There was basically no coverage of rugby union and only a little bit on rugby league. 

But haven’t things changed in 38 years. Since then, both cities have been blessed – mostly - with progressive councils and skilled staff, and there is much more cross-border co-operation.

And the coverage of union and league in the media has skyrocketed.

We now host major sporting events in both codes, thanks to the partnerships of local clubs and councils.

However, I still nearly choked on my dinner the other night when I sat down to watch Channel 7’s national news.

The lead story was on the Australian women’s rugby sevens team winning the first gold medal in the sport.

Sure, Australia had not had much success in the gold medal stakes at that time, and the channel might have been scratching to promote a bit of excitement.

But the victory also received huge coverage in all the other media.

It wasn’t just a win for rugby union but, more importantly, for female sport generally. It’s bad enough that women usually compete for lower prizemoney than men.

But they also miss out when it comes to media coverage, unless they compete in skimpy, sexy uniforms. And, yes, I will admit to being a big fan of women’s beach volleyball, but mostly because I come from the coast and appreciate the skills involved.

This is a region that has produced superstars Margaret Court and Lauren Jackson, numerous other female sporting champions and has two local female federal members of parliament (one of them a member of cabinet member and the minister for sport).

So, isn’t it time we started chasing some major national and international female sporting events, rather than AFL, cricket, rugby union and rugby league preseason practice matches?

Although, to be fair, there have been a couple of fair dinkum rugby league events which Albury council has played a major part in attracting to the city.

If I was a candidate in the upcoming local government elections, I would have the promotion of female sport as one of the planks in my platform.

At the same time, artistic and sporting groups must show, in a tangible way that councils should support them and invest funds because they will be able to boost the local economy by attracting visitors.

It will be no easy gig for the incoming Albury councillors.

They will have to make a decision on investing in a major pool complex – if we are ever going to get one, now is probably the best time to do it – and balancing that against the interest of all ratepayers.

That includes how much people are paying in rates and whether we are getting value for money in basic infrastructure, such as footpaths. 

And that’s before we come to the question of tourism generally.

Which is why I reckon the Knowles brothers, who solved the Cumberoona conundrum for us and who now plan to bring river cruises back to the Albury-Wodonga region, should be given the keys to both cities.

But at the end of the day, with dynamic young businesswomen such as Vicki Gray and Ordette Mannering standing for election to Albury council, the female vote is going to play a much bigger part in the election than ever before.