The Victorian government has yet to commit to deadlines for new and upgraded sports facilities and $1bn in social and affordable housing promised to regional centres that were set to host the Commonwealth Games.
Weeks after Daniel Andrews announced the 2026 event in Victoria would be cancelled, regional mayors expect it could be at least two months before the government outlines its timeline to deliver promised facilities and housing.
It comes as Nationals senators Bridget McKenzie and Matt Canavan on Thursday urged Andrews to “front up and explain” the cancellation at a federal Senate inquiry. While the premier cannot be compelled to appear, Canavan said he had written to Andrews this week asking him to attend.
“If he believes that he’s made the right decision … then he should front up and explain it, and subject himself to genuine necessary questions that senators from across the country have to ask,” McKenzie said.
Victoria’s upper house on Wednesday also voted to establish a select committee to investigate the cancellation of the major sporting event.
Mayors for two of the five regions that were set to host the event confirmed they remained in the dark about when the projects would be delivered.
The mayor of Bendigo, Andrea Metcalf, said she wanted to see the momentum continue for the infrastructure projects.
“We don’t have a timeline of 2026 … We would certainly hope to hear what the outcomes are sooner, rather than let this drag on. We need to know,” she said.
“I would certainly hope that we would have further information within the next few months.”
The Shepparton mayor, Shane Sali, said he hoped a decision on timeframes would be made within the next two to three months.
“I believe that’s a reasonable time,” he said. Sali expected the infrastructure would be built before the original 2026 deadline for the Games.
The government had planned to build athletes villages in Bendigo, Ballarat, Morwell and Geelong to host about 7,000 athletes and officials in 2026. Metcalf said she hoped the four locations were “in the pipeline for housing”.
“You would hope that there would be money left over so that there would be a further spread. But there were four athletes villages promised and we’d like to see those [locations] continued because all of our regional cities do have a housing need,” she said.
Sali said he hoped some of the $1bn fund would be open to a competitive tender process to ensure it was delivered in areas with the most need.
Earlier this month, the Andrews government announced the shock cancellation of the Games, citing a cost blowout from an estimated $2.6bn to $6bn-$7bn. The event was planned for five regional hubs across Victoria – Geelong, Bendigo, Ballarat, Gippsland and Shepparton.
To compensate for the cancellation, the government has committed a $2bn package to ensure regional Victoria still benefits from the legacy infrastructure projects.
Ballarat, Geelong, Bendigo, Gippsland and Shepparton will get new and upgraded sporting facilities.
Half of the package is made up of a $1bn regional housing fund that the government says will deliver 1,300 new social and affordable homes. It is unclear how this will be spread across Victoria.
Mayors in the regional hubs expressed disappointment over the cancellation but welcomed the continued infrastructure investment. The accommodation fund has been backed by housing advocacy groups.
The Victorian government did not respond to questions about how the $2bn regional package would be spent over the forward estimates.
A government spokesperson said it would deliver the $2bn package to ensure regional Victoria still received all the benefits it would have gained from the games.
“We are working with all key stakeholders on the detail of the package to ensure it meets the needs of communities and it will be reported in the usual way,” the spokesperson said.
Guardian Australia understands the government will work with councils to determine the mix of accommodation type and locations.
The opposition leader, John Pesutto, said the cancellation was a “betrayal of regional Victoria”.
“Given the Andrews government couldn’t deliver the Commonwealth Games, who would trust them to deliver legacy projects with no clear funding or delivery timelines?” he said.
“That is why the Liberals and Nationals have worked with the crossbench to establish a parliamentary inquiry which will get to the bottom of what has gone wrong and hold those responsible to account.”
