“Series of failures” led to Games cancellation, inquiry finds

AN INQUIRY into the shock cancellation of the 2026 Commonwealth Games has ultimately supported the state Labor Government’s decision to withdraw as host, but found the government’s inability to deliver the multi-city proposal should have been discovered sooner.

The final report found inadequate planning and consultation, poor ministerial oversight, a lack of appropriate infrastructure in regional areas and logistical issues caused by the “overly ambitious” delivery model that was to span five cities including Geelong, were among the factors to blame for the cancellation.

Blame for the “series of failures” that led to the decision, the report concluded, must be “directly shouldered” by then-premier Daniel Andrews and Jacinta Allan, as well as other key ministers.

The findings build on those included in the inquiry’s interim report, handed down in May last year, which noted the Labor Government had rushed its decision to host the Games and did not allow the time necessary to consult with key stakeholders and adequately consider the costs involved.

The nine-person committee was chaired by Libertarian Party MP David Limbrick.

He said regional Victorians had been let down by a string of decision-making failures by the Labor Government, as well as inadequate due diligence and planning processes as both the departmental and ministerial level.

“To put it simply, the high cost and inability to host the Games as proposed should have been discovered far earlier by the Victorian government.

“The committee hopes that the Victorian government will use the learnings contained in this report to improve upon its processes to ensure this kind of failure does not happen in the future.

“The committee also hopes that the report will encourage the swift and fulsome implementation of the promised $2 billion regional funding package, which at this stage largely remains in the planning or advanced planning stages.”

The report makes six recommendations:

Subject to the learnings from the Commonwealth Games withdrawal, the Victorian government should continue to pursue events that are of benefit to Victoria

Business cases for all projects estimated over $250 million must be assessed as high value high risk, regardless of what type of funding is sought

In consultation with the Auditor-General, a review of the implementation of the high value high risk guidelines be undertaken to ensure that learnings can be incorporated to prevent further similar failures as occurred with the Commonwealth Games

The Department of Treasury and Finance should subsequently report annually on the success and implementation of high value high risk guidelines

The Legislative Council Procedure Committee should consider the process for assessing claims of executive privilege, noting that to date the process of appointing a legal arbiter has never been used.

The Legislative Assembly Economy and Infrastructure Committee should be referred an inquiry (or self-refer if necessary) for the purpose of holding public hearings with ministers and former ministers Daniel Andrews, Jacinta Allan, Tim Pallas and Martin Pakula.

In their minority report, Labor MPs Michael Galea, Tom McIntosh and Jacinta Ermacora stated the cancellation of the Games “was the right decision at the right time”.

The three MPs also noted the report discusses their “particular concerns in relation to this committee’s overreach in matters of both executive privilege and exclusive cognisance”.