Lawyers the Victorian government hired to negotiate the cancellation of the Commonwealth Games weeks before it officially made the announcement cost taxpayers more than $1 million, documents show. 

The documents provided to parliament reveal the government engaged lawyers from Melbourne firm Arnold Bloch Leiber regarding the "withdrawal from hosting the 2026 Commonwealth Games" in June 2023. 

But it wasn't until at least three weeks later on July 18, then-premier Daniel Andrews called a snap press conference to announce the shock cancellation of the regional Victorian event.

Victorian taxpayers forked out more than $1.2 million for the lawyers to travel to London to negotiate a compensation deal and continue their work for the government until September, the documents reveal.

That is on top of the $380 million in compensation Victoria was forced to pay for the cancellation, after a settlement was reached.

The Commonwealth Games Federation criticised the state government after it was given just eight hours' notice that the 2026 Games would be scrapped.

Opposition accuses Labor of 'torching' taxpayer money

The Victorian government has blamed cost overruns for the cancellation, claiming the event that was originally estimated to cost $2 billion, ballooned to $7 billion.

But questions have been raised about the timeline of the government's decision-making, including when it first learned of the massive budget blowouts.

"This is further evidence of how Labor has torched taxpayers' money and another reason why Jacinta Allan needs to appear before the parliamentary inquiry and explain her role in the Commonwealth Games debacle," Opposition Leader John Pesutto said.

A Victorian parliamentary inquiry has been established to investigate the government's decision to axe the games.

The upper house inquiry, which is due to begin this month, cannot force lower house MPs, including new Premier Jacinta Allan, to give evidence.

A federal Senate inquiry and the Victorian auditor-general are also investigating the cancellation.

The documents also reveal the government paid lawyers from Frances Gordon KC for 16 days in August for their "legal services regarding withdrawal from hosting 2026 Commonwealth Games" costing taxpayers $19,745.

Premier Jacinta Allan defended the engagement of the firm, and said the government needed to seek legal advice before making the announcement public.

"As the cost were materialising ... advice was sought from the public service as you would expect," she said.

"When you have to make a decision, you weigh up the options, you get the advice from the public service. Often, when you're making decisions, that does include legal advice.

"There was advice sought from across the public service, and that included legal advice."

Ms Allan maintained she only knew about the decision in the days leading up to the announcement.