VIC to pay 380 million dollars in compensation for pulling out of 2026 commonwealth games
Victoria will pay 380 million dollars in compensation for pulling out of hosting the 20-26 commonwealth games, after a deal with games organisers was struck late last night. The premier says the agreement is the best outcome for the state, but serious questions remain over the government's costings.
Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:00 Making the case for a very costly mistake.
00:04 $380 million not a dollar more, no court action, the matter is closed out and finalised.
00:10 The Premier and Treasurer in lockstep, defending the government's secret compensation deal with Commonwealth Games organisers.
00:17 The government's numbers claim final estimates for the cancelled games had blown out by billions.
00:22 Transport costs were estimated at $110 million, they trebled to $306 million.
00:28 Police and security costs more than doubled to $492 million.
00:33 Contingency and temporary overlays to make existing venues games ready both blew out by $200 million.
00:39 While the athletes' villages were originally quoted at $250 million to build,
00:44 the July estimate put the cost at more than four times that amount.
00:48 And then there's additional cost pressures, adding a whopping $2 billion.
00:53 The original business case for the games showed the government had been warned early on its plans were high risk.
00:59 But the Treasurer today pins the blame for the blowouts on a range of factors.
01:03 That hyper-escalation, shortfalls that we've encountered in regional accommodation,
01:09 costs of displacing major sporting events, 12 interest rate rises, Russia invaded Ukraine.
01:15 If the Ukrainian war, if inflation have affected the Commonwealth Games, then surely they've affected everything else in the budget as well.
01:24 This is the best outcome that Victoria could get in those commercial terms.
01:29 Daniel Andrews is like the proverbial bank robber who wants credit for surrendering to police when they finally catch up with him.
01:36 There are already three separate investigations underway into the Commonwealth Games cancellation.
01:42 It's hoped those inquiries will finally shed some light on just how the government got their numbers so very wrong.
01:49 very wrong.
01:49 [BLANK_AUDIO]