The Victorian premier, Jacinta Allan, has confirmed the government hired lawyers weeks before the public was told that it was cancelling the 2026 Commonwealth Games – and a day after she told an inquiry the event would go ahead.
The premier told question time on Wednesday that her predecessor, Daniel Andrews, informed her he had engaged lawyers on 14 June, more than a month before the state government made the announcement it wasn’t going ahead with the event on 18 July.
“I was advised on the 14th of June that the premier was seeking legal advice, there was no engagement with lawyers before that date,” Allan said.
She also batted off suggestions by the opposition leader, John Pesutto, that she misled parliament’s public accounts and estimates committee on 13 June.
At the time, she said the state was looking forward to hosting 7,000 athletes across regional Victoria for the event.
“When the opportunity came along for Victoria to be the host jurisdiction and regional Victoria to be the home of the 2026 Commonwealth Games, we grabbed that opportunity with both hands,” Allan told the inquiry.
Documents reveal law firm Arnold Bloch Leibler was hired for “legal services regarding withdrawal from hosting 2026 Commonwealth Games” in June.
Announcing the event’s cancellation on 18 July, Andrews said a decision had been made by cabinet a day earlier, after cost estimates almost tripled from $2.6bn to $7bn.
“We’ve made this decision in good time because … there is a narrow window when we’ve got all of our cost estimates and market soundings and a clearer picture of what it would cost, but no major contracts have been signed,” Andrews said at the time.
“[The expenditure review committee] ERC and cabinet only made these decisions yesterday.”
The Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) in London and Commonwealth Games Australia were only given eight hours’ notice of the announcement.
Arnold Bloch Leibler’s $1.27m contract ran until 21 September, according to a Department of Premier and Cabinet (DPC) questionnaire provided to an upper house inquiry into the cancellation.
The questionnaire also revealed the DPC secretary, Jeremi Moule, had travelled to London to inform the CGF of the cancellation on 15 July, three days before the cancellation was announced and two days before cabinet was said to have signed off on the decision.
The government eventually paid $380m in compensation Commonwealth Games bodies.
Earlier on Wednesday, Allan confirmed lawyers had been hired by the government prior to the event’s cancellation.
“I was aware that lawyers were being engaged,” she said.
“That was consistent with what we said at the time of the announcement that as the costs were materialising, particularly, as we were going through a range of market processes, a range of tender processes, we’ve gone from having estimates about the costs of the games to actuals.
“Those actuals were at least $6bn, potentially rising up to $7bn, and that was just too much for a 12-day sporting event.”
Allan said advice was also sought from the public service on other possible options for the games.
“Those options were considered and then the final decision was made by the cabinet on the Monday and was announced on the Tuesday,” she said.
The public accounts and estimates committee on Tuesday urged the government to release a detailed breakdown of the original $2.6bn estimated cost, as well as any cost-benefit analysis undertaken and a detailed breakdown of the revised approximate of $6bn forecast.
“In the interest of further transparency regarding the cancellation of the games, [the Department of Jobs, Skills, Industry and Regions] should also consider publishing information regarding how the revised forecast was estimated,” the government-chaired inquiry said.
“Additionally, the government should consider publishing information regarding any compensation paid from public funds for the cancellation of the games and any other costs attributable to the cancellation of the games.”
