Commonwealth Games 2026: Local sport bodies left in dark after axing of event
Key players set to host regional events in the axed 2026 Commonwealth Games say they were denied a proper chance to consult on the event’s crucial planning stages.
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Regional Victoria was ignored by the Andrews government who were dictating Commonwealth Games decisions from the “Melbourne bureaucracy”, a Senate inquiry has heard.
Committee for Ballarat chief executive Michael Poulton sounded the alarm on the inadequate planning of the 2026 regional event, which he argued stemmed from a failure to consult with key stakeholders.
One of the major concerns was a lack of funding for transport infrastructure in the regions, with stakeholders warned that buses would be the predominant form of transport.
“The lack of engagement in the planning process was of deep concern to us, and had been for some time,” Mr Poulton said.
“For those of us who live in regional Victoria … there was a sense that actually the regions are being a bit ignored here, that this is government decision making that is based out of the Melbourne bureaucracy telling regional Victoria what is best for you.
“The number one learning from this is engagement with your local communities before decisions are made are going to give you a better outcome. There’s no great wisdom in that.”
Senator and committee member Bridget McKenzie said it had become apparent that the 2026 event was a “regional games in name only”.
Mr Poulton, who has been involved in elite sports for three decades, told the inquiry that the Ballarat community “was always sceptical” of the costs to deliver the event.
“The price tag was always a curious one,” he said.
Mr Poulton added that it had become almost a “throwaway line” for Premier Daniel Andrews to claim the final price tag would cost somewhere between $6bn to $7bn.
“There’s a huge difference between six and seven billion,” he said.
“It’s an extraordinary amount of money and our view would be that it never needed to be that amount of money if in fact there was genuine engagement with the local communities about how to solve some of these problems.
“I suspect what happened is that they were looking to cut costs as readily as they possibly could.”
Mr Poulton said the Committee for Ballarat and the Ballarat council CEO and mayor only found out about the cancellation through the media.
“They had no pre-understanding of what was about to occur,” he said.
“To have not been advised at any point … was a bit of a kick in the guts to people who had done a lot of work.”
It comes as it was also revealed council CEOs were gagged by the Andrews government which prevented them from discussing the Commonwealth Games with their councillors.
The senate was told the state government forced council bosses to sign nondisclosure agreements before they would reveal plans about the event.
City of Ballarat councillor Ben Taylor said that the council’s CEO Evan King was required to sign a nondisclosure agreement when conversations first began.
“We quizzed the CEO multiple times and he had to be very careful of what he even explained to councillors about the process and infrastructure,” Mr Taylor said.
City of Ballarat councillor deputy mayor Amy Johnson said she didn’t believe it was usual practice for CEOs to sign gag orders.
“To expect our CEO to sign a nondisclosure agreement that prohibits him from sharing all relevant information with the councillor group is a disgrace,” she said.
“It ultimately meant that we, as a group of councillors, were not able to gain all the necessary insights that we needed to make sure we were aware of what was going on within the organisation.”
Nationals senator and committee member Bridget McKenzie slammed the “shroud of secrecy” from Premier Daniel Andrews.
“Not only is he refusing to allow his ministers and his public servants to provide us key evidence, he’s also done the same to lawyers, to consultants, and now we find, to local councillors,” she said.
“It is absolutely unprecedented and unfortunately unsurprising in Victoria, (which is) now the secrecy state.”
Local sport bodies in dark after Games axing
Local sporting associations set to host events in the failed 2026 Commonwealth Games say they haven’t heard from any state or federal Labor MPs in the wake of the fiasco.
Geelong Hockey Association vice president Alan Climpson and Bendigo and District Table Tennis Association president Gary Warnest on Tuesday fronted a Senate inquiry probing the event’s cancellation.
Despite the government using the organisations in press conferences spruiking the event, both Mr Climpson and Mr Warnest said they hadn’t heard anything since the shock termination.
Mr Warnest said he hadn’t heard from his club’s local Bendigo East MP Jacinta Allan, who was also the minister responsible for the games.
“I’ve had no correspondence whatsoever,” he said.
“We’ve almost been ignored, disregarded in consultation.
“I’m really disappointed. I’m a strong Bendigo advocate. I’m disappointed for what Bendigo has missed out on.”
He added that federal MP Lisa Chesters also hadn’t reached out.
Meanwhile, Mr Climpson, based in Geelong, also said his local MP, deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles, had been quiet.
“(We’ve heard) nothing at all,” he said.
Mr Climpson said the only politicians who had been in contact was opposition leader John Pesutto and Liberal MPs David Southwick and Sam Groth.
Mr Climpson said the hockey community was reeling from the loss of the Games.
“We don’t get an opportunity in Geelong to showcase our sport a lot because we fight the Geelong Football Club and you have basketball which is probably our next biggest participating sport,” he said.
“(The Commonwealth Games were) a real great opportunity and we were excited about the opportunity to show off our sport … in our own backyard.
“It was a real kick in the guts.”
Meanwhile, Mr Warnest said he would be “desperately unhappy” if a bid from Gold Coast for the 2026 Commonwealth Games excluded table tennis as a sport.
It follows Gold Coast mayor Tom Tate, who on Monday revealed he wanted to use Victoria’s $380m compensation to hold the event in his city, flagged that table tennis could be one of the sports to be overlooked.
“It would be a huge missed opportunity,” Mr Warnest said.
Govt lawyers already on plane before cabinet made call to axe event
Daniel Andrews has revealed government lawyers in charge of negotiations with Commonwealth Games authorities were already in the air before cabinet made the call to cancel the event.
Despite the Andrews government maintaining that the final decision to scrap the Games was made at a cabinet meeting the night before the announcement, the Premier confirmed on Tuesday that government lawyers had boarded a flight hours before the meeting.
“If the Commonwealth Games authorities had been on Collins St, people would have gone down after the Cabinet meeting and would have told them,” he said.
But when pressed on whether lawyers were sent before or after the meeting, he said “they had to” to be sent prior.
“London’s a bit further away than Collins St, so of course they had to,” he said.
Mr Andrews said if cabinet had decided not to proceed with cancelling the Games, the lawyers would have simply boarded a flight home.
“If the cabinet had made a different decision then no decision would have been communicated to the Commonwealth Games authorities,” he said.
The Premier said a subcommittee had sent the lawyers prior to cabinet but he couldn’t say which subcommittee.
Mr Andrews also sought to shut down speculation that the government requested a confidentiality clause as part of the settlement with Commonwealth Games authorities after CGA officials told a federal inquiry on Monday they did not suggest it.
“Neither did we, it’s a standard form put forward by the mediators before the mediation even started,” Mr Andrews said.
“Nothing more, nothing less.”
“What was the back and forth of the back and forth across the negotiating table? I’m not able to answer that.”
The Premier said he wasn’t aware how much Ernst & Young was paid to deliver the original costings but said “it’ll be reported in the usual way”.
“I don’t even know that number,” he said.
“There are departmental reports that are provided, tabled in this place every year. All of those matters will be reported as usual.”
Mr Andrews said none of his ministers should be expected to front the probe, calling it a “political stunt”.
“The notion that anyone, anyone in the Victorian Government is going to be lectured to by Bridget McKenzie, a sports rorter, someone who lost her job because of her rorting. It’s not going to happen,” he said.
Despite the estimated $4bn cost blowout, the Premier maintained that the original costing of $2.6bn were the “best estimates” at the time.
“But clearly the estimates as to the cost of these games were wrong.”
Mr Andrews wouldn’t be drawn on whether he’d like to see the Commonwealth Games remain in Australia and held in the Gold Coast, saying “that is a matter for the Commonwealth Games authorities”.
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Originally published as Commonwealth Games 2026: Local sport bodies left in dark after axing of event
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