Andrews government fails to strike deal for cancelling Commonwealth Games

Treasurer Jim Chalmers says he was not made aware of the new $7bn price tag for the Commonwealth Games before the Andrews government announced it was axing the event.

Daniel Andrews has cancelled the Commonwealth Games. Picture: Luis Enrique Ascui

Federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers has revealed he was kept in the dark over the 2026 Commonwealth Games cost blowouts.

It comes as Victorian taxpayers may have to wait weeks to find out how much they’ll pay for the Games fiasco, with the Andrews government so far failing to strike a deal for tearing up the contract.

Lawyers for the government flew to London last week with Department of Premier and Cabinet secretary Jeremi Moule to begin discussions with the Commonwealth Games Federation about the cost of breaking the contract.

But the government confirmed that lawyers have since returned to Australia without having reached an agreement.

“Negotiations are continuing in Australia over coming weeks,” a government spokeswoman said on Monday.

Mr Chalmers on Monday said he was prepared to engage in talks about federal support for the games with Victoria, adding he was aware that projects were costing more to deliver.

But the new $7bn price tag was not raised with him before the state government announced it was cancelling the event.

“I wasn’t specifically aware of this decision that they were about to take,” he said.

Asked if the state approached the federal government for more than the $1.3bn it had initially requested, Mr Chalmers said: “I can’t speak for my other colleagues”.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers says he was kept in the dark over the 2026 Commonwealth Games cost blowouts. Picture: Martin Ollman

“It may have happened with other colleagues — certainly we were in the midst of the usual kind of discussions that you’d expect when a state government is putting on an event like the Commonwealth Games,” he said.

“Usually those negotiations happen with sports ministers and infrastructure ministers and others.”

Opposition Leader John Pesutto said the government’s failure to reach an agreement in London showed “the problem is worse than we were told”.

“It’s clear that with the negotiating team returning empty- handed, something is going wrong,” he said. Premier ­Daniel Andrews last week cancelled the 2026 Games, claiming costs to host the event could exceed more than $6bn – it was initially due to cost $2.6bn.

Health Minister Mary-Anne Thomas said it was possible for negotiations to continue remotely “in this day and age”.

“Obviously it’s a complex negotiation and it’s continuing. I’m sure a resolution will be forthcoming,” she said.

In a contradiction to the Premier, Ms Thomas, who is a regional MP, said the Games’ cancellation was a disappointing outcome.

Mr Andrews last week said he had made “a lot of difficult decisions in this job” but cancelling the games was “not one of them”.

Ms Thomas on Monday said: “This was a tough decision, but it was the right decision”.

Sports Minister Anika Wells and Infrastructure Minister Catherine King’s offices did not respond last week when the Herald Sun asked when it was first made aware of the cost blowouts, or if the government was approached for more funding.

As revealed by the Herald Sun, the opposition will next week seek to launch a parliamentary inquiry into the Games fiasco.

Originally published as Andrews government fails to strike deal for cancelling Commonwealth Games