Commonwealth Games organisers unaware of external consultants’ cost forecasts until shock cancellation

Australian Games body slams Victorian government, calling predicted blowout a ‘gross exaggeration’

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Commonwealth Games organisers were unaware of external consultants’ involvement in estimating the costs of the 2026 event until the Victorian government made the shock announcement that it was being cancelled.

It’s understood that organisers were last month told by the government that the original cost of the 2026 Games, which were to be held across five regional Victorian sites, had grown from an initial $2.6bn to about $4bn.

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