Original article by Annika Smethurst, Rachel Eddie, Broede Carmody, Michael Gleeson
The Age – Page: Online : 19-Jul-23

The Victorian government has not disclosed the likely cost of triggering the cancellation clause in its contract to host the 2026 Commonwealth Games. However, legal advice provided to the Queensland government in 2012 about the potential axing of the 2018 Gold Coast Games suggested that the state would be liable to pay for the cost of staging the Commonwealth Games in another city; the state Labor party estimated at the time that this could cost around $1bn. The Victorian government still intends to spend some $2 billion on Games-related infrastructure in regional towns that were to have hosted events. Meanwhile, Commonwealth Games Australia CEO Craig Phillips has questioned the government’s estimate that the cost of hosting the Games has blown out from just $2.6bn to at least $6.2bn.

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