Commonwealth Games report exposes $590m bombshell

A damning Auditor-General report has exposed Victoria’s Commonwealth Games debacle as one of the greatest blunders in Australian sport.

A damning Auditor-General report has exposed Victoria’s Commonwealth Games debacle as one of the greatest blunders in the history of Australian sport.

A report released on Wednesday showed Victoria’s Auditor-General Andrew Greaves found the communication between government agencies was a complete mess, before the Dan Andrews government pulled the pin on hosting the 2026 Commonwealth Games in a regional Victorian hub.

The former Victorian Premier shocked the world by ripping up the contract for the international sporting event in July, 2023, after internal figures estimated cost of staging the event had risen to $7bn.

The original estimates were that the state could host the Games at a cost of $2.6 billion.

The Victorian Auditor-General’s Office (VAGO) report casts doubt on the revised cost estimates provided the Andrews government, and said the costs had only blown out to $4.9 billion.

Those findings are in-line with scathing claims made by Commonwealth Games Australia chief executive officer Craig Phillips who said last year the government had “exaggerated” costs.

Greaves said in the report the overall cost to the taxpayer will be $589 million — more than half a billion of wasted public money.

He said the initial $2.6b estimate was “unrealistically low” and believes the $6.9 revised figure was ”overstated and not transparent”.

“This waste would have been avoided if agencies had worked together better to give frank and full advice to the government before it decided to host the Games,” he said.

“The government relied on DJSIR’s (the Department of Jobs, Skills, Industry and Regions’) business case when it decided to host the Games and determined the budget.

The Kookaburras won gold at the Birmingham Games. Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)

“The business case raised the risks associated with hosting the Games. But it underestimated the costs and overstated the benefits.”

“DJSIR, DPC (the Department of Premier and Cabinet) and DTF (the Department of Treasury and Finance) knew this but did not advise government to delay a decision on hosting until a fit-for-purpose business case could be provided.”

The bombshells kept coming on Wednesday with state opposition leader John Pesutto describing Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan — the minister responsible for delivering the Games when they were dumped — as a “liar”.

Pesutto said: “When we say that Premier Jacinta Allan and her government have lied to Victorian people, that’s why we say that,” he said.

“It’s in the report... the premier’s credibility is in tatters today.”

Allan responded to the report by saying the government “made the right decision” to scrap the event.

“We take responsibility for making the right decision to not proceed with at least a $6bn cost for a 12-day sporting event,” she said.

Dan Andrews and members of the Aussie 3x3 basketball team that won the silver medal in Birmingham.

No state in Australia had expressed any serious interest in hosting the games after Victoria withdrew its bid.

The Commonwealth Games Federation is still yet to find a host for the event despite the governing body offering Malaysia $194 million to host it.

The CGF has received $380 million compensation as a result of Victoria breaking its contract.

CGA boss Phillips said in a statement released on Wednesday: “The VAGO Report into Victoria 2026 confirms the gross exaggeration of costs detailed by the then Premier when he made the decision to cancel the 2026 Commonwealth Games.

“We have consistently indicated our awareness of potential cost overruns because of Government decision making, but our regularly provided advice to make changes to the event delivery model was ignored.

“A Games that celebrated regional Victoria, First Nations Australians and a green and gold team competing on home soil was not out of reach had there been greater collaboration to identify cost mitigation strategies.

“We remain hopeful that the Victorian Government will deliver the legacy infrastructure and housing it committed to on 18 July 2023.

“The decision to cancel is a missed opportunity for the people of this once proud major event state.

“The Commonwealth Games Federation will now contribute £100 million to a Games held elsewhere from the settlement funds with the Victorian Government.”