SA will not step in to host 2026 Commonwealth Games after Victoria announced it was cancelling the event

Premier Peter Malinauskas has confirmed why South Australia won’t be putting up its hand to host the 2026 Commonwealth Games – even if the call was “deeply disappointing” to some.

The South Australian government will not step in to host the 2026 Commonwealth Games, after the Victorian government announced it was cancelling the event due to funding issues.

Premier Peter Malinauskas said that while the decision would be “deeply disappointing for athletes and supporters of the Commonwealth Games”, the cost of hosting the 12-day event in SA doesn’t stack up.

“I am eager to continue to attract more major events to South Australia. But they must deliver economic benefits that outweigh the cost to taxpayers to host the event,” he said.

He said events like Gather Round and LIV Golf created hundreds of jobs for a “minuscule amount” compared to the multi-billion cost to host the Commonwealth Games.

“Spending taxpayer dollars on attracting major events has to stack up economically, otherwise it’s money the State Government should be investing in priorities like health, housing, education and the environment.”

Infrastructure Minister Tom Koutsantonis earlier said he was “shocked and surprised” at the announcement, but confirmed it wasn’t on the state’s agenda.

“$7bn spent for a sporting event over 12 days does not seem like value for money,” Mr Koutsantonis said.

“I heard Premier Andrews saying that estimates were close to $6-7bn.”

Georgia Baker of Team Australia celebrates as they win gold in the Women's Road Race in the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games. Picture Luke Walker/Getty Images

READ MORE: Comment | Victoria just killed the Commonwealth Games

Federal Social Services Minister Amanda Rishworth said the project did not represent “value for money” for the state.

“Any projects do need to have value for money, I mean, this is taxpayer money,” Ms Rishworth said.

“The previous state government conducted independent financial analysis on hosting the multi-sport competition, it was determined the event would cost $3.5bn, with the economic benefit only amounting to $1.2bn.

Opposition Leader David Speirs said the opposition supported the government’s position.

“The former Liberal government did a detailed cost-benefit analysis which showed that hosting the games simply didn’t stack up economically,” he said.

“South Australia is in the middle of a cost-of-living and ramping crisis and Peter Malinauskas needs to have all his attention on fixing these issues.”

Premier Daniel Andrews on Tuesday morning confirmed the event would not go ahead, blaming a higher-than-forecast cost for the sudden cancellation.

He said it would now cost $6bn to host the event – but only $2.6bn had been initially pledged.

Flanked by Deputy Premier and Commonwealth Games Delivery Minister Jacinta Allan, and Commonwealth Games Legacy Minister Harriet Shing, Mr Andrews said it would now cost $6bn to host the event.

“That’s well and truly too much for a 12-day sporting event,” he said.

Mr Andrews said Victoria was “willing to help” when the Commonwealth Games came looking for a host city.

But he said that couldn’t come at any price.

“I think all Victorians would agree that more than $6bn is just too much,” he said.

“I’ve made a lot of difficult decisions in this job. This is not one of them.

“We’re simply not going to invest that money.”