Comm Games continues to torment

IF THINGS had been different, the cancelled Victoria 2026 Commonwealth Games would have been reaching its peak today, with the closing ceremony due to take place on Sunday in Geelong.

Locally, Bendigo would have already hosted a plethora of sports – 3×3 basketball and 3×3 wheelchair basketball, lawn bowls and para lawn bowls, netball and squash, table tennis and para table tennis, plus track cycling and para track cycling.

A Games village able to house more than 1600 athletes and officials was also slated to be built in Flora Hill.

It was even estimated the Games would contribute over $3 billion to the State’s economy, creating more than 600 full-time equivalent jobs before they started, 3900 jobs during the Games and a further 3000 jobs after they finished.

Bendigo Squash Centre manager and a swashbuckling sixteen-time Bendigo Squash Club champion, Allison Gook, said it was “very, very saddening” when the Games were called off in July 2023.

“I think it would have been fantastic for regional Victoria, especially Bendigo,” she said.

“Everyone had put in so much time and effort into it, (so) it was depressing across the board for everybody involved.

“It would’ve been monumental – having Squash as part of the Games in Bendigo was going to be a huge boost for us and would’ve hopefully (resulted in) more people playing.

“There’s nothing we can do about it now.”

Member for Northern Victoria Gaelle Broad went one step further by describing the Games abandonment as “a complete letdown for the regions”.

“For many in regional Victoria, the cancellation wasn’t just about sport – it was about jobs, economic activity and long-promised upgrades that would have benefited the community for decades,” she said.

“Premier Jacinta Allan and Labor wasted $600 million of taxpayers’ money chasing votes with an event it appears they had no intention of ever delivering, and we are now paying for Glasgow to host (it).”

In response, a Victorian Government spokesperson told the Bendigo Times that “the decision about the Games was made some time ago, and our focus now is on helping Victorians through cost of living pressures”.