Victoria says no to the Commonwealth Games

[What'sinaname]

^ give how much the traffic management clowns get, it's not unreasonable.

[Jezza]

[think positive]

It was a dumb idea. Our roads are carnage, imagine all that added traffic.

At least he has had the guts to call it.

But yeah, I’m a bit teary for some reason. I feel for the people who have started the work.

Gees didn’t see tha5 coming this morning.

[nomadjack]

Time for Andrews to go. Just the latest in a long line of poor governance, own goals, and complete disregard for transparency and accountability. The regional model put forward was a politically expedient thought bubble at the time to shore up the regional vote ahead of the 2022 state election. It was always going to be too expensive. Some of the waste built into the model now coming to light is truly mind blowing and shows how much contempt the government has for Victorian taxpayers. The cynicism to blame newly discovered cost blow outs and to try and shift blame onto project budgeting from EY (convenient against the background of consultancies being in the gun at the moment) is more evidence of a complete lack of accountability. It's a shame the opposition is completely unelectable because we are badly in need of an effective and functional government that has some form of integrity.

[slangman]

If Andrews was in private business, he’d be bankrupt.

His claim that the Comm Games will cost between $6-7 billion is an absolute exaggeration of the highest magnitude.
So the CG are more expensive than the Olympics??? Pffft….what a bloody liar.
Shouldn’t have agreed to host them without “proper” costings is another example of poor economic awareness and understanding this idiot has.
Business 101 is having a proper business case. It’s the first thing you learn as a business owner. My lord, I just cannot fathom how economically stupid he is.

His total lack of fiscal responsibility has hamstrung the state with irresponsible and impulsive decision making that have either cost the taxpayer billions of dollars in blowouts or in tearing up contracts.

I am flabbergasted at his ineptitude.
History will prove that he was the worst Premier in this states history.

What a buffoon.

[Skids]

WA will host the games now.

Just in from the premier...

“What we have is a highly-skilled, highly fit, highly motivated temporary workforce… Um… we mean, group of athletes coming in. Perfect candidates for new events like bricklaying, plumbing, mine site truck driving, nursing, policing, and well any other skills shortage we currently have which is a lot. A LOT” Cook said.

On top of the new events, WA will be offering every athlete a 5 year visa. Provided they agree to stay until the job is done.

https://www.thebelltowertimes.com/wa-to-host-commonwealth-games/

But seriously, I'm happy with what he really commented...

WA Premier Roger Cook described the idea as “ruinously expensive”.

“Our analysis was consistent with the Victorian Government analysis that this would cost a significant amount of money and provide very little return on that investment, providing a highly expensive sugar hit of a 12-day sporting festival,” he said, according to The West Australian.

“What I want to see in WA is a continued investment in our schools and our hospitals, making sure we make Western Australia a great place to live.”

[David]

In all seriousness, I'm reading the horrified handwringing from the British press over this news about the Commonwealth Games' future being in jeopardy and thinking ... maybe it should be? Nobody seems to want to or be able to host the games; and in any case, the Commonwealth is itself a terribly outdated institution (with a lot of justifiably negative historical connotations), and this event is ultimately all about trying to prop up its relevance.

Anyway, long story short, I agree with this guy.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-66229574

[What'sinaname]

^ you share the same name. Cool!! But he seem way more articulate and I am sure is way better looking too!

[David]

I doubt that either of those things are true, considering he'd only had two hours of sleep the night before being bailed up in Fed Square for a vox pop.

(no sign of the news report on YouTube as yet! So I may yet be safe from international notoriety as a deluded Dan Andrews stan and/or Commonwealth Games hater...)

[stui magpie]

Back to the supposed costs,

the 2018 Games were held on the Gold Coast and cost $1.8B

the 2022 games were held in Birmingham at a cost of $1.5B

Andrews budgeted for a cost of $2.6B, likely so much more because it was being held in 4 regional hubs.

A month ago, apparently in discussions with the Commonwealth Games Federation, the costs were up to near $3B.

How the flying **** can they suddenly claim that the cost estimates had blown out to over $6B? Something stinks.

[David]

I agree with the suggestion above that Dan is probably lying through his teeth, or picked some maximum estimate from planning discussions in order to offset other budget deficiencies.

[stui magpie]

Yeah, you can always tell when Dan is lying.

You can see his lips moving.

[lazzadesilva]

Let’s face it, in these circumstances he is damned if he did and damned if he didn’t 🙄 If having the games is such a fabulous thing for the host, how come (so far) no one else has put their hands up to have it? Surely they would be scrambling over each other to get the prize? It was a no win situation I guess so it is it is. As a sports lover, I’m very sad about the cancellation but have mixed emotions. I guess from an economic perspective, I should be supporting a responsible decision that would have made life worse for many people, especially us regional folk. However from a sports loving standpoint, it seems such a let down and a shame that we have lost an opportunity to watch international sportspersons.

[David]

[think positive]

Or buy your own table and use the channel changer.

I love the commonwealth games.

This was a silly idea, going regional and with the Westgate the way it is having it in the city wouldn’t work. I hope someone else takes it on.