MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Queen arrives in Australia ahead of Commonwealth Games.

The Queen arrived in Australia on Sunday as organisers and athletes were busily putting the finishing touches to their preparations for the 18th Commonwealth Games.

The Queen was greeted by the Australian Prime Minister John Howard in Canberra on the first leg of her five-day Australian tour that will culminate with her opening the Games at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Wednesday.

Most of the 4,500 athletes from 53 countries and 71 competing associations have already arrived in the Victorian state capital, with the rest expected to trickle in over the next few days as Games fever starts sweeping the city.

"We are ready, everyone's excited and we look forward to the opening ceremony," Games Minister Justin Madden told a news conference on Sunday.

Games organisers also announced the release of another batch of tickets for high-profile events including athletics and swimming, which had previously been reserved for corporate clients.

There had been concerns tickets for the opening ceremony might not be sold out but Melbourne 2006 Chief Executive John Harnden said the stadium would be full and sales had already exceeded expectations.

"We're absolutely delighted with where we are at," Harnden said. "With 72 hours to go we think we are ready to put on the biggest and best show ever in Melbourne. "We've had enormous ticket sales - over 1.3 million tickets have been sold - but we just wanted to make sure everyone knows that these small numbers were going to be available."

Critics of the Commonwealth Games have dismissed the multi-sports event as an outdated relic of the British Empire but the mood among the athletes could not be more upbeat.

"There is a great aura about the Commonwealth Games," Australian head swim coach Alan Thompson said.

"The Olympics is number one but the Commonwealth Games is huge for Australia. "These guys want this so badly, and you can see the disappointment of those who didn't make the team."

The sporting powers of the British Commonwealth -- Australia, England and Canada -- will again dominate the medals, with New Zealand, South Africa, India, Scotland and Kenya also expected to figure prominently on the medals tally.

Yet the Commonwealth family also embraces its tiny member states, with diverse nations such as Gambia, Lesotho, Swaziland, Cayman Islands, St Kitts & Nevis, Maldives, Brunei, Vanuatu, Niue, Kiribati and the Falkland Islands coming to the big party.

Australia is splashing out over $740-million to ensure the success of the Melbourne Games, with funding coming from the Australian government, the Victorian state government and corporate sponsorship.

The Games will be seen by an estimated global audience of up to 1,5-billion people each day, including the prime American market for the first time. The Victorian state government expects some 100, 000 Australian and overseas visitors to come to the Games, which has necessitated a major security operation.

The federal government will devote $65-million to security. Fighter jets and helicopters will circle Melbourne's skies at the opening and closing ceremonies, and a 75-kilometre no-fly zone will help shield the city from terrorist attacks. There will also be an exclusion zone around the athletes' village.

More than 1 200 troops will join 13 000 police, 5 000 private security guards and squads of counter-terrorism experts to protect the Games.(Agencies)