Shepparton adds its voice to Victoria 2026 forum

By Tyler Maher

Aug 30, 2022

Learning from Birmingham: Vanessa Amorosi at the closing ceremony in Birmingham. Lessons from the Games and how they could be applied to Victoria 2026 were discussed at the recent forum. Photo: AAP/Darren England Photo by DARREN ENGLAND

Last week’s state government Victoria 2026 Partnership Forum — held in preparation for delivering the Commonwealth Games across regional centres in four years — included representatives from the Greater Shepparton region.

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Among the more than 150 partners — including people from regional councils, regional tourism boards, commerce and business groups from the four regional hubs, regional higher education sector, tourism associations, Traditional Owner Groups and the sport and recreation sector — were Greater Shepparton City Council chief executive Peter Harriott and Mayor Shane Sali.

On the agenda was a debrief on the lessons of Birmingham 2022 and how they could be applied to Victoria 2026.

“Greater Shepparton City Council is proud to have played a leading role in the development of the Commonwealth Games regional model,” Mr Harriott said.

“The region was represented at (last) week’s Commonwealth Games partnership forum at the MCG where we heard about important learnings from the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games, the involvement of First Nations communities in the design, management and legacy of the Games and the forward regional planning for the whole state of Victoria to maximise and leverage this exciting opportunity in 2026.”

And while Greater Shepparton was yet to officially be announced as the host of any sporting or cultural events, regional representatives were ready to hear how they would be further involved in the legacy-making regional Games.

“As noted by the premier when announcing earlier in the year that regional Victoria will host the 2026 Games, we look forward to further announcements about how Shepparton will be involved in the hosting of sporting and cultural events and we will continue to work closely with Jacinta Allan, Minister for Commonwealth Games Delivery on how Shepparton and the Goulburn Valley can showcase to the world our amazing region,” Cr Sali said.

Further afield, Echuca has been boosted by an International Shooting Sports Federation bid to include shooting events in Victoria 2026.

As reported by the Riverine Herald, Echuca has been pinpointed as the ideal host for the clay target shooting among a wider shooting program in Bendigo — and the Victorian Government and Commonwealth Games Federation were expected to decide on additional sports to be added to the program by October 2022.