‘Astounded’: Julie Bishop hits out at decision to scrap Commonwealth Games

London/Canada: Former foreign affairs minister Julie Bishop has hit out at Victoria’s abrupt decision to cancel the Commonwealth Games, accusing Daniel Andrews of sounding the death knell for the event and sending the wrong message to other nations.

As news of the decision reverberated around the world, Bishop was in Canada, another Commonwealth country, chairing a global economic forum of business and political leaders.

Former foreign affairs minister Julie Bishop.

Asked if the move was an embarrassment for Australia, the former deputy Liberal leader told this masthead: “I am astounded that the premier has cancelled the Commonwealth Games in this fashion.”

“He is sending a message to the Commonwealth countries that Australia cannot afford to host a Games, yet we would expect a developing Commonwealth nation to host it.

“Is this premier, from one of the wealthiest countries on the planet, signalling the death knell of this sporting contest?” asked Bishop, chair of the Prince’s Trust Australia, a charity with links to King Charles.

Meanwhile, in London, the organisers of the Commonwealth Games said the Victorian government had repeatedly assured them it could meet the costs of hosting the event spread across several regional centres and gave no prior warnings before withdrawing from its contract.

Katie Sadleir, chief executive of the Commonwealth Games Federation, says Victoria’s cancellation is devastating.Credit: Getty

Legal avenues

Katie Sadleir, the chief executive of the Commonwealth Games Federation, said the state’s withdrawal as host of the 2026 Games was devastating for the event. The federation was now considering legal avenues after Andrews withdrew from a contract signed in February last year.

Andrews blindsided the sporting world on Tuesday when he said the state was no longer prepared to hold the 12-day event in Geelong, Bendigo, Ballarat, Gippsland and Shepparton because of cost overruns, throwing its staging into doubt.

Sadleir questioned whether the costs had risen as much as the $4 to $5 billion increase claimed by Victorian government officials yesterday, as the federation was told at a meeting in April that a projected rise in expenditure was roughly half that amount.

Andrews said on Tuesday the 2026 Games would have an estimated cost of more than $6 billion.

Sadleir said that during the past year, the body had repeatedly questioned whether the Victorian organising committee had thought through the dispersed model for staging the Games, including when they increased the number of regional hubs from the original proposal.

“When Victoria came to us, and it’s important to stress that they came to us, they said they saw an opportunity to employ a dispersed model, using multiple cities across the state, to drive economic growth in their region,” Sadleir said.

The Commonwealth Games Australia head labelled the decision to cancel the Games “absolutely embarrassing”.Credit: AP

“They assured us that they had the money they needed. So to hear yesterday that it’s not the case, that the government has decided it was too expensive, was a surprise.”

Sadleir said Commonwealth Games Australia chief executive Craig Phillips was correct in his statement earlier on Tuesday that Victoria had wilfully ignored recommendations that could have reduced costs, such as using existing facilities in Melbourne.

“We had previously gone back to them several times to say, ‘are you sure?’ and were assured,” she said.

The Games, staged every four years, involve nations from the Commonwealth – made up largely of states with historic connections to the UK – competing in a variety of sports, similar to the Olympic Games. Victoria’s decision to dump the event resulted in headlines across Asia, Europe and North America on Tuesday.

She said the federation was blindsided by the decision, having been contacted by representatives of the Victorian Department of Premier and Cabinet on Monday (UK time), who informed her they were in town and hopeful of securing an afternoon meeting. She said she was led to believe it was a friendly “meet and greet” at the federation’s offices in Westminster.

“Suddenly, we were presented with a fait accompli,” Sadleir said. “They had decided the Games were no longer viable, and they were planning to make an announcement at 9am their time. So, they gave us eight hours’ notice.”

“We had a number of questions, particularly around the figures upon which the government had made their decision.”

Sadleir said the federation had entered into a contract with Victoria to deliver the Games and would be seeking suitable compensation because the Andrews government was “defaulting on that contract”.

“There are a series of clauses that articulate the kind of cash flows that would have happened if the Games had gone on,” she said. “We are sitting down to look at options to come to a resolution that we will be happy with.”

The Commonwealth Games, which is due to celebrate its centenary in 2030, has struggled to spark global appeal in recent years, with only one country other than Britain and Australia hosting the event since 1998.

In 2017, Durban was stripped of the 2022 Games after the South African city failed to meet project deadlines. The event was later awarded to Birmingham, which an independent report published in January this year had contributed £870.7 million to the UK economy, with over half the economic impact generated benefiting businesses and communities across the West Midlands.

When Victoria first announced it would be hosting the Games, the estimated cost was about £1.4 billion ($2.6 billion), which was consistent with the total bills of hosting the event in Birmingham in 2022 and the Gold Coast in 2018, which were both just shy of £1 billion ($1.9 billion).

A Downing Street spokesman said on Tuesday it was hoped a viable solution could be found to hold the event in Australia.

Sadleir said her organisation was open to discussions with all members with a view of replacing Victoria as host, including a potential return of the Games to the UK.

She said discussions about an alternative host would begin when national federation heads and federation board members travel to next month’s Commonwealth Youth Games in Trinidad and Tobago.

Asked if Australia remained the federation’s first preference, Sadleir said: “We’re open to all opportunities, but Commonwealth Games Australia are a partner with us in terms of the hosting contract that we’ve all been working to for quite some time.”

Scottish First Minister Humza Yousaf said Scotland may explore the possibility of hosting the 2026 Commonwealth Games as part of a “multi-city, multi-country host”.

“We were desperate for the Games to go ahead in 2026, given that we know how excellent the preparations have been going for Team Scotland. It’s also an opportunity for us to compete under the Scottish banner,” he said.

“I’ve asked my team to explore whether that’s a possibility or not, but it may be difficult. Let’s see what the art of the possible is.”

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