Updated

‘Absolute shocker’: Anger as Andrews kills Commonwealth Games

Gus McCubbing, Patrick Durkin, Zoe Samios and Hans van Leeuwen

Updated Jul 18, 2023 – 6.57pm, first published at 10.27am

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Premier Daniel Andrews has damaged Victoria’s reputation as a destination for global events, and raised questions about his judgment with his shock decision to abandon the 2026 Commonwealth Games, sports administrators and business leaders said.

Mr Andrews said cancelling the Games was “not a difficult decision” because the expected cost of the 12-day event that his government had planned to host in regional hubs, including Bendigo, Ballarat, Geelong and Shepparton, had blown out from the $2.6 billion originally budgeted for, to $7 billion or more.

Gus McCubbing is a journalist at the Australian Financial Review in Melbourne.

Patrick Durkin is Melbourne bureau chief and BOSS deputy editor. He writes on news, business and leadership.

Zoe Samios covers wagering and the business of sport from the AFR's Sydney newsroom. She was previously the media and telecommunications reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, and covered media at The Australian.

Hans van Leeuwen covers British and European politics, economics and business from London. He has worked as a reporter, editor and policy adviser in Sydney, Canberra, Hanoi and London.