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Victorian premier Daniel Andrews said his government looked at moving the 2026 Commonwealth Games from the regions to Melbourne, but it still would have cost well above $4 billion.
The Games were meant to be held in four regional hubs, but they were cancelled on Tuesday due to what the government claimed were cost overruns.
Andrews announced in April 2022 the Games would cost $2.6 billion to deliver, but just 15 months later he said they would now cost between $6 billion and $7 billion.
Commonwealth Games Australia officials said the state government wilfully ignored the possibility of moving the Games to Melbourne, but Andrews says this was considered.
But he said it would have cost “well over $4 billion” to stage the Games in Melbourne.
“There will be a full accounting and a full reporting of all of those matters,” he told reporters on Wednesday.
Premier Daniel Andrews has waved goodbye to the Commonwealth Games.Credit: Joe Armao
Andrews repeatedly refused to apologise to athletes for cancelling the Games, and also refused to discuss the negotiations over compensation that will be due to the Commonwealth Games organising bodies.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Wednesday said he had been shocked when he received “a very short heads up” about Tuesday’s announcement.
“It was not something that we were anticipating, given that it’s been in the wind for some time,” he told radio station 2GB.
“I think the regret is for the athletes who will be hurt by this. The idea of competing at your own Games is always a positive thing.”
Athletics Australia chief executive Peter Bromley said the government needed to explain how its $6 billion figure was reached.
“I think we need some cool heads to sit down and ask how and why that is,” he told ABC radio. “And, obviously, we need to find a willing partner that wants to participate and keep the 2026 Games alive.”
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