Regional areas have been left “shocked and disappointed” after the Victorian government decided to cancel the 2026 Commonwealth Games.
On Tuesday the government announced it would cancel the 12-day event after the cost blew out from $2.6bn and could have reached $7bn, with the premier, Daniel Andrews, saying he did not want to take money from other areas of the budget to pay for the Games.
The 2026 Games was set to be the first of its kind, held across five different regional locations – Geelong, Bendigo, Ballarat, Gippsland and Shepparton.
The mayor of Gippsland’s Latrobe city, Kellie O’Callaghan, said while the council was disappointed that it will no longer host events as part of the Games, it could not have provided extra funding to support them.
The Latrobe Valley was set to host shooting, badminton, rugby sevens and women’s Twenty20 cricket, she said.
She said when the state budget was released, she was concerned that a lack of additional funding “would put a lot of pressure on us in relation to what we’re going to be able to do to actually deliver”.
“It’s something we just need to accept,” she said. “A complete cancellation is a pretty big announcement and a significant disappointment for our local community.”
The Geelong mayor, Trent Sullivan, said the announcement “came as a shock” and the Games would have been a huge economic boost to the region, with 7,500 jobs expected to be created.
“This is a very disappointing result, as Geelong and the other regional host cities had been promised a huge amount of tourism, economic, social, and sporting benefits would flow from hosting the Games,” he said.
Sullivan said he understood the finical pressures that governments face and that “difficult decisions need to be made”.
The government has promised $2bn that was allocated for the Games will be used to build permanent sporting, infrastructure and housing projects in the regions.
In Bendigo, this will include four new basketball courts and upgrades to the Bendigo Showgrounds and a lawn bowls centre.
The Eureka Stadium in Ballarat will still receive a 5,000-seat upgrade. In Shepparton, mountain bike and BMX trails will be completed and the Ted Summerton Reserve in Moe will also be upgraded. A new community sporting facility at Miners Rest will also be built.
The mayor of Bendigo, Andrea Metcalf, said while she was disappointed, the state government had made the decision for the right reasons.
“The arguments the state government has given for cancelling the Games are valid,” she said.
“The Games would have put us on the world stage, and we’re going to miss out on that opportunity.
“We’re disappointed and shocked but there are also some bright spots in the announcement. So we look forward to getting further detail.”
In a statement, the Shepparton mayor, Shane Sali, said “‘disappointed’ was an understatement” and that he was in talks with the government about where the allocated money would be spent.
The government did not detail how it will allocate the new $1bn Regional Housing Fund, but advocates for social and affordable housing said the commitment was positive.
The Victorian Council of Social Service’s (Vcoss) chief executive, Emma King, said the Games were going to deliver thousands of social and affordable housing properties, especially in regional areas where the shortage of housing is dire.
“Securing the housing and social benefits of the Games despite their cancellation is a big win for Victoria,” she said.
“Today, Victorian premier Daniel Andrews has rightly identified housing as our state’s ‘biggest challenge’ and has pledged $1b for at least 1,300 additional new housing units.”
