Parliamentary inquiry into the Commonwealth Games begins
A motion has been passed requesting Premier Jacinta Allan to front an inquiry into the axed Commonwealth Games after her decision to snub the probe was deemed “unacceptable”.
Victoria
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A committee has passed a motion officially requesting that Premier Jacinta Allan front a Commonwealth Games inquiry to provide evidence.
It comes afer the Premier snubbed the parliamentary inquiry into the abandoned Games, dodging questions about whether she and the government misled the public on the fiasco.
The committee, which was made up of three independent MPs, three Coalition MPs and three government MPs, passed the motion on Monday afternoon.
Chair David Limbrick will now inform the leader of the government in the upper house, Jaclyn Symes, about the motion.
He will seek for Ms Allan to be granted leave from the lower house to appear.
Cost blowouts known weeks before Games were axed
Department of Premier and Cabinet secretary Jeremi Moule knew weeks before cancelling the event that cost blowouts would ultimately force the government to significantly reshape the event or dump it entirely.
Fronting the Commonwealth Games inquiry on Monday afternoon, Mr Moule said he first sought a meeting with the Commonwealth Games Federation in London on June 30.
The in-person meeting eventually took place in person on July 17, one day before former premier Daniel Andrews publicly announced he was cancelling the Games.
As at June 30, when the meeting was first planned, Mr Moule said there had been no decision to scrap the event entirely but it had become evident that cost overruns were posing significant challenges.
“At that time no decisions had been made but it was clear that the government would need to make a significant decision regarding the Games, to either materially reshape it in a way that would require renegotiation of the host contract, or to cancel its hosting commitment,” he told the inquiry.
Mr Moule said the risks associated with delivering the event — based on analysis from the Office of the Commonwealth Games and the Victoria 2026 organising committee — blew the cost out to the almost $7bn figure that ultimately justified the government’s decision to withdraw as host.
“Essentially, if the risks were weighted at 50 per cent, the costs would likely reach or exceed $6bn. If they were weighted at 100 per cent, the cost would be closer to $7bn,” he said.
“Independently, both the Department of Premier and Cabinet (DPC) and the Department of Treasury and Finance formed the view that there was a very high probability that the risks would be realised.
“In fact, DTF formed the view that it was prudent to rate them all at 100 per cent.”
Mr Moule first engaged legal firm Arnold Bloch Leibler to begin discussions on June 14. He said he chose this firm due to their expertise in technical commercial arrangements.
Mr Moule defended his decision to travel to London, and fly business class, to personally meet with Commonwealth Games officials.
“It was appropriate that someone senior on behalf of the Victorian government travel (to London) to tell them that face to face,” he said.
Mr Moule said it was ultimately his advice to the former Premier that the Victorian government should not proceed with the Games.
“Specifically on the issue of cancellation, it was the advice of my department provided by me personally to the Premier that gave the government cause to reconsider the delivery of the games and, in fact, whether to host them at all,” he said.
Jeroen Weimar: ‘We were starting to get quite concerned’
The inquiry heard that Ms Allan met with Victoria 2026 organising committee chair Peggy O’Neal on June 19.
Ms O’Neal told the inquiry that at no point was she told by Ms Allan that lawyers had been engaged by the government.
Ms O’Neal, the former president of Richmond Football Club, told the parliamentary inquiry that she met with the now-Premier for a catch-up before the Victoria 2026 Board met with stakeholders in Ballarat the following day.
“We had a catch up (a) ‘how’s it going’ sort of thing and it was along the lines of (that) we need some budget certainty,” she said.
Not once during this meeting was she told that the Games’ future was uncertain, or that legal eagles had been brought in.
“I had no idea,” she said.
“In that private meeting, she didn’t mention anything like that to me at all.”
Victoria 2026 CEO Jeroen Weimar, who previously served as the state’s Covid commander, said the organising committee became concerned about the government’s timeline in June.
“From our point of view, we’re a delivery agency, working to their agreement. What we were very clear on with them was that time was ticking,” he said.
“We did not have a day to lose, and although we were quite comfortable with a confident and transparent budget discussion process in February, March, April - by the time we got to June, we were starting to get quite concerned about needing clarity of decisions around the scope and budget.”
Mr Weimar said he was only told about the decision to cancel the event at about 6.30pm on July 17 - one day before the public was informed.
“We literally stopped work on the 18th of July,” he said.
“Until the 17th of July, the program was on track.”
Bill for axed Comm Games to pass $600m
It comes after revelations the final bill charged to taxpayers for the bungled 2026 Commonwealth Games is set to end up costing well above $600m.
Department of Jobs, Skills, Industry and Regions secretary Tim Ada told a parliamentary inquiry on Monday that games-related costs within his department alone were expected to reach $200m.
This comes on top of the $380m compensation package deal struck after weeks of negotiations between government lawyers and Commonwealth Games officials.
Ms Allan was first warned of cost blowouts of up to $2bn in March, months before the government decided to officially scrap the 2026 Games.
Bureaucrats became concerned about substantial cost increases in February this year, and formally briefed Ms Allan in March — then the minister responsible for the Games — about a revised budget figure of $4.6bn, from the $2.6bn first mooted.
That updated estimate was refused by the government, who instead directed the Department of Jobs, Skills, Industry and Regions to cut costs to ensure the commitment to host the event across five regional cities could be upheld.
Mr Ada told a parliamentary inquiry on Monday that bureaucrats attempted to reduce costs associated with the Games between April and June.
“As infrastructure and delivering planning was progressing, fiscal risks were emerging related to increases in infrastructure delivery costs, displacement costs for the use of some major venues, co-contribution and revenue realisation risks and emerging funding requirements for other departments,” he told the inquiry.
“It is clear now with the benefit of hindsight that the business case prepared in early 2022 did not reflect the true cost of delivering a sporting program spread across five cities, nor anticipate the significant cost escalation that’s been experienced in the construction sector.”
Mr Ada, who was tasked by the private office of former Premier Daniel Andrews to formally notify Commonwealth Games officials of the decision to cancel the event, said he was first advised on June 19 that the government was considering “all of its options” relating to the event.
Mr Ada was unable to answer questions about what alternate options were considered to reduce costs.
Committee member and Nationals MP Melina Bath asked what sporting events were at risk of being cut and what proportion of the event may have been shifted to Melbourne.
But Mr Ada said he needed permission from the government to answer that question.
“That information was subjected to a formal cabinet process,” he said.
“I have to take that question on notice and consult the government about whether they’re prepared to release that.
“But I just do want to be clear that the department was asked by government in April and dutifully went away and worked with central agencies to identify substantial cost reduction options as requested.”
The government waited weeks before it formally considered advice it had received from the Department of Jobs, who warned that the Games’ timeline would be jeopardised unless an urgent budget decision was made.
Mr Ada said the department had provided advice to the then-Andrews government in June, but that wasn’t formally considered until July.
“The Department, the Office of the Commonwealth Games and the organising committee provided some advice to the Minister during June that an urgent decision was required related to the final budget and scope otherwise the delivery program to deliver the Games by March 2026 could be jeopardised,” he said.
“That’s the advice we provided during June.”
Deputy chair and Liberal MP Joe McCracken questioned why it had taken weeks for the “fairly urgent matter” to be considered.
“With all due respect, the Department is not responsible for scheduling when matters are considered by cabinet committees,” Mr Ada responded.
“That is a question I think for the government.”
Earlier, Mr Ada said the government committed to hosting the games in March 2022 based on a business case put together by Ernst & Young who predicted the total event would cost $2.6bn.
Mr Ada said this business case “largely relied on top down estimates and benchmarking against known amounts from the 2018 Gold Coast Games”.
Former CEO of the Office of the Commonwealth Games Allen Garner said he wasn’t aware how the government landed on its $6bn to $7bn price tag to host the Games.
“I’m aware that’s been published, but that’s not a number that I had an awareness of,” he told the inquiry.
“We were working on a budget against the business case, and there’s other elements that add in, I’m assuming, to make up (that figure).”
Mr Garner said several constraints — including rising building costs, individual site challenges, cultural heritage concerns and contamination problems — all led to challenges.
In one instance, a site identified for use in Geelong was determined to be culturally significant because the land had been part of an early settlement where “traditional owners had been kept and locked up”.
“It was an area that might have been destroyed and lost. They (First Peoples’) didn’t want that area to be destroyed and lost, they wanted that to be noted and part of the cultural heritage and mapping of their area,” Mr Garner said.
“We would respond to that by saying we can change what we’re doing and we can move, and not work in that area.”
But Mr Garner said he couldn’t pinpoint an exact time that he first became aware cost pressures and logistical challenges were posing a threat to the Games being carried out as planned.
He said this became clear “sometime in 2023” when various components started to assemble.
“It was apparent there was going to be a significant shortfall,” he said.
Mr Garner said he was only notified of the decision to scrap the Games the night before the public announcement.
Asked whether he was effectively “kept in the dark”, Mr Garner said: “Yes. We were very focused on delivering (the event).”
Mr Garner agreed that it would be beneficial to have more detail before committing to carry out such a large project.
“You can always do more and you can do better. It’s usually timelines that dictate what you’re doing for any particular project,” he said.
Deputy Premier dismisses Games figures
It comes after a new analysis of figures provided to the committee, compiled by the state opposition, revealed taxpayers had already coughed up more than $500m on the Games fiasco.
Figures provided to the inquiry have revealed:
– $380m was spent on cancelling the Games
– $43m was spent on operating grants
– $21m was used on villages
– $6m was spent on policing initiatives
However, on Monday, Deputy Premier Ben Carroll dismissed the new figures.
Mr Carroll, speaking from newly upgraded Carlton Gardens Primary School on Monday, said the figure was “just speculation”.
“That cannot be taken as accurate,” he said.
Mr Carroll dodged multiple questions about whether it was appropriate for Jacinta Allan to skip the inquiry, saying the Premier was choosing to focus on “important matters” instead.
“The Premier has very important matters to focus on and rightly, she is choosing to focus on things like cost of living, building infrastructure, helping our schools get rebuilt,” he said.
He repeatedly referred to a probe into the Games by the Victorian Auditor General’s Office (VAGO), arguing professional auditors were “the appropriate vehicle”.
Mr Carroll denied that the Premier’s office had warned government officials giving evidence about what they can and cannot say.
“They’re all going on their own volition and there’s been no communication with them at all that I’m aware of,” he said.
Meanwhile the president of Victoria’s upper house, Shaun Leane, confirmed he would front the parliamentary probe.
Mr Leane is the first politician to accept an invitation to give evidence before a select committee of upper house MPs heading up the Commonwealth Games inquiry.
Former Games boss Jeroen Weimar and chairwoman of the organising committee Peggy O’Neal will be among those to give evidence at the inquiry’s first public hearing.
Department of Premier and Cabinet secretary Jeremi Moule, who was sent to London with lawyers to advise Commonwealth Games officials of the cancellation, will also be grilled on Monday alongside public servants from the Department of Jobs, Skills, Industry and Regions.
The inquiry will probe the government’s handling of the Games, examining when it first became aware of major cost blowouts and exactly when it made the controversial decision to scrap the event.
But on Sunday Ms Allan, the minister responsible for the Games, said: “No, I won’t be appearing before that inquiry”.
Opposition Leader John Pesutto said: “Less than two weeks into the job, Jacinta Allan’s credibility is already on the line as she continues to avoid scrutiny over her role in the Commonwealth Games debacle. Her story about what she knew and when she knew it changes by the day”.
It emerged last week that former premier Daniel Andrews kept information from his cabinet, including Ms Allan, while he initiated the process of cancelling the event.
Lawyers were first engaged to start providing advice on scrapping the event on the afternoon of June 14 – more than a month before cabinet was told and the cancellation became public on July 18.
Ms Allan insists she was unaware of moves to cancel until June 14, a day after she boasted to a parliamentary budget hearing that the event was on track and progressing well.
The government was told as early as February it had severely under-budgeted to stage the complex regional Games.
Committee chairman David Limbrick said “a lot of questions” needed answers.
“We’ll be investigating the advice received from government departments, councils, agencies, consultants and contractors, and examining the potential undue influence of the executive on the independence of the public service,” he said.
“We need to understand the impact of the contract termination on Victoria’s reputation, as well as our business, tourism and major events sectors.
“We’re also looking at whether failures in governance, probity and procurement contributed to this outcome.”
Opposition tourism, sport and major events spokesman Sam Groth said the saga had “humiliated our state on the global stage”.
“It is simply unacceptable that the Premier refuses to front the Parliamentary Inquiry into this debacle and come clean with the answers that Victorians deserve,” he said.
“The community deserves to know how this went so wrong, and the Liberals and Nationals will continue to work with the parliament to get to the bottom of this humiliating saga.”
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