‘Make these documents public so Victorians can understand how the 2026 Games went so wrong’: Sam Groth

The Victorian government is fighting calls for the release of 353 documents relating to its failed 2026 Commonwealth Games bid, but an independent arbiter could be appointed to force its hand.

An independent arbiter could be appointed to force the government to handover secret documents related to its $589m failed 2026 Commonwealth Games bid.

The government is fighting the release of 353 documents, with Attorney-General Jaclyn Symes telling parliament on Friday all but three were completely protected by executive privilege and the remainder could only be partially released.

They include ministerial briefings, Cabinet briefings, meeting agendas, expenditure review committee reports and key decision documents from across multiple departments.

But the government is arguing they can’t be made public because they would reveal the deliberative processes of Cabinet and executive government or jeopardise the necessary relationship of trust and confidence between the Minister and public officials.

Attorney-General Jaclyn Symes and Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan. Picture: Diego Fedele

Some documents were said to prejudice intergovernmental and diplomatic relations or materially damage the state’s financial or commercial interests.

But the parliament could now task an independent arbiter with determining whether those claims are valid.

Ms Symes’ advice to parliament was in response to a motion passed in the Legislative Council last month which requested the government produce documents it had earlier refused to provide to the committee probing the 2026 Commonwealth Games Bid.

In an interim report committee chair, Libertarian MP David Limbrick, said that in declining to provide the material the government had cited a self-defined classification of executive privilege that was so broad it covered all but a few of the documents the Committee had asked for.

Mr Limbrick told parliament if the government now refused to comply with the motion it could face either a lengthy and costly legal challenge, or an arbiter could be appointed to adjudicate the dispute.

“I do not challenge the notion of executive privilege,” he said.

“Indeed I fully appreciate that some things must not be released to the public from government because they may endanger members of the public, they may undermine trust, they may not be in the public interest, they may out people – all sorts of reasons that privilege or redaction may be necessary.

Victoria’s Mia Gross (centre) won bronze in the 4x100m at the 2022 Commonwealth Games but there will be no regional Victorian games in 2026 as hoped. Picture: Supplied.

“I do not dispute that sometimes that is necessary.

“However, my experience with documents motions and indeed my experience during this committee has been that the government has claimed a very, very wide definition of executive privilege.”

Shadow Minister for Tourism, Sport and Events, Sam Groth, said Victorians deserved full transparency over the “debacle”.

“Victorian taxpayers, who are picking up the $600 million bill for Labor’s botched Commonwealth Games deserve to know exactly what went wrong, why and who is responsible,” he said.

“Time and again Labor has sought to dodge accountability for their role in this damaging debacle.

“Labor must be transparent with the community and make these documents public so Victorians can understand how the 2026 Games went so wrong.”

Former Premier Dan Andrews axed the 2026 Victorian games. Picture: Ian Currie.

Former premier Daniel Andrews signed up to host the 2026 Commonwealth Games across five regional Victorian cities, announcing details of the plan in the lead-up to the 2022 state election.

But in July, 2023, he stunned the world by dumping the deal with the Commonwealth Games Federation, saying the event’s initial $2.6bn budget had blown out to $6-7 billion.

An analysis by the Victorian Auditor-General, Andrew Greaves, says that figure was overstated and overall costs were on track to hit $4.9bn.

Mr Greaves found the cancelled event had cost Victoria $589m, including the $380m in settlement fees and $150m spent so far on organisers’ wages and operating costs.

DOCUMENTS VIC GOV WANTS TO KEEP SECRET

Daniel Andrews’ correspondence with staff over bungled Hotel Quarantine program

Secret briefings detailing advice underpinning Covid health orders

Ranking and selection process for Level Crossing Removal program

Secret ­taxpayer-funded program monitoring views on Daniel Andrews’ lockdown performance