Security measures unseen in Australian sport will feature at next year's Commonwealth Games but chief Peter Beattie says the Gold Coast event will delight the nation.
More than one million visitors are expected to flock to the 275 gold medal events next April.
It's the first time Australia has hosted the games since Melbourne's staging in 2006 and Beattie said new measures were required to keep attendees safe and happy.
That means "airport-style security", drones, facial recognition software and enhanced police search powers will all be enacted.
"People say 'was it an issue in Melbourne?' Well no it wasn't. But the world has become a lot uglier since Melbourne," he said on Wednesday.
"The measures may sound draconian but they're actually essential."
Beattie, Queensland's premier from 1998 to 2007, is ramping up the sell-job on the event, which next week will be one year to go.
He told the AAP sports editors conference in Sydney he believed the games would dazzle Australians.
"This is the first multi-sport event in the world that will have equal number of medals for men and women," he said.
"We're very proud of that and we think it will attract the imagination of people around the world.
"If you think about where we are in the country, politics is a bit of a basketcase frankly, at all levels on all sides.
"The economy is sort of stumbling along. Australia really needs a bit of a bright spark somewhere along the lines and that is what the Commonwealth Games is going to do."
The event schedule will be revealed next week, with tickets on sale by the end of April.
Beattie said organisers had set the goal of selling 1.2 million tickets, and had priced 55 per cent of available tickets under $40.
The Commonwealth's biggest star, Usain Bolt, has ruled out attending, announcing plans to retire after this year's World Championships in London.
Beattie said that didn't mean he wouldn't be attending.
"We're in discussions with his management. We'd love him to come," he said.
"He's indicated he would like to give something back so we will be doing everything we can to encourage him there."
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