Final nail in coffin for GC Mayor’s bold Comm Games bid

Tickets to the 2026 Commonwealth Games ‘won’t be worth the paper they’re printed on’, according to a top Australian bureaucrat who has courted controversy.

THE 2026 Commonwealth Games are unlikely to go ahead and the tickets “won’t be worth the paper they’re printed on”, a top Australian bureaucrat declared in blow to the Gold Coast’s bid to save global event.

Federal Infrastructure Department secretary Jim Betts dismissed the chances of the Games going ahead in a fiery exchange in Senate estimates on Monday.

He later attempted to walk the comments back, saying he did not have a role in deciding “whether and when” the Commonwealth Games proceed.

Infrastructure Department secretary Jim Betts (left). Picture: Toby Zerna

Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate has been running a campaign in a bid to rescue the Games, after Victoria’s shock, last-minute dumping of the event.

Infrastructure Department officials told Opposition infrastructure spokeswoman Senator Bridget McKenzie that the Office of Sport had responsibility for any discussions on whether the Federal Government would intervene in any bid to host the Games.

“No one wants to hold this baby, do they. Would it be something you would be interested in attending, should the Office of Sport get its act together,” Senator McKenzie said.

Mr Betts intervened at this point, saying the Senator was asking for an opinion, which department officials are not allowed to give at estimates hearings.

“That’s asking for an opinion. Unless you mean, attending in terms of tickets, in which case I don’t think there’s going to be a Commonwealth Games, so they wouldn’t be worth the paper they’re printed on,” Mr Betts said.

But he walked his statement back, when pressed on it later in the hearing.

“Let me be very clear, I’m not responsible for any decisions at any level of government about whether and when the Commonwealth Games might proceed,” Mr Betts said.

“We might have had a role in terms of providing co-funding for various aspects of the Commonwealth Games, had the Victorian Government proceeded with them, but that appears not to be the case.”

Opposition infrastructure spokeswoman Senator Bridget McKenzie. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

Earlier in the day, Mr Betts revealed he had received a death threat follow what he called “the T-shirt incident”, when he was grilled in estimates over his choice to wear a T-shirt featuring an Aboriginal flag and a clenched fist to an all staff meeting.

Cr Tate met with Commonwealth Games Australia CEO Craig Phillips earlier this month, saying it was a “very positive meeting” and that he wanted to salvage Australia’s reputation after Victoria cancelled the event.

On Monday, Mr Philips told a Victorian parliamentary inquiry that he had proposed cost-saving measures to the state government, including hosting more events in Melbourne rather than regional cities.

“A Games’ modified are better than no Games,” he said.

Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate with Borobi.

But Mr Phillips said the Victorian government was firm in its unwillingness to reshape the Games’.

Meanwhile, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said there was simply not enough time to put the necessary security arrangements in place for the Gold Coast to host the 2026 Commonwealth Games, in the final nail in the coffin of Cr Tate’s proposal.

Ms Palaszczuk said she had been “very upfront” with Cr Tate and had personally sat down with him.

“I’ve told him we do not have the time to do all the security arrangements that will be needed for his bid,” she said.

“Our priority, and we’ve got a long lead time, is in relation to the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

“And I’ve told Tom this, that I don’t think that bid can go forward without state and commonwealth approval because all the security arrangement are joint… there’s also all the planning and transport—it takes years, it doesn’t just happen overnight.”

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk.