australia.
"We'll be working on the way home," bid chairman Mark Stockwell told ATR in between congratulations from colleagues, voters and rival candidate Hambantota, Sri Lanka.
"The Premier and I need to sort out a few things along with the mayor,and we'll have a real good opportunity these next six weeks to put somethings in place and get us moving.
"I think the worst thing you can do take a year off and say how greatyou are. We're going to get straight onto it, so we'll start that on theplane tomorrow."
Stockwell and Queensland Premier Anna Bligh both tell ATR they are elated over their decisive victory in the voting Friday as the Commonwealth Games Federation General Assembly came to a close in St. Kitts.
In the CGF's first-ever use of electronic balloting, the tally was 43 for Gold Coast and 27 for Hambantota.
Despite the wide margin, Bligh called the victory "close" and thanked the Sri Lankan city for giving her colleagues quite the fight.
When told a night's celebration is all she'd get, Bligh laughed, then confirmed there will be work to do on the journey home from the Caribbean.
"The first thing is to get the legislation through the parliament to establish the organizing committee and give it the powers it needs," she told ATR.
Bligh then pledgedthat many of the same people who piloted the Australian bid will soon lead the organizing committee.
"We're required to have representation from the Australian Commonwealth Games Association, and we'll talk that through, but you'll see a whole lot of the same faces," she said.
"That's one of the things we committee to with the bid team. They had the vision, and they'll carry the vision through."
Asked later whether he'd be interested in leading the organizing committee as well, Stockwell said he wasn't the man to ask.
Bligh, in fact, will make that decision with consultation from other government leaders.
"We'll see how well he dances tonight," she joked.
Written and reported in St. Kitts by Matthew Grayson
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