Commonwealth Games probe hampered by executive privilege
30 April 2024 Read the report's 23 findings
The Chair of the Select Committee investigating the cancellation of regional Victoria’s 2026 Commonwealth Games will attempt to obtain further documents from the government.
David Limbrick will move a production of documents motion in the Upper House after the inquiry’s interim report found the probe had exhausted most avenues for obtaining certain documents from the government.
‘The government has not provided the Committee with much of the information it has requested and summonsed,’ Committee Chair David Limbrick said.
‘In declining to provide this information it has cited a self-defined classification of executive privilege that is so broad it has covered all but a few of the documents the Committee has asked for.
“ ‘The government is accountable to the parliament and through the parliament to the people of Victoria.' ”
David Limbrick, Committee Chair
‘It should not set the conditions by which it is held to account.’
Among the other findings is a determination the timeframe agreed to by the government and the Commonwealth Games Federation to negotiate hosting the Games was too short.
‘It is possible that if the government had taken the time to produce a more considered business case, it may not have gone ahead with its decision to host the Games in the first place,’ Mr Limbrick said.
“ ‘This would have prevented the loss of over half a billion taxpayer dollars.’ ”
David Limbrick, Committee Chair
The report also found strict confidentiality requirements imposed on consultants who compiled the business case impeded their ability to conduct site visits and engage with experts, contributing to an underestimation in costs.
To gather its evidence, the Committee has so far held nine days of public hearings, including at four regional areas due to host the Games: Geelong, Ballarat, Bendigo and Gippsland.
Further hearings are expected to be held before a final report is tabled in April 2025.
‘While some areas of the executive, including key decision makers, have not been willing to provide evidence to the Committee, I wish to thank the many people who made submissions and provided evidence in public hearings,’ Mr Limbrick said.
‘In particular and on behalf of the Committee, I want to thank the numerous sporting groups and associations throughout Victoria for their forthright evidence.’
The full interim report has been published on the Committee’s website.