Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews cancels 2026 Commonwealth Games, but the federation was only given 8 hours notice

Daniel Andrews’ backflip on hosting the event has been slammed as “absolutely embarrassing”, with the Commonwealth Games Federation revealing it was only given eight hours notice.

The Commonwealth Games Federation was only given eight hours notice about the Victorian government’s sudden backflip on hosting the sporting event in 2026.

Daniel Andrews announced the decision on Tuesday morning, sending shockwaves across the country when he revealed Victoria would no longer host the games as a result of funding issues.

In a statement, the CGF said they were “disappointed” they were only given eight hours notice and there was no consideration given to discussing solutions before the decision was reached.

“This is hugely disappointing for the Commonwealth Sport Movement, for athletes ... and the Organising Committee who are well advanced in their planning and preparation,” the statement said.

“The reasons given are financial. The numbers quoted to us today of $6bn are 50 per cent more than those advised to the Organising Committee board at its meeting in June.”

The Federation said the figures being attributed to price escalation due to the “unique regional delivery model” the state government had chosen for the games.

In particular, the Victorian government proposed to build venues, a village and transport infrastructure.

“Since awarding Victoria the games, the government has made decisions to include more sports and an additional regional hub, and changed plans for venues, all of which have added considerable expense, often against the advice of the CGF and Commonwealth Games Australia,” the CGF said.

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews confirmed Victoria would no longer host the Commonwealth Games in 2026. Picture: NCA NewsWire/ Valeriu Campan

The chief executive of the Commonwealth Games Australia has also blasted Mr Andrews’ backflip, saying it will affect Australia’s standing on the international sporting stage.

Craig Phillips, who found out about the government’s decision on Tuesday morning, said the decision was “absolutely embarrassing”, and questioned whether Victoria was the “sporting capital of the world”.

“I’m not sure this is a great look,” he said.

“After today’s announcement, I’d be very careful if I was an international sporting body coming in and doing business in this state in the future.”

The CGA said it believed the costs overrun outlined by the Premier are “a gross exaggeration”.

“(They are) not reflective of the operational costs presented to the Victoria 2026 Organising Committee board as recently as June,” Mr Phillips said.

“Beyond this, the Victorian government wilfully ignored recommendations to move events to purpose-built stadia in Melbourne and in fact remained wedded to proceeding with expensive temporary venues in regional Victoria.”

Mr Philips also called on the government to release the financial analysis of the games.

“CGA would welcome the opportunity to review the financial analysis prepared independently of those who have been involved at the coal face of planning and delivery.”

The Victorian premier said the government had considered “every conceivable option”, but new costings revealed the event, which was originally budgeted at $2.6bn, would likely blow out to $7bn.

“I’m not here to apologise for not spending $7bn to deliver a 12-day sports event,” he said.

Statement from Craig Phillips AM regarding the Victoria 2026 Commonwealth Games.

More: https://t.co/lCXk0M57kGpic.twitter.com/wFCB3SYaiB

— Commonwealth Games Australia (@CommGamesAUS) July 18, 2023

“It’s about, do you deliver it at any cost or not? And the answer is we’re not.”

Reporters grilled him on what the cost of abandoning the games would be, with the Premier firing up at reporters.

While he said he would not “speculate” on discussions, he confirmed “very little costs had been incurred to this point”. He also said costs would be “fully accounted for” at a later date.

Regional Victoria was awarded the rights to host the 2026 event last year after no other countries in the Commonwealth Games Federation volunteered.

The Games were set to be held from March 17 to 29 in Geelong, Bendigo, Ballarat, Gippsland and Shepparton.

“I will not take money out of hospitals and schools in order to fund an event that is three times the cost as estimated and budgeted for last year.”

Mr Andrews said he had informed the Commonwealth Games authorities the state would seek to terminate the contract and said the subsequent meetings had been “amicable and productive”.

In lieu of the Games, Mr Andrews announced the government would deliver the legacy benefits of the “housing, sporting infrastructure and tourism” benefits through other policies, using funds from the allocated $2.6bn budget.

A bulk of the legacy benefits will focus on delivering more housing to regional communities, through a $1bn Regional Housing Fund, which will deliver more than 1300 new homes to the areas of Geelong, Bendigo, Ballarat and Gippsland.

“This is not a difficult decision in many respects because it’s just quite obvious,” he said.

Deputy Premier Jacinta Allan said the cost of the event outweighed the benefits. Picture: NCA NewsWire/ David Crosling

Deputy Premier Jacinta Allan said the ballooning costs far outweighed the benefits of hosting the events.

“Each one of those sporting infrastructure facilities will be going ahead and we will be wanting to push on and complete those projects with those local communities following consultation with them,” she said.

She listed a number of programs and infrastructure projects that will be supported with the $2.6bn investment, including stadium and sporting centre upgrades.

Commonwealth Games Legacy Minister Harriet Shing said the projects would deliver more jobs for people who lived in the listed regional hubs, with particular care to the tourism economy.

“We also want to make sure that community and sporting facilities are given the attention and the focus that they deserve,” she said.

“We want to make sure also that communities are at the heart of this additional work that will continue.”

Victorian Opposition Leader John Pesutto said the decision to scrap the games was a “massive humiliation” for the state.

“This decision is a betrayal of regional Victoria and confirms that Victoria is broke and Labor simply cannot manage major projects without huge cost blowouts,” he tweeted shortly after the announcement.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who found out about the announcement on Tuesday morning, said the decision to scrap the games laid with the Victorian government.

However, he said Australia “has a fine record of hosting events”, highlighting the upcoming FIFA Women’s World Cup and Queensland hosting the Olympic Games in 2032.