Senator Ralph Babet has said that “The cancellation of the 2026 Commonwealth Games is humiliating to the people of Victoria and highlights the toxic mismanagement of our state under the Andrews government.”
“Victoria has more debt than any other state in our nation. In fact it has been reported that our state debt exceeds that of Queensland, New South Wales and Tasmania combined.
“Premier Andrews has broken another election promise. The Victorian people are rightly appalled by the inability of the government to manage the people’s money. Clearly the government has failed to complete adequate due diligence and costing.
“How is it possible that the estimated cost is only roughly a third of the actual cost of the event. This is not only embarrassing for the people of Victoria, but for our nation and the Commonwealth as a whole.
“At what point did Premier Andrews become aware of this cost blow out? Was he aware of the increased cost at any point during the election campaign? Did he mislead the public, making promises that he cannot keep?
“The Premier is a master of political speech, but a fool when it comes to managing precious taxpayer’s money. This decision is symbolic of a systemic, glaring issue that the state of Victoria has on the horizon. This government has over committed, it has the worst credit rating in our nation,” said Senator Babet.
