Nice try, Tom, but no cigar – Feds rule out cash for GC games bid
Gold Coast’s bid to host the Commonwealth Games appears dead in the water as pressure mounts on Victoria to deliver billions of dollars to spurned regional towns.
Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate. (AAP Image/Dan Peled)
The Queensland city’s mayor Tom Tate has launched a late bid for the 2026 Games after Victoria pulled out of hosting the global sports event.
The bid was contingent on federal funding given Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk ruled out her state coming to the Games’ rescue.
Federal cabinet minister Jason Clare poured cold water on the move, saying the government was focused on investing in the 2032 Brisbane Olympics.
“I just think that this is unlikely given the focus and the investment that we are making in Brisbane in the lead up to 2032,” he told Seven’s Sunrise on Friday.
The 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games cost $1.2 billion to host and its infrastructure remains in place.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has called for an Australian solution to hosting the Games but no premiers or chief ministers are interested.
Victoria dumped hosting the Games across five regional hubs over a forecast cost blowout of up to $4.4 billion after it initially budgeted $2.6b for the 12-day event.
It instead unveiled a $2b package for the regions, including $1b to build more than 1300 new social and affordable housing homes and $150 million for tourism and events.
Deputy Prime Minister and Corio MP Richard Marles said he was disappointed for the regional city of Geelong but had been personally assured all infrastructure upgrades will be delivered.
“What now matters to me is that the commitments that the state government have made to build the infrastructure that they were promising in Geelong, which includes a new swimming centre, is followed through on,” he told Nine’s Today show.
Support for the Victorian government has slipped following its Games backflip, according to a Roy Morgan poll.
The SMS survey of more than 1000 Victorians on Wednesday and Thursday showed a two-party preferred swing of 8.5 per cent from Labor (53 per cent) to the coalition (47 per cent) since late May.
Nonetheless, 58 per cent of those polled backed Premier Daniel Andrews’ decision to cancel hosting the Games compared to 42 per cent who were against it.
The South African city of Durban was stripped of the 2022 Games over a lack of progress in preparations, with the original 2026 host Birmingham stepping in to fill the void.
The last time a Commonwealth Games was completely cancelled was during World War II.
