Victoria, Australia will no longer be hosting the 2026 Commonwealth Games. Premier Daniel Andrews announced on Tuesday that due to expanding costs, the state won’t be going through with its hosting duties. Andrew said that current cost estimates were roughly $7 billion AUD ($4.8 billion USD), compared to the original $2.6 billion AUD ($1.8 billion USD), and that it could rise more as the Games draw nearer.
“It is in fact at least $6bn and could be as high as $7bn – and I cannot stand here and say to you that I have any confidence that even [the] $7bn number would appropriately and adequately fund these Games” said Andrews.
It was also a significant increase from the original bid, according to Commonwealth Sport, the international organization that manages the event, which says that the numbers quoted alongside the decision are 50% more than those given in early June, just over a month ago.
Commonwealth Sport blamed the increasing costs largely on choices made by the local government and organizers, including adding more sports and adding another regional hub as part of organizers’ regional hosting plan. That regional hosting plan, Commonwealth Sport says, is part of why the Games were more expensive than prior editions, and that the changes further escalated those costs.
This is hugely disappointing for the Commonwealth Sport Movement, for athletes around the Commonwealth and the Organising Committee who are well advanced in their planning and preparation.
The reasons given are financial. The numbers quoted to us today of $6 billion are 50% more than those advised to the Organising Committee board at its meeting in June.
These figures are attributed to price escalation primarily due to the unique regional delivery model that Victoria chose for these Games, and in particular relate to village and venue builds 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 Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) and Commonwealth Games Australia (CGA).
We are disappointed that we were only given eight hours’ notice and that no consideration was given to discussing the situation to jointly find solutions prior to this decision being reached by the Government.
Up until this point, the Government had advised that sufficient funding was available to deliver the Victoria 2026 Commonwealth Games.
We are taking advice on the options available to us and remain committed to finding a solution for the Games in 2026 that is in the best interest of our athletes and the wider Commonwealth Sport Movement.
Craig Phillips, the CEO of Commonwealth Games Australia, criticized the claimed cost overrun as a “gross exaggeration”.
“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,” Phillips said.
Andrew says that the government will still build the sporting facilities that it had promised to regional communities.
Before Gold Coast 2018, Australia hosted the Commonwealth Games in 1938 (Sydney), 1962 (Perth), 1982 (Brisbane), and 2006 (Melbourne).
When it was announced that Victoria would host the 2026 Commonwealth Games, the plan was to divide the action across the state’s five regions: Melbourne, Geelong, Bendigo, Ballarat, and Gippsland. Andrews announced that instead of allocating money towards the Games, Victoria will build a permanent sporting facility and will invest in more affordable housing in the state.
“That is a much better way to go forward and we are simply not going to invest that sort of money and have to take it from key service delivery, from other parts of government, in order to deliver a 12-day sporting event”
According to the Guardian, the Victorian government received criticism from both the official opposition and the Greens party, with the leader of the former saying that this cancellation is “hugely damaging to Victoria’s reputation as a global events leader.”
Australia’s reputation as a global events leader, and specifically as a sporting events leader, will be important for the foreseeable future as the nation will host the 2032 Olympic Games in Brisbane. Brisbane was announced as the host of the Olympic Games in July 2021, more than 11 years before the Games’ start date. As of February 2023, the Australian federal government and the Queensland state government were preparing to spend $4.9 billion USD ($7.2 billion AUD).
Another sporting event set to occur in Australia is the 2024 Junior Pan Pacific Games, which is scheduled for August 2024 in Canberra. As the country is set to host multiple multi-sport events in the coming years, Victoria’s decision to pull out of the Commonwealth Games for financial reasons will likely make international sport leaders anxious. It’s not yet clear if the Commonwealth Games will still occur in 2026 and if they will, where they will be.
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Taa
9 months ago
I don’t get where they get these cost figures from. Even a $100M seems high to me. Opening ceremony just set off a few fireworks in the park you don’t need a closing ceremony everyone has gone home already. Cities host concerts and conventions all the time and they don’t “cost” the city a dime on the contrary they bring in lots of tourist dollars
Paul Thomas
9 months ago
No one in the comments suggesting Canada host, which is interesting to me as someone not particularly knowledgeable about CG trivia. Have they sworn off the event in some way?
Ha… I was going to suggest that Canada COULD host if they so choose. The last time they went through to the bidding stage was 2010 and Hamilton lost to Delhi.
Last time they hosted was 94.
Australia hosted in 2006 and 2018, and was supposed to host 2026. Stupid move by Victoria (Australia) to even put their hand up – they apparently were asked to do so by the Comm Games Federation.
Yeah, plus they already have a city named Victoria that they could move it to and salvage some of the brand equity.
But in seriousness, I think it’s time for sporting events like this to move beyond the “use major sporting events as an excuse to spend money on infrastructure” and into “use major sporting events as an excuse to generate more income out of existing infrastructure.” The politics have gotten too thick in m ost of the world to keep going with the old model.
This is why I’d be fine rotating the Olympics among something like five permanent sites. LA, maybe London or Paris, Sydney, Tokyo or Beijing, pick a last one. Or keep it at four. Do the same with winter.
CAN major cities (ie. metro > 1mill) = exceedingly unlikely. One of the smaller cities in Ontario’ = maybe
NZ hasn’t bothered to bid for over 30 yesrs and RSA cannot afford to. Delhi in 2010 was far from a success
KL and/or Singapore are possible but they may be more intdrested in the 5 Ring Circus.
Sadly CommGames have become too big to be feasible.
They face the harsh reality of having to scale down massively …. or go the way of the dinosaurs.
commonwomnat
9 months ago
Certainly some odure to be worn by Vic Govt for putting up such an unworkable model and debatable costings but plenty of fake indignation by CGF for failing to perform even rudimentary due diligence.
Is this the end for CommGames ? Maybe they can lean upon one more UK metro but with AUS now baulking at the cost they will either have to scale down massively or it’s allover
CAN has shied away since 1994; NZ not expressed serios interest simce hosting in 1990. RSA cannot afford it and Delhi in 2010 was far from a success. Other than maybe KL and/or Singapore; its GBR or nowhere.
Last edited 9 months ago by commonwomnat
Sub13
9 months ago
Dan Andrews is such a muppet. He’s so lucky that Victoria LNP are even more incompetent than him or he would have been out of a job years ago.
Unilaterally making an announcement like this with obviously falsified numbers is beyond embarrassing.
Well if trials showed us anything it’s that Victoria probably shouldn’t be trusted to host any sporting events.
The unoriginal Tim
9 months ago
Serious questions for the Austrailians on here. Does Daddy Britain need to host again?
Andrews took the right decision to invest that money in things that benefit the Victorian population rather than hosting a 2 week Mickey Mouse competition that costs 6-7 billions of dollars.
Mister “excuses” Le Clos is punching the air right now. He can’t skip Worlds to “focus” on Comm Games anymore lol 😂😂😂
Agreed, apart from the reference to the cost. There is no way it should have cost that amount. Whether the CGs are worth the cost at say $1.5 bn is a matter for debate.
Possibly, but this regional approach – building sports venues and accommodation in far flung towns and getting athletes there for a short term event would have been very costly.
The criticism that the regional approach was a bad idea is spot on. At least from an economic view. Politically it would have won him support.
The Comm Games are struggling anyway. This will be interesting to watch.
Yes, a lot of exaggeration once they realised that even the real cost would be too much of a burden on the budget. The regional idea sounded good until you realise that the end result would be white-elephant facilities and the number of spectators would be far less than if everything was in Melbourne. Further, they had estimated 300,000 visitors to Victoria for this – but there is no way the CGs attract much in the way of visitors, particularly from overseas. If it went ahead, nearly all the spectators would be Australian and most would be Victorians. Attending the Olympics is on most sports fans bucket lists but attending the CGs not so much – probably only if they… Read more »
Dan andrews didnt announce any spending not already announced, social housing is not the same as public housing. He’s fudged the figures, dropped the ball and it’s sad how many fall for the spin.
Oceanian
9 months ago
Perhaps the most mind-boggling and embarrassing thing to happen in 150 years of Australian sport.
As I posted in an athletics forum:
I just feel it’s total embarrassment. Plenty of people wondered about staging it across regional towns but when justified as a way to fund needed infrastructure in rural areas, we fell for it.
Australia has enough sporting facilities to host a Comm Games any year. If the Vic govt were realising (only a few weeks after they stated in parliament that costs were only about $2 billion) perhaps they could have discussed it with other state governments before making this humiliating announcement.
Qld to host swjmming and triathlon, Sydney takes athletics, gymnastics, Tassie gets lawn bowls lol, Adelaide… Read more »
Hooked on Chlorine
9 months ago
I wouldn’t be the least surprised if Marxist extraordinaire Dan Andrews did this deliberately to permanently sink the Commonwealth Games. Now if it had been the Chinese Games, he would have backed it to the hilt.
I thought Dan did a great job as Victoria’s covid premier despite lots of backlash on social media and in the Murdoch press. But today’s announcement has left a very bad taste in my mouth.
So? People voted for Joe Biden too. No shortage of fools in the world. Had the Liberals put a halfway decent candidate against him, Comrade Dan would have never been re-elected.
Or maybe a lot of Victorians decided, at 3 straight elections, that they preferred a competent leader to right wing buffoons. There are a lot of things to dislike about Dan (he’s a control freak for one) and he has made mistakes, including bidding for the CGs in the first place with this costly regional model, but there are also many reasons Victorians keep voting for him, and it’s not because they are fools. In the end, he has probably made the right decision here, although it shouldn’t have taken him so long.
LNP are absolutely right wing buffoons. But that doesn’t make Dan Andrews competent. He’s anything but.
I would trust the greens to run a state much better than he could. He just doesn’t cop any criticism because VIC LNP are so unbelievably bad that he looks good in comparison.
I don’t get where they get these cost figures from. Even a $100M seems high to me. Opening ceremony just set off a few fireworks in the park you don’t need a closing ceremony everyone has gone home already. Cities host concerts and conventions all the time and they don’t “cost” the city a dime on the contrary they bring in lots of tourist dollars
No one in the comments suggesting Canada host, which is interesting to me as someone not particularly knowledgeable about CG trivia. Have they sworn off the event in some way?
Ha… I was going to suggest that Canada COULD host if they so choose. The last time they went through to the bidding stage was 2010 and Hamilton lost to Delhi.
Last time they hosted was 94.
Australia hosted in 2006 and 2018, and was supposed to host 2026. Stupid move by Victoria (Australia) to even put their hand up – they apparently were asked to do so by the Comm Games Federation.
They are expected to host in 2030 (in Alberta) but the host city hasn’t yet been announced.
2030 is supposed to be a regional bid.
Yeah, plus they already have a city named Victoria that they could move it to and salvage some of the brand equity.
But in seriousness, I think it’s time for sporting events like this to move beyond the “use major sporting events as an excuse to spend money on infrastructure” and into “use major sporting events as an excuse to generate more income out of existing infrastructure.” The politics have gotten too thick in m ost of the world to keep going with the old model.
Victoria, Canada hosted in 1994.
This is why I’d be fine rotating the Olympics among something like five permanent sites. LA, maybe London or Paris, Sydney, Tokyo or Beijing, pick a last one. Or keep it at four. Do the same with winter.
CAN major cities (ie. metro > 1mill) = exceedingly unlikely. One of the smaller cities in Ontario’ = maybe
NZ hasn’t bothered to bid for over 30 yesrs and RSA cannot afford to. Delhi in 2010 was far from a success
KL and/or Singapore are possible but they may be more intdrested in the 5 Ring Circus.
Sadly CommGames have become too big to be feasible.
They face the harsh reality of having to scale down massively …. or go the way of the dinosaurs.
Certainly some odure to be worn by Vic Govt for putting up such an unworkable model and debatable costings but plenty of fake indignation by CGF for failing to perform even rudimentary due diligence.
Is this the end for CommGames ? Maybe they can lean upon one more UK metro but with AUS now baulking at the cost they will either have to scale down massively or it’s allover
CAN has shied away since 1994; NZ not expressed serios interest simce hosting in 1990. RSA cannot afford it and Delhi in 2010 was far from a success. Other than maybe KL and/or Singapore; its GBR or nowhere.
Dan Andrews is such a muppet. He’s so lucky that Victoria LNP are even more incompetent than him or he would have been out of a job years ago.
Unilaterally making an announcement like this with obviously falsified numbers is beyond embarrassing.
Well if trials showed us anything it’s that Victoria probably shouldn’t be trusted to host any sporting events.
Serious questions for the Austrailians on here. Does Daddy Britain need to host again?
Australia has hosted 2 of the last 5 CGs. Whether they are worth it is a good question, but both CGs ran well and were well attended.
I love it how you say that like we’re prisoners and Australia aren’t rated higher on the freedom index than USA
Famously not prisoners, just criminals who chose deportation instead.
at least we don’t have to kiss Charles’s feet
Some of us Brits are not royalists. I refused to stand to the National Anthem at any of my kids’ university graduations.
based you guys need to become a republic
Most definitely!
Andrews took the right decision to invest that money in things that benefit the Victorian population rather than hosting a 2 week Mickey Mouse competition that costs 6-7 billions of dollars.
Mister “excuses” Le Clos is punching the air right now. He can’t skip Worlds to “focus” on Comm Games anymore lol 😂😂😂
Agreed, apart from the reference to the cost. There is no way it should have cost that amount. Whether the CGs are worth the cost at say $1.5 bn is a matter for debate.
I feel like they exaggerated the cost blowout in order to help justify pulling out.
Possibly, but this regional approach – building sports venues and accommodation in far flung towns and getting athletes there for a short term event would have been very costly.
The criticism that the regional approach was a bad idea is spot on. At least from an economic view. Politically it would have won him support.
The Comm Games are struggling anyway. This will be interesting to watch.
Yeah, the regional model was an absolute fantasy. It’s baffling that they thought it was a good idea to ignore all those existing venues in Melbourne.
Yes, a lot of exaggeration once they realised that even the real cost would be too much of a burden on the budget. The regional idea sounded good until you realise that the end result would be white-elephant facilities and the number of spectators would be far less than if everything was in Melbourne. Further, they had estimated 300,000 visitors to Victoria for this – but there is no way the CGs attract much in the way of visitors, particularly from overseas. If it went ahead, nearly all the spectators would be Australian and most would be Victorians. Attending the Olympics is on most sports fans bucket lists but attending the CGs not so much – probably only if they… Read more »
Maybe they should have made that decision before he bid.
This is beyond a joke.
Dan andrews didnt announce any spending not already announced, social housing is not the same as public housing. He’s fudged the figures, dropped the ball and it’s sad how many fall for the spin.
Perhaps the most mind-boggling and embarrassing thing to happen in 150 years of Australian sport.
As I posted in an athletics forum:
I just feel it’s total embarrassment. Plenty of people wondered about staging it across regional towns but when justified as a way to fund needed infrastructure in rural areas, we fell for it.
Australia has enough sporting facilities to host a Comm Games any year. If the Vic govt were realising (only a few weeks after they stated in parliament that costs were only about $2 billion) perhaps they could have discussed it with other state governments before making this humiliating announcement.
Qld to host swjmming and triathlon, Sydney takes athletics, gymnastics, Tassie gets lawn bowls lol, Adelaide… Read more »
I wouldn’t be the least surprised if Marxist extraordinaire Dan Andrews did this deliberately to permanently sink the Commonwealth Games. Now if it had been the Chinese Games, he would have backed it to the hilt.
Spare us the ‘Marxist’ rubbish. He has been elected 3 times as Premier, last year with an even bigger majority. People are happy with his leadership.
I thought Dan did a great job as Victoria’s covid premier despite lots of backlash on social media and in the Murdoch press. But today’s announcement has left a very bad taste in my mouth.
So? People voted for Joe Biden too. No shortage of fools in the world. Had the Liberals put a halfway decent candidate against him, Comrade Dan would have never been re-elected.
https://www.3aw.com.au/tom-elliott-questions-whether-victorian-government-ever-actually-intended-to-host-commonwealth-games/
Or maybe a lot of Victorians decided, at 3 straight elections, that they preferred a competent leader to right wing buffoons. There are a lot of things to dislike about Dan (he’s a control freak for one) and he has made mistakes, including bidding for the CGs in the first place with this costly regional model, but there are also many reasons Victorians keep voting for him, and it’s not because they are fools. In the end, he has probably made the right decision here, although it shouldn’t have taken him so long.
LNP are absolutely right wing buffoons. But that doesn’t make Dan Andrews competent. He’s anything but.
I would trust the greens to run a state much better than he could. He just doesn’t cop any criticism because VIC LNP are so unbelievably bad that he looks good in comparison.