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Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has defended his government's contentious decision to pull out of hosting the 2026 Commonwealth Games, saying the state's reputation would've taken a bigger hit if the Games had gone ahead.
Mr Andrews yesterday cited ballooning costs, saying revised figures showed the Games that were originally budgeted at $2.6 billion had blown out to at least $6 billion.
Today, he rejected suggestions the state's reputation as a sporting capital had taken a hit after pulling out of the hosting deal.
"I don't think you'd want to be known as the place that tried to do a $2.6 billion Games and then ran them and they cost seven," he said.
"I don't think that'd be a particularly good thing to be known for."
Mr Andrews was in Maryborough, in regional Victoria, to spruik the $2 billion spending package designed to placate regional centres who'll now miss out on hosting the Games.
The package includes a $1 billion regional housing fund to build 1,300 new homes, a $150 million tourism and events fund and $60 million for regional tourism infrastructure.
Mr Andrews said discussions with the Commonwealth Games Federation [CGF] in London over costs related to the cancellation of the Games had been "perfectly amicable" despite terse statements from the CGF overnight.
CGF chief executive, Katie Sadleir, laid the blame for cost blow outs squarely at the Victorian government's decision to take the Games to regional centres.
"If you look at the history of the Commonwealth Games, what was being proposed in the paper as a $6 billion exercise is significantly more than has been the case in previous Games."
The CGF said both the Birmingham 2022 Games and the Gold Coast 2018 event cost less than $2 billion, and the sudden explosion to a $6 billion figure was "linked to the decisions that the Victorian government made in terms of their particular hosting desire to drive a regional economic development model".
Mr Andrews denied the regional hosting proposal was solely to blame for the cost blow out, and said the CGF did not express any concerns about the plan.
"They signed the contract and agreed to it so it's everybody's idea. It's a bit difficult to say 'no, no this is all terrible, but we'd like you to deliver it please,'" he said.
Calls for Daniel Andrews to resign over Games debacle
Victorian federal senator and Shadow Finance Minister Jane Hume this morning took big swings at Mr Andrews, saying the the "mess" warranted a resignation.
"Let's face it, this is because Victoria is broke. We are a failed state, and it's because of the incompetence of this government," she told Sunrise.
"In any other state, somebody would resign. Unfortunately Dan Andrews is going to say 'not my fault'."
Victorian Labor MP Clare O'Neil said Ms Hume's comments were "ridiculous" and no government would cancel an event like this without clear justification.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told Nine radio he was shocked by the Victorian government's decision and only got a "short heads up".
"Obviously it's not something we were anticipating given that it's been in the wind for some time," he said.
"I think the regret is for the athletes who will be hurt by this."
Regional Games model criticised
This morning, former Queensland premier Peter Beattie, who chaired the organising committee for the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games, said he believed taking the Games to the regions was a bridge too far for Victoria.
"It is difficult to run major events in regional cities, even the Gold Coast, which is Queensland's second largest city, had enormous challenges," he told ABC News Breakfast.
"In major cities you have transport corridors already there, you have stadiums that are already there, so whenever you go to regional areas there are additional costs.
"That doesn't mean you ignore them, you just have to factor the extra costs when you agree to the deal."
Hans Westerbeek from Victoria University's Sport Business Insights Group watched yesterday's events unfold with a mixture of fascination and horror.
"It almost felt like ending up in an episode of Utopia to be honest," he said, referencing the ABC comedy program that centres on an office of bureaucrats.
"A couple of months ago it was $2 or $3 billion and then suddenly became $6 [billion]."
Games yet to find replacement host city
Yesterday all other Australian states and territories ruled out taking over hosting duties, leaving a home for the 2026 Games still up in the air.
Professor Westerbeek said the Games needed to modernise or die.
"Nobody wants to take over at short notice and something that has clearly been pitched now as a crisis opportunity rather than an opportunity not to be missed," he said.
"The competitive space in which the games operate, the number of alternatives that people have to watch other events, has dramatically increased.
"The links to colonialism, there's historical connections that do not bode well for the brand position that the games currently have and how people view the games."
Mr Beattie said he believed there was still an opportunity for the games to be held in Australia, but that it was a long shot.
"The one with the deepest pockets and the strongest budget position is Western Australia because of iron ore exports, but they've ruled it out," he said.
"I think it has to go back to Birmingham because the infrastructure's there, the organising committee's just been disbanded."