Victorian has thrown its hat in the ring to host yet another major sporting event despite its sensational cancellation of the 2026 Commonwealth Games.
Melbourne has made the final cut of contenders to host the 2030 Gay Games after former premier Daniel Andrews canned the Commonwealth Games after previously agreeing to host the event.
The Gay Games are set to be a major economic driver for the host city, with Paris recording a $118million profit after holding the event in 2018.
But detractors are criticising the state’s eagerness to host the event after it had agreed to host the 2026 Commonwealth Games across Melbourne and five regional Victorian cities in April 2022 before backing out in July 2023.
Then-premier Mr Andrews justified scrapping the 2026 Games by arguing the event’s initial $2.6billion budget later ballooned out to more than $7billion.
The cancellation cost Victorian taxpayers $586million, including a $380million compensation pay-out to the Commonwealth Games organisers.
Former premier Jeff Kennett said he had no faith that the state government would be able to deliver on the Gay Games.
‘Why would anyone, any organisation committee, trust the state government to deliver,’ Mr Kennett told the Herald Sun.
Mr Kennett added that Victorians are unlikely to trust their government’s price estimates after it severely underestimated the cost of the Commonwealth Games.
‘Has there been due diligence done in terms of costings, viability, or is this just an application without any business plan associated with it like the Commonwealth Games?’ Mr Kennett said.
‘If so, that should be made public, so that the people can have some confidence that the government knows what it’s doing.’
The state government now led by Premier Jacinta Allan made the decision to go after the Gay Games within months of Mr Andrews having cancelled the Commonwealth Games.
Commonwealth Games president Ben Houston said the decision to cancel ‘called into question ‘s integrity to host world class events’.
‘The costs of cancelling the Victoria 2026 Commonwealth Games are enormous… In addition to the reputational damage caused,’ Mr Houston said.
In May, a parliamentary inquiry found Victoria’s bid to host the 2026 Commonwealth Games was rushed and based on grossly underestimated costs.
The games faced an uncertain future following Mr Andrews’ cancellation before Scotland offered to resurrect the event in Glasgow, a proposal which is still under consideration.
Victorian Shadow Minister for Tourism, Sport and Events, Sam Groth, slammed the Labor government for ‘wasting’ almost $600million.
‘How can any Victorian have confidence Labor can deliver this event,’ he said.
In its response a Victorian government spokesperson said ‘we’re always looking at new opportunities and events’ as the nation’s ‘major events capital’.
The state government declined to provide the publication with any of its cost projections or plans for staging the 2030 event.
Daily Mail has reached out to the Victorian government for comment.
Melbourne is one of 10 finalists being considered for hosting duties, competing against Perth, Adelaide, Auckland, Cape Town, Frankfurt, Denver, Taipei, Vancouver and Edmonton.
The Gay Games is a 10-day event which celebrates and promotes lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people and athletes.
According to its website the event is open to everyone ‘regardless of your sexuality, gender, age or any other characteristic’.
In December, 25 cities were competing to host the games but that number has since been reduced to a shortlist of 10.
In May staff from the office of Victoria’s Major Events Minister Steve Dimopoulos’ secured a meeting with advocates for the Gay Games.
State representatives will next travel to Washington to formally pitch their city to organisers in October.
The Gay Games were first held in San Francisco in 1982 and other hosts have included Hong Kong, Guadalajara in Mexico in 2023, and Sydney in 2002.