Commonwealth Games 2026: Premier Daniel Andrews accused of shifting blame

Daniel Andrews has been accused of throwing public servants under the bus after his cutting remarks on the initial business case for the 2026 Commonwealth Games.

Daniel Andrews has denied shifting blame for the Commonwealth Games’ fiasco on to the public servants who drafted the initial business case, despite slamming that document as “hardly the greatest piece of work ever done”.

The Premier on Tuesday said he didn’t know whether the bureaucrats behind the bungled business case for the 12-day event were currently working on any of the government’s other major projects.

Opposition Leader John Pesutto said it was in the public interest for those public servants to be answerable to the parliament, and renewed calls for Mr Andrews and former Commonwealth Games Minister Jacinta Allan to front a parliamentary probe into the debacle.

The Premier says he doesn’t know whether the bureaucrats behind the bungled business case for the Games are working on any of the government’s other major projects. Picture: Tony Gough

But Mr Andrews, who proclaimed that he was ultimately accountable for the mess, said it would be unfair to publicly name the workers who drafted the original event price tag.

“I’m not giving you the names of the people who did the work. There’s no need for me to do that because I’m accepting responsibility as the leader of the government for that,” he said.

“I’m not for a moment suggesting that people didn’t do their best. I’m not for a moment suggesting that every single thing that has affected these costs was foreseeable and ought to have been included. I think it would be unfair to say that.”

A scene from the Commonwealth Games opening ceremony at the MCG in 2006. Picture: Gareth Copley

The Andrews government was banking on the regional multi city event to cost taxpayers $2.6bn.

But last month it sensationally pulled out as host state, drawing global backlash, because the total costings had skyrocketed to more than $6bn.

Mr Andrews on Tuesday admitted the document – which did not include a proper analysis of “key elements of Games planning” and was “baselined” from Gold Coast’s single city 2018 event – was flawed.

“I’m not here to tell you the original business case was a fantastic document. Clearly it was not,” he said.

Opposition Leader John Pesutto has renewed calls for former Commonwealth Games Minister Jacinta Allan to front a parliamentary probe into the debacle. Picture: Mark Stewart

“It’s hardly the greatest piece of work ever done. That’s very, very clear because the estimates are a long way from what the costs were going to be.”

Asked if the bureaucrats and consultants behind the original business case should still be engaged to work on other government-run projects, Mr Andrews said: “No one is seeking to shift responsibility. I take full responsibility.”

But Mr Pesutto accused the Premier of “throwing public servants under the bus”.

“He’s blaming public servants for the business case that he says wasn’t the greatest piece of work ever done, even though just three days ago he said it represented strong value for money (and) more benefits than costs,” Mr Pesutto said.

“The Commonwealth Games were a con job that Daniel Andrews and Jacinta Allan engaged in simply because they thought it would help them win the 2022 state election, and possibly the 2026 state election.

“It’s all coming undone and the Premier’s lies are unravelling. His story cannot be believed.”

The saga has been referred to the Auditor-General who will investigate the costings.

Mr Andrews said the government stood ready to implement any improvements recommended by the Auditor-General to “make sure those estimates are much more accurate in the future”.

Questions also remain about how much taxpayers were slugged to fly the government’s team of lawyers to London to break the contract with the Commonwealth Games Federation.