‘Blowout kept secret’ as report slams Jacinta Allan

Jacinta Allan knew 2026 Commonwealth Games faced a financial crisis but failed to tell parliament, report finds. READ THE KEY FINDINGS.

Jacinta Allan being grilled about the Commonwealth Games cancellation. Picture: David Caird

Jacinta Allan should have been “more forthcoming” about the fin­ancial crisis engulfing the 2026 Commonwealth Games when she testified before parliament just weeks before the event collapsed, an inquiry has ruled.

A report into the games fiasco – which cost Victorian taxpayers $589m not to stage – has also strongly criticised the Premier and her predecessor, Daniel ­Andrews, for refusing to co-operate with the upper house inquiry.

In a direct criticism of Ms Allan, the former Commonwealth Games delivery minister, the inquiry of the Select Committee on the 2026 Commonwealth Games Bid led by Libertarian Party MP David Limbrick found that in June 2023 she had been aware of the budget crisis but failed to disclose that to a parliamentary hearing.

The nine-person committee, of which three members are Labor MPs, “believes both ministers, but particularly the minister for the Commonwealth Games delivery, should have been more forthcoming in providing updates on the challenges faced in delivering the Games within budget.

“Indeed, the minister for Commonwealth Games delivery had been tasked with finding cost reductions and was due to report back to cabinet that month.

“Providing this important information to parliament on the progress of the Games could have been achieved without divulging specific cabinet deliberations.”

In her evidence to parliament on June 13, Ms Allan claimed “tremendous progress” was being made in delivering the event and she went on to say the games would be a “roaring success” and were already making “history”.

Speaking after the 138-page report was tabled on Tuesday, Mr Limbrick said there was a “systemic failure” in the government’s handling of the event. “The original decision to go ahead with the games was an error from the start,” he said. “Many of the errors, such as the reliance on a business case which grossly underestimated the costs of the games, contributed to this failure and the decision to cancel the games.”

The committee found Labor had set the “conditions by which it is held to ­account” by refusing to co-operate, slamming the ­Andrews-Allan governments over snubbing the inquiry.

“The committee has reached a point in its inquiry where its ability and attempts to obtain key documents has been exhausted within its powers and functions. It must now report these matters to the house,” its report states.

In his foreword, Mr Limbrick accused the government of locking away important documents detailing key decisions that the government had made in bidding for and then abandoning the event. “It must be said that the committee does not have the full picture of what went on, particularly when it comes to consider­ations and decisions of executive government,” he wrote.

“The government has not provided the committee with much of the information it has requested and summonsed. ”

The report stated that by June 2023, both Ms Allan and her deputy minister, Harriet Shing, “were aware that there were cost escalations and concerns”.

“Despite knowing of the projected budget increases to deliver the 2026 Commonwealth Games (they) did not volunteer this information at the public accounts and estimates committee hearings for the inquiry into the 2023–24 budget estimates,” the report states.

Mr Limbrick concluded that it was possible that if the “government had taken the time to produce a more considered business case, it may not have gone ahead with its decision to host the Games in the first place.”

The committee’s key findings included:

• The timeframe between the government and the Commonwealth Games Federation to negotiate the hosting the 2026 Games was too short

• The timeframe agreed upon by the government to conduct due diligence and negotiate with the federation on hosting the games was too short.

• The business case under­estimated the potential infrastructure costs for the games.

• The government approved the $2.6bn budget to host the games the day after it received the final version of the 2026 Commonwealth Games business case.

The committee’s final report will be tabled by April 2025.