1982 - a Time Capsule of a year's events in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia The Commonwealth Games. However, the big event of the year was the Commonweath Games. They are held every four years, and plans to hold them in Brisbane had been progressing ahead of, or on schedule. Australia Post had been using slogan postmarks advertising their services would be available. XII Commonwealth Games Brisbane 1982 Served by Australia Post XII Commonwealth Games Brisbane 1982 Be There - Australia Post Will XII Commonwealth Games Brisbane 1982 Australia Post Will Be There Everyone got into the act, and souvenirs af all kinds were produced. A special one was the commemorative 50 cent coin. I find it a most attractive coin, with recognisable images of the participating sports and Brisbane a star on the map of Australia.     The post office at the QEII athletics stadium was the only one to cater for the possible 60,000 spectators which the centre could hold. (This figure was recorded on at least three out of the seven days of competition.) Courtesy of the Australia Post staff magazine. And this was one of the set of 16 different aerogrammes issued, bearing the postmark of that post office Raelene Boyle handing over the Games Baton to the Duke of Edinburgh. Miss Boyle who was one of the Australian competitors, carried the baton for the last leg running a lap of the Stadium before delivering the Queen's message. The colour photo was taken from our television. "Australian track star, Miss Raelene Boyle, turned out to be a keen philatelist as well as a great runner. She is pictured with Postal Clerk Tony Cridland at the Village PO. Raelene was buying a large order of games covers for distribution to friends...item from the Post Office staff magazine." The Games mascot was a huge model kangaroo called 'Matilda' which featured in the opening and closing ceremonies. It was immensely popular with everyone, and this photo was taken from the television coverage. The Queen arrived to close the Games, and the Mounted Police Guard wore their new uniforms for the first time. In this picture you can see the banners for the Commonwealth Games. I was so impressed with the Mounted Police that I wrote to the Commissioner to compliment them on their appearance, and received this letter in reply. The Games were very successful, and showed the rest of Australia that Brisbane was no longer the 'country town' of the State capital cities. The publicity had been very well organised and the symbols and logos were seen everywhere.The medals which were to be awarded were shown on the front cover of the white pages of the telephone directory. At the closing ceremony, for the first time, the athletes of all the countries spontaneously paraded together, instead of in the order of the names of their country, as was usual. This, combined with the welcome the athletes and tourists received, earned them the name 'The Friendly Games'. Ships Visit click here for information Anpex 82 click here for information Scout Jamboree 75 years of Scouting click here for information Previous page

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