Sam Birrell (Nicholls, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That this House notes that:

(1) the Victorian Government's decision to cancel the 2026 Regional Commonwealth Games is not just a significant loss to regional communities in the state, but a body-blow to the reputation of Victoria as a centre for major sporting events;

(2) the stated reason for the cancellation, the cost blowout to between $6 and 7 billion, demonstrates that the Victorian Government either made a serious miscalculation in its decision to host the games years earlier than originally proposed, or is incapable of managing major projects; and

(3) given the mismanagement of this major event, the $2 billion announced to be spent in regional Victoria to compensate for the loss of the games should be determined by the impacted regional communities, not the Victorian Government.

I wish to talk today about one of the great scandals that's happened in Australia in recent times, one of the great examples of financial mismanagement and government incompetence in Australia that affects us all—it particularly affects us in regional Victoria—and that is the cancellation of the Commonwealth Games. The Commonwealth Games cancellation is an international embarrassment. It's devastating for regional Victorian communities, who'd thought this was going to be something really positive for them. It's an example of a state government that is treating taxpayer money with absolute disregard and disrespect, and it's a really shameful episode in our nation and in our nation's great sporting history.

The idea for a regional Commonwealth Games bid was germinated in my electorate, in Shepparton, and led by the Greater Shepparton City Council. That bid was to be for the 2034 games, and there was a lot of discussion about how regional communities might be able to get themselves ready and how we could celebrate regional Victoria with the Commonwealth Games, using some new facilities and also some existing facilities. We could have had a well organised, strategic and planned out event that not only would have celebrated the great sporting achievements and great sporting facilities in regional Victoria—including in my electorate of Nicholls—but would have also showcased regional Victoria as a wonderful place to work, live and enjoy life.

For a variety of reasons, the Andrews government locked in the Commonwealth Games for 2026, not 2034. They did this prior to the state election, which was last year. Shepparton, which had envisaged being one of the regional hubs, complete with athlete accommodation, was dealt out of the major playing role that was mainly focused on Bendigo, Ballarat and Geelong. That's a bit of a bugbear for people: that Bendigo, Ballarat and Geelong have been the only cities that the Victorian government has focused on. Shepparton was going to host cycling events, including BMX and road races.

On 18 July, with no warning, Daniel Andrews pulled the plug on the event, and regional communities, including Shepparton in my electorate, will now miss out on the critical opportunities that the games would have brought them. Australia has taken a serious hit to our international sporting reputation. The reason for the cancellation, we are told—and when it comes to the Andrews government you have to take everything with tonnes and tonnes of salt; not just a grain—was a blowout in the budget from $2.6 billion, in the Victorian budget in May, to $7 billion eight weeks later. Not only that, the break fee for the contracts with the Commonwealth Games association is $380 million—$380 million of money just flushed down the toilet! It's a real entrepreneurial hub, the Goulburn Valley. People set up businesses, do their best and don't mind paying tax if governments use it responsibly, if they build things—like the former coalition government building the Echuca-Moama bridge. We've actually got something; we can get over a river with it. But when they flush $380 million down the toilet because of their financial mismanagement and incompetence, people get really upset about that. As the member for Whitlam said, it takes so long to earn and it's terrible to see a government gambling it away.

The coalition established a Senate inquiry after months of concerns about the ad hoc preparation for the 2026 Commonwealth Games. The Victorian government has shed no light on the finances for the games. In the inquiry, most of the phrases by witnesses were, 'We can't talk about it because it's commercial-in-confidence.' It is shrouded in secrecy. I think it's really shameful that, in Australia, we have a state government that is so cavalier with taxpayers' money and has subjected the Australian sporting reputation, which was magnificent after the Sydney Olympics and many other events, to such international embarrassment. The Andrews government has got to come clean about how it stuffed this up so badly.

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