Daniel Andrews says moving the 2026 Commonwealth Games to Melbourne was “probably the cheapest” alternative option but the cost still would have exceeded $4bn, as he defended the shock decision to cancel the event instead.
The Victorian opposition said it has now written to the state’s auditor general to examine how much the decision to end the contract to host the event will cost taxpayers. It also wants the watchdog to scrutinise how costs soared beyond the original estimate of $2.6bn last year, to between $6bn and $7bn that the Victorian government used to justify cancelling the event, which was to be held across five regional sites.
On Wednesday, the premier said the government considered all options, including moving the event to metropolitan Melbourne.
“We have looked at every possible option,” Andrews said.
“I can make the point that running them in Melbourne, we’re not running them in Melbourne. That was never the original product and we never signed on to run them in Melbourne.”
Andrews would not comment on who ruled out working with Commonwealth Games organisers to host the event in Melbourne.
He said a “team of people from lots of different departments” canvassed all potential alternatives for the Games, but none came close to the original $2.6bn budget. That original estimate was understood to have come from analysis from one of the “big four” consultancy firms, EY.
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Commonwealth Games Australia on Tuesday said the government ignored recommendations that it had made to reduce costs, including by moving events to purpose-built stadiums in Melbourne.
The body also slammed the government, saying forecast cost rises were a “gross exaggeration” and not reflective of figures provided to its organising committee board last month. In June, the Victorian government provided an updated operational budget – believed to be about $4bn – to the Commonwealth Games body, according to a source close to the organising committee.
On Wednesday Andrews said he would not apologise for his government’s cancellation of the Games due to the cost blowouts, but acknowledged it was disappointing.
“I think they [Games organisers] are asking for me to apologise for cancelling the games. I’m not doing this because we’re not running them. Because to run them is billions of dollars over and above the original budget,” he said.
State government officials are in negotiations with Commonwealth Games organisers in London over the cost of cancelling the event. The premier said the government would aim to get the best deal for Victorian taxpayers, and that divulging any details about the costs the state had already incurred could jeopardise negotiations.
He said the government would release the compensation costs when they were known.
A government spokesperson told said it would release the original business case for the event when negotiations with Commonwealth Games authorities were complete.
The opposition leader, John Pesutto, said it was inevitable that the government would have to pay compensation.
