KARL STEFANOVIC, CHANNEL 9: Well, the wait is almost over, and Australia’s 460-strong Olympic team is gearing up for what could be our most successful Games yet.
SARAH ABO, CHANNEL 9: But there have been some concerns for the safety of our athletes, with BMX Olympian Logan Martin the victim of a robbery. For more, we’re joined by the Minister for Sport, Anika Wells. She’s right here in Paris with us.
ANIKA WELLS, MINISTER FOR AGED CARE AND MINISTER FOR SPORT: Good Evening.
ABO: Hello. Really great to see you. So there has been some concern. We’ve obviously seen security ramp up significantly these couple of days now.
WELLS: 35,000 on the ground and up to 45,000 for the opening ceremony. And then we do have a particular protective service for our team. And you know that our chef-de-mission, Anna Meares, has been really proactive about being athlete-led about this. So I think we’re doing everything we can to make sure our athletes are looked after and we'll continue to monitor the situation.
STEFANOVIC: It's high visibility here. And they're in the Olympic Village, which probably is one of the safest parts of the earth right now, in all honesty. So it’s just to allay the fears, I guess, for people back home and for also tourists who might be here. And there are plenty of those.
WELLS: One of the things they’ve done is we’ve got 15 of our uniformed finest here. They’ve brought in cops from all over the world so that tourists from different countries can see and recognise their own uniforms as well, just to give that kind of visible, visual presence.
ABO: Yeah. Let's move on to some happier things now, shall we? And the Flag Bearer ceremony today, we were both there. You spoke about dehydrating from the crying.
WELLS: It was so emotional, wasn’t it?
ABO: It really was. And so well deserved, those two, I think. Very beloved members of the team. And then, you know, Jess Fox, the Fox family are national treasures. I'm sure you've got Richard crying. That made all of us cry again. And then Eddie, like the first Taswegian ever to be a Flag Bearer and then giving it back to Eddie Maguire as well. Like, what can’t he do?
WELLS: Yeah, he’s such a humble guy, just so normal and chill. He’s got three kids here as well who are coming over to watch him, which will keep his hands full.
ABO: And he’s got the scar on his forehead from the wear and tear of what he’s given to the country.
STEFANOVIC: I was gonna ask you, I mean, obviously you've got a job to do, you've done a tremendous amount of work, I know that personally, in the lead up to all of this, but what is it that gets you when you watch a ceremony like that? You know, all the way from Brissie? What are the images? What is the sensitivity for you?
WELLS: Oh, well, I think, as a parent, you think about what that looks like, the hours of sacrifice, like we talked about. Anna Meares’ mum drove 600ks round trips every weekend for Anna's training. And this is that moment of fruition for the entire family. So we did the Rugby Sevens jersey presentation at the Australian Embassy yesterday. Rugby Australia had the parents hand the jersey over to their sons and just have the opportunity to just give a little spiel about how proud they were or what it meant for them as well. Again, rehydrating from… It's, I think the ability that sport gives every family the opportunity to have these kind of experiences. Like I said today, sport makes you hug strangers. And in a world where social cohesion is kind of really at risk at the moment, and everyone remembering the euphoria of the Tillies last winter, we really want those moments where you just want to hug a stranger because of something you've just watched on the other side of the world.
ABO: Yeah, I think that's exactly right. This great unifier, that sport is, right? And in a beautiful place like Paris. I mean, it gets us. You know, we've been talking a little bit about Brisbane and whether Brisbane is ready and all of that, but when you see this, you go, dude, we don't have that much time to really get it together for Brissie either.
WELLS: Eight years, I’m counting. And that’s part of why I'm here. Those conversations about, what do they wish they'd known eight years ago that they know now? You know, on the brink of it? And, I mean, Paris has these incredible landmarks that arguably the Story Bridge, you know, would compare - the bin chickens and the bull sharks, you know, like what we're bringing. But I think what is inarguable is that we are bringing the people. What everyone remembers about the Sydney Games isn’t the particular infrastructure projects, it was the volunteers that made it.
STEFANOVIC: I know but, you know, Anika, I saw yesterday the renders that were done for the athletics stadium and it just looks like something that's substandard. I mean, surely we've got to spend more, uh, however we do it, we’ve got to make sure that Brisbane is a world-class act.
WELLS: I agree, obviously there’s absolute merit to building world-class stadiums for the Games. It’s always just a question of what taxpayers will bear with respect to the cost burden on them. And, you know, sometimes that comes off beautifully. I mean, Paris only built two new venues for these games. I think it was the aquatics and the climbing. But then if you look at what happened in Rio or Athens, I've met with the Brazilian Sports Minister about how they're still dealing with the legacy that Rio left for them. So it can go either way. And I think, of course we want world-class venues, but at what price are we prepared to pay for it as a country?
STEFANOVIC: When you see the eyes of the world on your city for that amount of time and that period I can’t help but think however we can do it, let’s do it. Anyway, let's talk about Paris, the opening ceremony. Do you get to go to that? What can you tell us about it?
WELLS: What can I tell you about it?
STEFANOVIC: Come on, you know.
WELLS: I think you overestimate. But I have been asking anyway. Like, the hotel lifts are really good for intel, don’t you think? I've been listening keenly. I think drone shows. We know they've been practising at 2 and 3 a.m. And we also know that they haven’t been able to put everything together and practise all at once like you might do a dress rehearsal at a stadium because of the unique nature of the river. We’re boat 202 out of 206 or something. So a while to wait because we're a host city, but can you imagine?
STEFANOVIC: It's going to be terrific. And look, they are brave. I mean, taking it out of the stadium and doing it in the Seine River, um, is a huge thing. Enjoy it, go and enjoy it. You've done a huge amount of work. I know you've probably got lazy days, have you?
WELLS: No. Uh, but the Brown Snake awaits Karl.
ABO: It’s like the Seine right?
WELLS: It's just like it. Everyone says, the Brown Snake and the Seine.
STEFANOVIC: It takes me back home. A little bit of Australia, right here in Paris, the Brisbane River. Nice to see you. Enjoy.