2026 Commonwealth Games humiliation for Victoria state, as premier pulls the plug due to spiralling costs

In a major embarrassment for the Australian state of Victoria, the state government has announced it is to pull out of hosting the 2026 Commonwealth Games due to spiralling costs. The Commonwealth has 56 members. State premier Daniel Andrews said the projected cost had now tripled and become “well and truly too much” for the state to bear. An initial estimate of cost was A$2.6bn, but now it is thought costs had leapt to more than A$6bn, a figure Andrews said was twice the estimated economic benefit. The Games would have been hosted across regional Victorian centres, including Ballarat, Bendigo and Shepparton. The Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) called the decision “hugely disappointing” and said it would now look to find another solution. The Games which take place every four years have only ever been cancelled during World War Two. “I’ve made a lot of difficult calls, a lot of very difficult decisions in this job. This is not one of them,” the premier told a press conference. The CGF expressed disappointment it had been given only eight hours’ notice of Victoria’s decision and said no consideration had been given to discussing the situation to jointly find solutions. CGF added that the increase in costs were due to the “unique regional delivery model” that Victoria had chosen for the Games. The government had made decisions to include more sports and changed plans for venues, often against the advice of the CGF, it said. Victorian Opposition Leader John Pesutto described the decision is a “massive humiliation” for the state, and “hugely damaging” for its reputation as a global events leader. Australia hosted the Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast in 2018 and in Melbourne in 2006.