Victoria to pay $380m after canceling its 2026 Commonwealth Games hosting
- Huge bill for Victoria taxpayers revealed
- Premier Daniel Andrews canceled the games last month
- This cost of up to $7 billion could not be justified
The Victorian government has agreed to pay Commonwealth Games bodies $380 million in compensation after the 2026 event was canceled.
Prime Minister Daniel Andrews made the shocking announcement last month that Victoria would not host the Games as planned due to fears they would far exceed initial cost estimates.
Following this announcement, mediation was initiated between the State of Victoria, Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF), Commonwealth Games Federation Partnerships (CGFP), Commonwealth Games Australia (CGA).
State government lawyers traveled to London last month to negotiate the cost of terminating the contract.
Following confidential “good faith” discussions, Victoria agreed to pay the three parties a total of $380 million.
“All parties have respectfully engaged and made appropriate concessions in order to reach an agreement,” the groups said in a joint statement.
Prime Minister Daniel Andrews made the shocking announcement last month that Victoria would not host the Games as planned due to fears they would far exceed initial cost estimates.
Former New Zealand Justice Hon Kit Toogood KC and former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Western Australia Hon Wayne Martin AC KC have been appointed as mediators in the process.
In canceling the Regional Games in Victoria on July 18, Premier Andrews cited an expected increase in costs from $2.6 billion to between $6 billion and $7 billion.
During mediation, the parties to the Commonwealth Games also agreed that the multi-hub regional model was more expensive to host than traditional models.
State and federal investigations have been set up to investigate the cancellation of the 2026 Games.
