In an ominous sign for premier Dan Andrews, Victorian cross-benchers have unanimously backed a parliamentary inquiry into his government’s scrapping of the 2026 Commonwealth Games. These are the same cross-benchers who were rusted solidly onto “Dictator Dan” right through the pandemic. Now they’ve joined the opposition in demanded a parliamentary inquiry rather than the premier’s preferred option of an auditor-general’s report.
The Coalition and every crossbencher supported the opposition motion to establish an inquiry in the upper house on Wednesday, 25 votes to 15.
Victorian Greens leader Samantha Ratnam earlier said her party would back a motion to stand up a parliamentary inquiry into the decision to dump the games.
It meant earlier attempts by regional development minister Harriet Shing to propose a motion for an auditor-general’s probe instead of a parliamentary inquiry were thwarted.
This means that not only the Greens, but Legalise Cannabis, Animal Justice Party, One Nation, Democratic Labour, the Liberal Democrats and the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers, have all joined forces with the Coalition.
As well, according to a letter sent to leader of the opposition John Pesutto Victoria’s auditor-general Andrew Greaves said he has “initiated a performance engagement withdrawal from the Commonwealth Games 2026.”
A performance engagement will assess “whether agencies have effective programs and services and whether they are using their resources economically and efficiently”, according to a definition on the auditor-general’s website […]
Supported by Ms Shing and commonwealth games delivery minister Jacinta Allan, Mr Andrews said the original cost of the games had blown out from $2bn to $7bn.
But Australian Commonwealth Games chief executive Craig Phillips said the figure was a “gross exaggeration” and “not reflective of the operational costs presented to the Victoria 2026 Organising Committee board as recently as June.”
The Australian
This, of course, raises the issue of whether Dictator Dan’s iron grip on Victoria is finally slipping.
Especially if he has, like Jeff Kennett so fatally did in 1999, failed to comprehend the depth of anger in the very regional seats the Games were designed to shore up support.
No one could fail to notice that the decision to move the Games’ events out of Melbourne — and its existing world-class sporting facilities — favoured those very regions which just happened to coincide with marginal Labor seats. Now, instead of being grateful for their allotment of bread and circuses, simmering anger is building, at least among businesses that’ve been left high and dry by the shock cancellation.
Daylesford and Macedon Tourism chief executive Steve Wroe said there had been hours of labour already put in from the organisation to prepare for the lead-up to the games.
“This was a once-in-a-generation opportunity in terms of opportunities for the development of infrastructure but also that broader growth, promotion, and visitation,” Mr Wroe said.
“We were gearing up for what would’ve been the biggest sugar hit in visitation in many, many years.”
Regional tourism and service businesses were hit particularly hard by the pandemic. Any thought that they might find long-term security from tree-changers who took advantage of pandemic work-from-home to flock to the regions is fast collapsing. House prices in many regional towns are plummeting as the same people flock back to the city — taking any hope of a sustained increase in business with them.
Mr Wroe said they were anticipating “potentially hundreds of thousands of people and millions of dollars” during the 12-day event.
“Our region is nestled between what would’ve been the key hubs — Ballarat and Bendigo. It would’ve been one of the biggest beneficiaries in the state,” he said.
“Operators … in towns like Creswick, they’re going reasonably well … but they’ll never recover from the pandemic.
“That’s a couple of years of lost revenue they will never be able to recover from.”
ABC Australia
Maybe they’ll finally start remembering who brought them all this pain.