Treasurer Tim Pallas approved extra funding bids for the now axed Commonwealth Games

Daniel Andrews personally lobbied Tim Pallas for more than $500k in special funding to hire extra staff for the now axed Commonwealth Games, documents have revealed.

Daniel Andrews personally lobbied Treasurer Tim Pallas for funding to hire extra staff to prepare for the now scrapped 2026 Commonwealth Games.

Freedom of Information documents reveal the Treasurer approved the special funding bid of more than $500,000 by the Premier to “support DPC in its work on the 2026 Commonwealth Games”.

The Treasurer’s department separately sought its own funding boost of more than $1m to support “timely delivery of the Commonwealth Games”.

Mr Pallas approved both budget bids through a special Treasurer’s Advance of $1.565m in 2022-23 to support the central agencies in their work.

The funding provided two and a half additional staff for the Premier’s department and five additional staff for the Treasurer’s department.

The Treasurer’s signed brief showed the expenditure proposal was not budgeted for and “net debt may be adversely affected if you approve this TA request”.

Daniel Andrews personally lobbied treasurer Tim Pallas for funding hire extra staff to prepare for the now scrapped 2026 Commonwealth Games. Picture: Luis Enrique Ascui

Shadow Special Minister of State David Davis described the funding arrangement as bizarre.

“You couldn’t make this stuff up,” he said.

“The central agencies DPC and DTF demanding money for a greater co-ordination role, whole of Games risk management capacity, governance, cost control processes and delivery planning,” he said.

“Now we know all of this money was p---ed against the wall.

“This is worse than an episode of The Games: with powerful central agencies sweeping in to take over effectively the running of the Games and wasting money, squandering taxpayers’ money, while claiming to be engaged in cost control and risk management while overseeing a multi-billion dollar Games cost blowout fiasco.

“This brief directly exposes the waste and incompetent financial management of Andrews and Pallas.”

Shadow Special Minister of State David Davis described the funding arrangement as bizarre. Picture: Andrew Henshaw

Victorian taxpayers have been left with a $380m bill for the Andrews government’s decision to cancel the Commonwealth Games.

But the true cost of cancelling the games is expected to be at least $200m higher once all other associated costs are included.

A Victorian parliamentary committee has been established to probe the cancellation of the event.

The scrapping of the event was last week blasted by a federal Senate committee which warned the “monumental stuff-up” had damaged Australia’s international reputation.

The interim report from the Senate inquiry stated that the Victorian government had not only refused to participate but also worked to muzzle other witnesses.

A state government spokesman said: “We are delivering a comprehensive $2bn package to ensure regional Victoria still receives the housing, tourism and sporting infrastructure benefits that would have been facilitated by the Games”.