The Victorian government will pay the Commonwealth Games $380 million in compensation after pulling out of hosting the 2026 games.
Victoria announced their bombshell withdrawal in July due to a staggering potential cost blowout, with premier Daniel Andrews claiming the event that was initially estimated to cost $2.6 billion would instead cost the state “at least $6 billion, and could be as high as $7 billion”.
Negotiators flew to London in July for lengthy mediation talks, with an agreement finally signed at 11pm on Friday night.
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The state government announced on Saturday morning an agreement had been settled with all ‘affected parties’: the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF), Commonwealth Games Federation Partnerships (CGFP) and Commonwealth Games Australia (CGA).
“All parties engaged respectfully and made appropriate concessions in order to reach an agreement,” a Victorian government statement said. “The parties also agreed that the multi-hub regional model was more expensive to host than the traditional models.”
“The settlement finalises all matters between the parties,” the statement said.
“The parties are legally bound not to speak further regarding the details of the settlement.”
The Victorian government also released costing documents on Saturday morning, which showed the cost of building athletes villages would cost a billion dollars more than initially estimated.
But Daniel Andrews is set to front the media later on Saturday.
