Queen’s Baton Relay Launch

I welcome today's announcement of the international route for the Queen's Baton Relay as we celebrate reaching the 500-day mark until the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games.

The Queen's Baton Relay is a Commonwealth Games tradition that celebrates the Commonwealth's diversity and inspires community pride. The relay will begin in March 2017 and tour around the world ahead of the Games.

The Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games will be the biggest international sporting event staged in Australia for a decade and the largest ever hosted by the Gold Coast.

The event will attract more than 100,000 visitors to the Gold Coast, generate an estimated economic boost of $2 billion and cement the city as world-class sporting and events destination.

Major events like this are significant drivers of tourism and are key to supporting jobs and the economy.

The Coalition Government has invested $156 million to ensure the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games are a huge success. I was also pleased to deliver an additional $15 million for the redevelopment of the Metricon Stadium precinct – a legacy project that will benefit the Gold Coast Suns.

Four new state-of-the-art venues are being constructed for the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games and 12 existing venues are undergoing extensive upgrades transforming them into world-class sporting locations.

More than 6,600 athletes and team officials from 71 Commonwealth nations and territories will come to Australia to share in the excitement of the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games. The 2018 Games are expected to attract a worldwide TV audience of more than 1.5 billion people.