In a huge hit to Victoria’s major events calendar, it has just been announced that the 2026 Commonwealth Games will no longer go ahead as planned in the regional hubs of Geelong, Bendigo, Ballarat, Shepparton and Gippsland.
Premier Daniel Andrews confirmed the news in a press conference on Tuesday morning, revealing the predicted cost of the 12-day event had blown out from $2.6 billion to more than $7 billion.
“I’ve made a lot of difficult calls, a lot of very difficult decisions in this job,” said Andrews. “This is not one of them. Frankly, $6 billion (or) $7 billion for a sporting event, we are not doing that. That does not represent value for money, that is all cost and no benefit.
“I will not take money out of hospitals and schools in order to fund an event that is three times the cost estimated and budgeted for last year.”
Regional Victoria was first announced as the host of the 2026 Commonwealth Games in April 2022, with the 1,000-day countdown to the event only just marked at the MCG on June 21. The Games were expected to inject more than $3 billion back into Victoria’s economy and generate thousands of full-time jobs.
It was also hoped the Games would shine a light on these country hubs, leave a legacy for regional sport and create affordable housing and modern sports infrastructure that residents would be able to use for decades to come.
Instead, to make up for the loss of the event, more than $2 billion of that original funding will now be redirected to improving and upgrading facilities in the host cities.
“First and foremost, each and every one of the permanent sporting facilities that were to be legacy benefits from the Games will be built,” said Andrews. “There is a very substantial regional tourism fund and a substantial package of support for community-based sport and perhaps most importantly they will be a $1 billion boost for social and affordable housing right across regional Victoria and not just in those hub cities but they will be at least 1,300 new homes constructed across regional Victoria.”
The Commonwealth Games organising committee was only told of the new developments prior to the press conference, and there has been no public comment from Commonwealth Game authorities in London just yet.
The Games were set to run from March 17-29, 2026.