James O’Doherty: Why Minns could rue decision not to save Commonwealth Games
The Premier’s laser focus on bringing down debt may have cost NSW a golden opportunity to save the Commonwealth Games — and rub it in Victoria’s face, writes James O’Doherty.
Opinion
Don't miss out on the headlines from Opinion. Followed categories will be added to My News.
If the difference between Chris Minns and his predecessor was distilled down to a single event, the Premier’s instant decision to rule out bidding for the 2026 Commonwealth Games would be it.
Minns won the election by being the smallest target possible. It was a campaign defined by discipline — both fiscally and ideologically.
The contrast with Dominic Perrottet’s “kitchen sink” approach could not be starker.
Imagine, for a moment, what Perrottet would have done if he had been in Minns’ shoes on Tuesday.
Within minutes he would have been out the front of the Opera House, pledging to sweep in and save the day, cementing Sydney as the country’s sporting capital and rubbing it in Victoria’s face.
If Australia’s (relatively new) monarch wanted to keep the legacy of the Commonwealth alive through the Games, he could have been induced to come out here and launch them.
With Commonwealth Games organisers over a barrel to save the future of their competition, the event could have been done on the cheap.
Venues built for the 2000 Olympics could have been returned to their former glory, and Metro lines in construction could have been given a hard deadline to ensure the work could actually be finished on time.
One of the biggest hurdles to NSW hosting the games cited by the Premier was a lack of available housing for athletes.
Perhaps the charity that King Charles founded could have helped with that too.
The Prince’s Trust is currently partnering with NSW to build a block of social houses in Glebe.
With a little imagination and a bit of luck, the government may have convinced the monarch to chip in some more cash to get The Prince’s Quarter (and some more developments like it) finished in time for the Games as athlete accommodation. They could be converted to social housing after that.
There are plenty of options there to keep costs down.
Victoria’s bold idea to host the games in the regions has been blamed by many as the main reason costs apparently blew out by billions of dollars.
If they were held in Sydney, players would not need to go further than Badgerys Creek — where the games could have served as a launching pad for the Western Sydney Airport.
However, there is little room for such out-of-the-box thinking in a government that came to power by promising to be boring.
In the new age of austerity, there is also little room for splashing any cash.
One man who was jumping for joy when Minns ruled out spending any money on the Commonwealth Games was Treasurer Daniel Mookhey.
Mookhey has been bunkered down in the Treasury offices wielding the axe ahead of his September budget, which will be swimming with red ink.
He would be the first to say that Victoria’s move to scrap the Commonwealth Games is the kind of decision that a government is forced to make if it cannot keep its debt under control.
Victoria’s debt is expected to reach $135.4 billion this financial year. By 2026-27, it is forecast to get to $171.4 billion — which is equivalent to 24.4 per cent of the state’s economy.
Debt in NSW is expected to reach $187 billion over the next four years.
The tough decisions Mookhey is making now, like slashing cost-of-living relief measures, are designed to get that number down.
This column can reveal that one of the ways Mookhey will attempt to arrest the increase in debt is to stop borrowing money to invest in the NSW “Generations Fund”.
The $16 billion future fund is supposed to deliver a return to the state’s budget through investments. Some of it was funded by the sale of WestConnex. Other contributions have come from borrowed money.
But Mookhey says borrowing money to play money markets no longer adds up in a high-interest environment.
The former government planned to increase the fund to $45 billion, paid for with more borrowed money.
The Treasurer will on Friday tell a parliamentary inquiry into the fund that the former government planned to borrow $25 billion in the hope of getting an extra $2 billion return.
In other words, he’ll say, that’s like placing a bet worth $12.50 which will only pay out $13.50 if you win.
During the election campaign, Minns pledged that he would not take debt above the forecast $187 billion peak.
That is why hosting even the most slimmed down Commonwealth Games was seen as unacceptably expensive.
But fiscal responsibility also comes with a cost.
The Games were due to be held in 2026.
The next state election will be held no later than March 2027.
With a bit of creative thinking, Minns could have saved the Games, hosted a massive 12-day carnival and — if it went off — ridden to the election with Sydney still on a high fuelled by beating the Victorians at their own game.
A year since October 7, what has happened to Australia?
As protests around the world mark a year since the October 7 attack on Israel, US correspondent Tom Minear says he does not recognise how Australia has changed since then.
Are you sabotaging your child’s future?
With so many students becoming more anxious, distracted and sleep-deprived, this neuroscience expert is proposing parents implement these measures now, before it is too late.