Annastacia Palaszczuk takes veiled swipe at Daniel Andrews over Commonwealth Games

Annastacia Palaszczuk takes a veiled swipe at her state Labor counterpart, saying she delivered the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games ‘under budget and ahead of schedule’.

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews and Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk says her government delivered the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games “under budget and ahead of schedule” and she feels “incredibly sad” for the athletes after Daniel Andrews cancelled the 2026 Games.

Ms Palaszczuk insisted her government was moving “full steam ahead” with plans for the 2032 Olympic Games, despite a planned rebuild of the Gabba stadium blowing out in cost from $1bn to $2.7bn.

She refused to be drawn into a direct criticism of Mr Andrews’ shock cancellation of the Games, but took a veiled swipe at her Victorian counterpart and later kyboshed a suggestion from Gold Coast mayor Tom Tate that his city host again.

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews on Tuesday cancelled Victoria’s Commonwealth Games. Picture: Ian Currie / NCA NewsWire

“You raised the Andrews government, and let me say this. When we last delivered the Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast in 2018 the government delivered that under budget and ahead of schedule,” Ms Palaszczuk told reporters.

“Those matters of the Commonwealth Games are a matter for the Andrews government.

“But it is full steam ahead here for our Brisbane Olympics and Paralympics Games.”

She said she felt “incredibly sad for the athletes” following the Games cancellation.

“This is what the athletes aspire to, to compete in a Commonwealth Games, to compete in the Olympic Games, there’s going to be a lot of disappointed athletes out there, but those are matters you should put to the Andrews government.”

She rejected calls from the state LNP Opposition to reverse her decision to scrap an independent oversight body for Olympic infrastructure.

Ms Palaszczuk claimed her in-house model would actually be “more transparent” because it would be answerable to the parliament.

Announcing a Games procurement strategy, Ms Palaszczuk said there would be $180bn in government-funded opportunities for Queensland businesses in the next nine years.

The Premier said there was already “incredible interest” globally ahead of the 2032 Games, including airlines looking to put on more flights into Queensland.

“Being an Olympic city and an Olympic state will be the biggest single catalyst for change this century,” she said.

But Ms Palaszczuk immediately shut down a suggestion from Gold Coast mayor Tom Tate that his city step in and host the 2026 Commonwealth Games if the federal government provided funding.

“We are already Games-ready,” Mr Tate said.

“The opportunity has come knocking…do we want to help is the question. And can we help? The answer is yes.”

“And we can, if the Federal government is willing to reprovision (the funds they were going to spend in Victoria.”

But Ms Palaszczuk said Queensland was focused on the “once-in-a-lifetime” opportunity of hosting the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

While the Gold Coast hosted in 2018, key venues such as the athletes village have since been repurposed as housing and are fully occupied.