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Commonwealth Games

September

Daniel Andrews.

Scottish city takes Victoria’s discarded 2026 Games (and money)

Glasgow, which was the 2014 host, will run a slim version of the beleaguered event, bankrolled by cancellation fees from Australia.

  • Updated
  • Hans van Leeuwen
The BCA dinner is It is also the opportunity for the Prime Minister to take on the big economic reform challenges, such as tax reform and boosting productivity called for by Bill Kelty.

Kelty condemns Labor failure on economic growth

Trailblazing former union leader Bill Kelty says the Albanese government has no plan for economic growth and no appetite for the big reforms to secure Australia’s future.

  • Jennifer Hewett

August

Victorian Auditor-General Andrew Greaves.

Bureaucrats missed ‘basic’ 2026 Commonwealth Games cost factors

Bureaucrats and consultants who pulled together the original business case for the doomed 2026 Commonwealth Games missed basic cost factors, a Victorian inquiry has heard.

  • Callum Godde

March

Jacinta Allan and Daniel Andrews

Allan, Andrews ‘overstated’ Commonwealth Games blowout by $2b

Victoria’s auditor-general says Labor’s Commonwealth Games debacle cost taxpayers $589 million for “no discernible benefit”.

  • Gus McCubbing

February

Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan says the state cannot afford not to build the controversial $125 billion Suburban Rail Loop given the city’s rapidly growing population.

Federal auditor to probe Labor’s $2.2b Suburban Rail Loop commitment

The auditor-general will examine whether the approval of Commonwealth funding for the $125 billion project was “informed by appropriate departmental advice”.

  • Gus McCubbing
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December 2023

EY partner Dean Yates said due diligence would still need to be completed before Games agreements were signed.

No site visits, no briefings: Games’ business case done in just weeks

EY partner Dean Yates says the original business case the firm prepared for the cancelled 2026 Commonwealth Games identified significant problems.

  • Gus McCubbing

November 2023

Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan was the minister responsible for the Games before they were axed.

Eleven Games committee officials were paid $300k a year

The top public servant charged with overseeing the cancelled Commonwealth Games was paid more than $500,000 last financial year, a report has revealed.

  • Updated
  • Gus McCubbing

October 2023

Harriet Shing, the former minister for Commonwealth Games legacy, has claimed she in the dark for a week about the government’s plan to axe the event.

Games minister never read the business case

One of two ministers responsible for Victoria’s Commonwealth Games says she was kept in the dark about plans to axe the event, and did not mislead parliament.

  • Updated
  • Gus McCubbing
Events industry heavyweight Simon Thewlis has slammed the organisational structure of the Victoria’s ill-fated Commonwealth Games, saying it was “always going to end in tears”.

‘Couldn’t organise a conference for 500’: event expert on Games chaos

Victoria’s Commonwealth Games saga was the ‘biggest debacle in the history of events in Australia’, an inquiry has been told.

  • Gus McCubbing
A Victorian upper house inquiry is probing the cancellation of Commonwealth Games.

Vic Games costs were based on ‘Gold Coast in 2018, plus inflation’

Visit Victoria boss Brendan McClements has claimed that cancelling the Commonwealth Games actually boosted interest in the state.

  • Updated
  • Gus McCubbing
Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan.

Allan denies misleading parliament on Games blowout

Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan has stood by the evidence she gave to a parliamentary hearing about the Commonwealth Games despite knowing of budget pressures.

  • Updated
  • Gus McCubbing
Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan in parliament last week.

Allan knew of Games blowout but spruiked ‘tremendous progress’

The main reason the Commonwealth Games costs blew out to more than double was the government insisting events be held outside Melbourne, officials tell inquiry.

  • Gus McCubbing
Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan held the Commonwealth Games delivery portfolio.

‘Torched’: Andrews’ cancelled Games bill jumps by $40m

The Victorian government spent $21 million in consultant fees as it prepared to fit out athlete villages for the axed Commonwealth Games, despite a budget of $1 million.

  • Gus McCubbing
Former Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews announces on July 18 the cancellation of the Commonwealth Games.

Victoria’s Commonwealth Games legal bill balloons to $1.3m

The Victorian government blew $1.3 million on lawyers sent to negotiate the fallout of its shock decision to cancel the Commonwealth Games.

  • Gus McCubbing

September 2023

Victorian Deputy Premier Jacinta Allan said the federal government would need to conduct robust assessments of the women.

Jacinta Allan: the rise of Victoria’s woman most likely

For political insiders, Jacinta Allan’s elevation as premier is the culmination of one of the most assiduous and well-planned ascensions in Victorian politics.

  • Samantha Hutchinson
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Daniel Andrews leaves the Government House in Melbourne after handing in his resignation.

Andrews leaves a profound but divisive legacy

When Eddie McGuire revealed that Daniel Andrews was resigning at the AFL grand final lunch, 10 minutes before the news was announced, the who’s who of the city’s business and sports community erupted into cheers.

  • Updated
  • Patrick Durkin
Ron Barassi as a young man and posing for a portrait in 2010.

‘Extraordinary life’: Sporting icon Ron Barassi dies

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese led tributes to Ron Barassi, saying there was no more famous name in football.

  • Updated
  • Anna Harrington and Roger Vaughan
Snowy Hydro is becoming a byword for delays.

There are lower-risk ways to keep the energy transition moving

The switch from carbon can’t be put off, but Australia’s construction industry is not ready for it. There is a surprising ray of hope from Dan Andrews’ Victoria.

  • Cameron O'Reilly

August 2023

“I don’t know him”: Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews on Tuesday declined to enter into a war of words with outspoken Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate.

Gold Coast mayor calls Andrews’ Games drop ‘un-Australian’

Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate says his city could host the Games in 2026 for $1 billion with “no capital expenditure required”.

  • Gus McCubbing
Premier Daniel Andrews and Treasurer Tim Pallas announcing the $380 million deal for cancelling the Commonwealth Games.

PwC scandal casts secrecy shadow over Commonwealth Games inquiry

Witnesses before an inquiry into Victoria cancelling the Commonwealth Games were quick to explain why they had to remain silent.

  • Patrick Durkin

Original URL: https://www.afr.com/topic/commonwealth-games-5vw