Prime minister trying to secure tournament’s future at Commonwealth summit in Samoa
Keir Starmer will try to find a host country for the 2030 Commonwealth Games this week as ministers try to shore up the tournament’s future.
The prime minister’s spokesperson said Starmer wanted to see “a successful Commonwealth Games from 2030” and would spend time at this week “talking to partners about who may be interested in taking that forward”.
Continue reading...Commonwealth Games Scotland says it could host sporting event for a fraction of the Victorian government’s $6bn estimation
Victorian taxpayers could foot the bill for Scotland to host the 2026 Commonwealth Games using compensation money from dumping the event.
In July last year, the state government announced it would no longer host the 2026 Games, which were set to be held in regional cities, after former premier Daniel Andrews claimed forecast expenses had nearly doubled to at least $6bn.
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Continue reading...Report criticises government agencies for not working together and says the estimated $6.9bn cost of the event was ‘overstated’
The scrapped 2026 Commonwealth Games have cost Victoria more than $589m, the state’s auditor general says, in a report that calls the project a “waste of taxpayer money” with “no discernible benefit”.
The scathing report investigated the Victorian government’s shock cancellation of Games last year and found the cited $6.9bn cost blowout was “overstated”.
Continue reading...Poll finds 28 of 30 economists expect central bank to keep cash rate steady at 4.35%. Follow the day’s news live
Good morning, and happy Tuesday.
I’m Emily Wind and I’ll be with you on the blog today – many thanks to Martin for kicking things off.
Continue reading...The British government has told Commonwealth Games organisers that the UK will not step in to rescue the event again after the Gold Coast withdrew its bid for the 2026 event.
Substantial UK government support allowed Birmingham to ride to the rescue of the 2022 Games after Durban was stripped of the event in 2017.
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Assistant climate change minister asked whether Australia ‘can be taken seriously’ without fossil fuel phase-out promise
The assistant minister for climate change and energy, Jenny McAllister, was also making the rounds this morning amid the Cop28 summit.
We, of course, are working towards transforming our national electricity system to incorporate 82% renewables by 2030. This is a really ambitious transformation, but one that we believe will lay the foundations for a cleaner and more affordable energy system for Australians.
If you think about what it means to take our energy system from 33% renewables to 82%, that does mean that our fossil fuel use within our own energy system at home is changing very dramatically over the course of a decade.
We know that globally, we need to see similar changes and similar investments in the new technologies to drive low emissions power, not just here in Australia, but actually, right across the world.
… or any electorate around the country where it is proven to be technologically feasible, has a social licence and it is going to get prices down.
We have to be humble enough at these conferences at Cop to say what are other countries doing? What peer countries are doing is they are saying we are looking at nuclear energy as part of the balanced mix.
We must in Australia be driven not by ideology, but by economics and engineering and learn from those countries and that includes consideration for zero emissions nuclear energy, and people may be arguing all they like, but we will be very open and transparent as we always have been.
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Labor MPs furious over ‘one political party’ pitting Jewish community against another
Labor MPs are still furious over the motion Peter Dutton moved in question time on Wednesday, where he linked anti-semitism with the release of detainees, including some criminals, after the high court decision which deemed indefinite detention to be unconstitutional.
As a leader of the Jewish community and someone who represents a large Jewish community, I’ve always thought it was extremely important to act in the interests of the community.
And that means working across the political aisle. It means working with people like Allegra Spender, who represents the largest Jewish community in Australia, and of course with my friend Julian Leeser, who I will always stand with members regardless of what political persuasion they have, in order to act in the interests of the Jewish community.
Continue reading...Peak body wants Australia to keep the event but talks are under way with other countries and about changing the Games’ format
Australia has three months to find a 2026 Commonwealth Games host city as three other candidates emerge for the event.
Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) hierarchy said on Wednesday that finding an Australian host for the 2026 edition remains the priority while appealing for government support.
Continue reading...Parliamentary inquiry hears organising committee wrote to the then games minister in April about additional funding and reducing costs
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.
Continue reading...Law firm was engaged well before cabinet decision to cancel 2026 event, but Jacinta Allan says it came amid rising cost estimates
The Victorian premier, Jacinta Allan, has confirmed that the state government hired lawyers weeks before the public was told that it was cancelling the 2026 Commonwealth Games.
But she has denied that the law firm Arnold Bloch Leibler’s sole role was to terminate the multimillion-dollar contract.
Continue reading...The Victorian premier last month announced Victoria would not host the games after a forecast cost blowout
The Victorian government has agreed to pay Commonwealth Games bodies $380m in compensation after cancelling the 2026 event, in what the premier, Daniel Andrews, is claiming as “the best outcome” the state could get.
Andrews made the shock announcement last month that Victoria would not host the Games as planned due to concerns they would far exceed initial cost expectations.
Continue reading...Announcement comes weeks after the Australian state of Victoria pulled out of hosting the 2026 Games
The province of Alberta has withdrawn its support for a bid centred around Calgary/Edmonton to host the 2030 Commonwealth Games, weeks after the Australia state of Victoria pulled out of hosting the 2026 Games.
Alberta’s tourism minister, Joseph Schow, said that cost was behind the decision.
Continue reading...Regional mayors say they expect the state government to provide details on infrastructure projects in coming months
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 after Victoria’s upper house on Wednesday voted to establish a select committee to investigate the cancellation of the major sporting event. This is separate to the Senate inquiry in federal parliament that will also examine the axing of the Games.
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Housing bill squabble to bring back possibility of double dissolution election
Parliament resumes next week after a five-week hiatus over winter, which means all the squabbles and fights we left in June are starting to whirl up again – chief among them housing. As Daniel Hurst reported this morning, Labor is going to bring back its housing bill to the house in October, where it will pass. Once it hits the Senate, things get a little more dicey. If it’s rejected by the Greens, who so far aren’t seeing what they want from the government, then the government has a double dissolution trigger.
The early indications are that there was a 50m exclusion zone around the deceased.
All efforts had been made to cover the body but at certain stages of the forensic examination, that body did need to be uncovered so the forensic police could do their work for the coroner and unfortunately, those children did walk past.
Continue reading...Government services minister says royal commission ‘is gripping reading’. Follow live news updates today
Cash says department was responsible for contracts amid reports of money paid to Pacific politicians over detention processing
Cash has also brushed off the Coalition government’s role in media reports of the taxpayer money for detention processing that went to Pacific politicians.
There is no suggestion that Peter Dutton himself played a part in signing the contracts. These contracts are signed by the Department of Home Affairs.
What Mr. Burke seems to want to do now is to reintroduce the uncertainty that existed prior to a legislation the Coalition government introduced.
… What this gets down to is one thing. These changes are part of the Albanese government’s ongoing campaign to attack and undermine those who choose to undertake casual work, despite the fact that it works for millions of Australians.
Continue reading...Almost 60% of people support players receiving equal pay in the Women’s World Cup
More than 40% of Australians agree with Daniel Andrews’ controversial decision to scrap the Commonwealth Games, with his home state most supportive of the move, new polling shows.
While critics bemoaned the decision as “an international embarrassment”, the latest Guardian Essential poll found Australians were less invested, with 41% of those polled agreeing with the Victorian government’s decision, while 36% disagreed and 24% were unsure.
Continue reading...Victorian premier says it is possible a $5bn budget allocation was proposed earlier this year, prior to Games being cancelled
Daniel Andrews says he has been aware for months that the cost of Victoria hosting the 2026 Commonwealth Games had increased beyond the original $2.6bn budget, but would not confirm if state Treasury officials rejected a bid to increase it to $5bn.
The premier said there may have been a proposal by the agency responsible for delivering the Games for an increased funding allocation ahead of the state budget in May, as reported by the Age.
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Continue reading...Grattan Institute analyst says ‘the supply and cost inflation can’t fully account for this massive increase in costs’
An infrastructure expert says inflation and labour can’t account for the $7bn cost estimate used by the Victorian government to call off the state’s Commonwealth Games, as the Greens call for an integrity crackdown on the use of consultants.
The state opposition has also referred the government’s scrapping of the event to the auditor general, saying it needed to be determined why the costs of hosting the Games escalated and how much Victorian taxpayers would pay for their cancellation.
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Minister for education Jason Clare said increasing access to a Commonwealth-supported place at university will cost $34m over the next four years – “That’s a pretty good investment”.
He said on ABC RN this morning:
If you’re a young Indigenous person today, you’re more likely to go to jail than you are to university.
The cost of having somebody in jail every year is about $120,000. The cost of a university place is $11,000.
Tuna sushi.
Continue reading...The 2026 Games, which Daniel Andrews announced would be cancelled, was set to be held across Geelong, Bendigo, Ballarat, Gippsland and Shepparton
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.
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