As an Australian athlete, this is one of the most embarrassing things that I have ever witnessed.
I have been to three Commonwealth Games and the first was right back in 2010. One of the proudest moments of my swimming career was swimming at a home Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast in 2018.
I felt like we were showcasing our amazing country to the rest of the world. It was one of the proudest moments of my life, walking out there for the closing ceremony in front of 60,000 people.
The sense of national pride you get from that is unmatched in most sports.
This decision by the Victorian Government and Premier Daniel Andrews is a blight on our country, a blight on sport and Australia and is an embarrassment to the rest of the world.
The last Commonwealth Games hosted in this country was done for $1.5 billion. Anyone who believes Dan Andrews when he says this has blown out to $6 billion and possibly $7 billion is absolutely kidding themselves.
Don’t pretend like you are the knight in shining armour saying you’ve come to save the Games at the last minute when it’s clearly not true. It was insulting to the Commonwealth Games.
The biggest costs around these games are housing, transport and facilities and these towns had no existing facilities to host all of this. It was all going to have to be built from scratch.
Why bid for it? Why accept it and why take it on? It’s not a brave decision that Andrews he’s backflipped now. I’ve seen all the press conferences and he’s blown his own horn.
He’s done the wrong thing by bidding for it and winning the bid for Victoria.