Here's why Australia's Victoria cancels hosting of Commonwealth Games 2026

Premier Daniel Andrews said that Victoria terminated its deal to host the muti-team event as the cost had sky-rocketed to around 7 billion Australian dollars from 2.6 billion Australian dollars

Australia's Victoria state has declined to host the 2026 Commonwealth Games on Tuesday (July 18) citing major cost blow-outs. 

Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews announced that Victoria terminated its deal to host the muti-team event as the cost had sky-rocketed to around 7 billion Australian dollars from an estimated 2.6 billion Australian dollars. 

Reasons why Victoria declined to host the 2026 CWG

In the press conference, Andrews said, " Government initially budgeted 2.6 billion Australian dollars ($1.8 billion) to stage the Games in five regional cities, but recent estimates put the potential cost as high as 7 billion Australian dollars ($4.8 billion)."

 

The Victoria Premier also stated that he had notified Commonwealth Games organisers of his government's decision to withdraw from the hosting contract. 

"Today is not about finding fault with those cost estimates. Frankly, AU$6-AU$7 billion for a 12-day sporting event, we are not doing that — that does not represent value for money, that is all costs and no benefit,” Andrews added.

What is Victoria government take on not hosting the 2026 Games

In a series of tweets, Andrews listed why he decided to walk away from his earlier obligation of hosting the 2026 Games.

Here's what he said:

When the Commonwealth Games needed a host city to step in at the last minute, we were willing to help – but not at any price. And not without a big lasting benefit for regional Victoria.

It’s now clear: more than $6 billion for a 12-day sporting event is just too high. It’s more than twice the estimated economic benefit the Games would bring our state.

The main reason we agreed to host the Games was to create a big lasting benefit for our regions – with more housing, boosts to tourism and sporting infrastructure upgrades. So here’s what we’re doing instead.

We’ll build at least 1,300 new social and affordable housing homes in regional Victoria.

We’ll build all the permanent sporting facilities that we promised for 2026. We’ll work with sports clubs at a grassroots level to get more local families playing sports, including removing barriers for Victorians with disabilities.

And there’ll be a massive boost in regional tourism and events – so they’ll have the very best new attractions, events and accommodation.

These projects will create around 3,000 jobs right around the state, and deliver what our regional communities have asked for. It’s the right thing to do. From the get-go, we said we’d create a long, lasting legacy throughout our regions. And we’re getting on with it.

Bit of a long one this morning.

You might have heard the news this morning that Victoria will no longer be hosting the 2026 Commonwealth Games.

And I wanted to tell you about the decision.

— Dan Andrews (@DanielAndrewsMP) July 17, 2023

What Commonwealth Games Federation said

In a statement issued by Commonwealth Games Federation said, "We are disappointed that we were only given eight hours’ notice and that no consideration was given to discussing the situation to find solutions before the government reached this decision jointly.”

The federation also stated that the rise in estimated costs was Victoria's e unique regional delivery model.

"The numbers quoted to us today of $6 billion are 50% more than those advised to the Organising Committee board at its meeting in June. These figures are attributed to price escalation primarily due to the unique regional delivery model that Victoria chose for these Games, and in particular relate to village and venue builds and transport infrastructure," the statement added.

The CWG federation added that the decision to include more sports and an additional regional hub was taken against the advice of the global body and Commonwealth Games Australia (CGA).

"Since awarding Victoria the Games, the Government has made decisions to include more sports and an additional regional hub, and changed plans for venues, all of which have added considerable expense, often against the advice of the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) and Commonwealth Games Australia (CGA).

The 2026 Commonwealth Games was scheduled from March 17 to March 29 in Victoria's five centres, Geelong, Bendigo, Ballarat, Gippsland and Shepparton.

How the Victoria government promoted the 2026 Commonwealth Games

The state government had promoted the multi-city model as a game changer, with the five regional centres hosting 20 sports and nine fully-integrated Para sports.

The government's website promoted Victoria 2026 as a showcase of “what makes the people of our state tick: our unity, our diversity, our sense of community, our welcoming attitude and our love of sport.” 

What Commonwealth Games Australia's take

Commonwealth Games Australia chief executive Craig Phillips called the government's decision a comprehensive letdown on a concept it pitched to the organisers. 

"The stated costs overrun, in our opinion, are a gross exaggeration and not reflective of the operational costs presented to the Victoria 2026 organising committee board as recently as June," Phillips said in a statement.

"Beyond this, the Victorian Government willfully ignored recommendations to move events to purpose-built (venues) in Melbourne and in fact remained wedded to proceeding with expensive temporary venues in regional Victoria,” CWG Australia's chief executive further added.

Lack of interest in hosting Commonwealth Games in the recent past

This is the second time in recent years that a hosting city has decided not to host the Commonwealth Games. The 2022 Commonwealth Games was initially scheduled in South Africa's Durban. But it declined to host the Games, and Birmingham stepped in late to host the 2022 Commonwealth Games.

How many times has Australia hosted a multi-sport event in the 21st century

Victoria State hosted the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne. The most recent edition in Australia was on the Gold Coast, Queensland state, in 2018. 

What next multi-sport event is Australia going to host?

Australia is set to host the 2032 Olympics in Queensland.

Andrew Liveris, president of the Brisbane 2032 organizing committee, responded to the Victorian government's decision by saying the Commonwealth Games and Olympics run on different business models regarding event delivery, infrastructure usage and commercial revenue.

The 2032 Olympics have federal, state and local government backing. Liveris said the International Olympic Committee's contribution to running costs and support in terms of best practices from prior Games helped give organizers solid grounding.

"Brisbane 2032 was awarded the Games under the New Norm – a new efficient model for games delivery designed to drive legacy outcomes for the host region, before and after the Games," he said. "Brisbane 2032 has an 11-year runway for best-case planning and preparation."

History of Commonwealth Games

The Commonwealth Games started as the British Empire Games in 1930 in Hamilton, Canada, and since 1978 has operated under its current branding. England, Australia, New Zealand, Wales, Jamaica, Scotland, Malaysia and India have hosted the Games, which are staged every four years and involve teams from 54 members of the Commonwealth network and 17 overseas territories and island states.

(With Agencies inputs)