GAMES OVER: 2026 Commonwealth Games cancelled

UPDATED: The 2026 Commonwealth Games slated for regional Victoria will not go ahead, but promised infrastructure projects will remain.

Premier Daniel Andrews announced this morning that cost blowouts meant Victoria couldn’t afford to deliver the sporting event.

The state government had budgeted $2.6 billion to deliver the Games, but Mr Andrews said today that revised estimates had costed the event as around $6 billion-$7 billion.

“I’ve made a lot of tough choices in this job, but this isn’t one of them.

“This is all cost and no benefit.”

Government ministers said that project previously promised under the $2.6 billion allocation – including new housing and sporting infrastructure – would still go ahead despite the cancellation.

Geelong was expected to be a host city of the event, which would have delivered thousands of properties in an athlete’s village that would have become social housing, and new sports centres at Armstrong Creek and Waurn Ponds as part of significant investment promised in the region.

More to come.