The organising committee tasked with delivering the 2026 Commonwealth Games has told a parliamentary inquiry that Jacinta Allan was warned about rising cost of running the event three months before it was cancelled by the government.
In its submission to parliament’s upper house inquiry into the canned event, Victoria 2026 reveals it wrote to Jacinta Allan – who was then deputy premier and Commonwealth Games minister – in April to request additional funding.
The government cancelled the event on 18 July, with Allan’s predecessor, then premier Daniel Andrews, blaming cost estimates tripling to $7bn.
In its submission, the organising committee – headed by the chief executive, Jeroen Weimar, and chaired by former Richmond Football Club president Peggy O’Neal – said it “became clear” that the $2.6bn budget was “insufficient to deliver the games”.
They said this was largely due to the decision to host the event across five separate regional cities, which meant a significant investment in infrastructure, accommodation, transport and security was required.
The submission said the three-year time frame – “the shortest lead-in time ever” for such an event – left little time for planning, consultation and contingency, which in turn “resulted in significant cost risks against an immovable deadline”.
In February the organising committee had requested an additional $722m from the government. This was submitted to the office of the Commonwealth Games (OCG), which was within the Department of Jobs, Precincts and Regions.
O’Neal then wrote to Allan, who became premier last week, two months later.
“On 4 April, the chair of the OC wrote to the then deputy premier, minister Allen [sic], highlighting the critical timelines for decision making,” the submission reads.
That same month the OCG requested the committee “propose mitigations that could reduce the cost of delivering the games”.
No additional funding for the games was included in the May budget.
The opposition leader, John Pesutto, said Victoria 2026’s submission was “proof” Allan knew the games had “major cost issues” months before the event was cancelled.
“It makes a mockery of her claims that she only knew in the weeks leading up to the announcement the games would be cancelled,” Pesutto said.
“The premier needs to come clean about exactly when she knew the Commonwealth Games was in trouble.”
In question time on Wednesday, Allan confirmed lawyers had been hired by the government before the event’s cancellation.
She said Andrews had informed her of this on 14 June, as new “costs were materialising”.
“As was said at the press conference on 18 July, in those preceding weeks as the figures were reaching more than $6bn for a 12-day sporting event, it simply did not stack up,” Allan told parliament.
On Thursday, Allan refused to confirm if she had read O’Neal’s letter and stood by her previous comments.
“The reports today reflect what we have been saying. As we were working on how to best deliver the regional games model … we were looking at all the options,” she said.
“We were also too having cost estimates updated over that period of time. As we were working through these matters, from time to time, funds needed to be released to support the activities of the Office of Commonwealth Games and the organising committee.”
According to a Department of Premier and Cabinet questionnaire provided to the upcoming upper house inquiry, law firm Arnold Bloch Leibler was hired for “legal services regarding withdrawal from hosting 2026 Commonwealth Games” in June. The $1.27m contract ran until 21 September.
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 to Commonwealth Games bodies for terminating their contract.
