Victorians pay one year out from Glasgow Games
Today marks the one-year countdown to the 2026 Commonwealth Games - but instead of preparing to showcase regional Victoria on the global stage, Victorians are counting the cost of the Labor's government's incompetence.
As the then Minister for Commonwealth Games Delivery, Jacinta Allan cancelled the Games in 2023 citing budget blowouts - costing Victorians at least $589 million, including $200 million for Glasgow to host the Games.
This money should have delivered jobs, sporting facilities and legacy housing in Victoria. Instead, Victorians are left with higher debt, broken infrastructure promises, and lost opportunities in tourism, hospitality, and retail.
One of the most significant benefits of hosting the Games was to be the construction of athlete villages that would then be converted into social, affordable and private housing across regional Victoria.
Despite Labor's promise of legacy projects, the only legacy Labor has left in regional Victoria is debt, crumbling roads and reduced services.
Labor spruiked that "every one of the permanent new and upgraded sporting infrastructure projects planned as part of the Games will still proceed", but many projects have been delayed, not progressed, or have been cancelled altogether.
Leader of the Opposition, Brad Battin, said: "The jobs and investments which should have been delivered in Victoria are instead being delivered in Glasgow, courtesy of the then Minister for Commonwealth Games Delivery and now Premier, Jacinta Allan.
"While Scotland's First Minister hails the Games as a major opportunity for Glasgow, Victorians are left wondering what might have been."
Shadow Minister for Tourism, Sport, Events and Hospitality, Sam Groth, said: "Only Labor could waste $589 million on an event that won't happen and still walk away claiming success.
"This is more than just a lost sporting event - it's the loss of community infrastructure, much-needed housing, and long-term economic opportunities for Victorians.
"Labor went to the last election promising regional communities world class sporting facilities based on a deeply flawed Commonwealth Games business case that appears to have been nothing more than a cynical election ploy.
"Labor can't manage money and Victorians are paying the price."
