Daniel Andrews News

Labor will move to enshrine the State Electricity Commission in Victoria’s Constitution to head off what it says is the threat of a future Coalition government abolishing it.

The Victorian government spent nearly $11 million on salaries for staff on the organising committee of the Commonwealth Games it axed, including at least $300,000 a year paid to 11 executives.

One of Victoria’s two ministers responsible for the 2026 Commonwealth Games has revealed she never read the original business case for the event.

The former boss of Victoria’s rail agency breached its code of conduct by suggesting that a government joint venture should grant him an equity stake, the state’s auditor-general has found after investigating how $20 million of taxpayer funds were lost on a company created to remotely monitor bridges.

A top Victorian tourism bureaucrat says axing the 2026 Commonwealth Games did not damage the state’s reputation for hosting major events and in fact boosted travellers’ interest in the state.

Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan has denied misleading parliament when she said that “tremendous progress” was being made to hosting the Commonwealth Games despite already knowing the event would blow by at least $2 billion.

Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan was warned months in advance that the Commonwealth Games would blow out by billions of dollars due to the event’s spread-out regional model, a parliamentary inquiry has been told.

The Victorian government’s bill for the cancelled Commonwealth Games has risen by another $40 million after fresh documents revealed Labor’s spending on consultants and venues.

The Victorian government spent nearly $1.3 million on lawyers to negotiate the fallout of its shock decision to axe the Commonwealth Games, documents have revealed.

Victoria’s new Premier Jacinta Allan should scrap $200 billion suburban rail loop, defer any other transport expenditure it can to ease pressure on costs, and charge cars to enter and leave Melbourne’s CBD to give trams on major routes a freer run in the inner city, experts say.

Welcome to the weekend. To start off your day, we’ve curated 10 great reads to enjoy.

Daniel Andrews has warned Victorians to brace for much higher power prices during the energy transition, after the energy market operator identified the state as at key risk of blackouts this summer because the system is running behind on its conversion to renewable energy.

Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate has picked a fight with Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews, saying cancelling theCommonwealth Games was “un-Australian” and would be the only thing he is remembered for.

Consultants say they stand by their work done on the original business case for the 2026 Commonwealth Games, despite the Victorian government later claiming costs had more than doubled when they cancelled the event.

Visy boss Anthony Pratt says Victorians can now recycle their pizza boxes without worry after a $42.5 million upgrade to the company’s Coolaroo plant has given it the “most advanced paper recycling technology in the world”.

The Victorian government has blamed the Commonwealth Games fiasco on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and 12 interest rate rises in 14 months as Premier Daniel Andrews declined to attend a federal inquiry into the matter.

Commonwealth Games officials initially sought a “multibillion-dollar” payout from Victoria’s Andrews government for its cancellation of the 2026 event, and independent mediators were crucial in containing it to a$380 million deal that went down to the wire.

Harvey Norman chief executive Katie Page has become the latest high-profile executive to throw support behind another Gold Coast Commonwealth Games, urging the Victorian government to give the money it was planning to spend to mayor Tom Tate.

Daniel Andrews says he is confident Victoria can meet its ambitious renewable energy targets despite warnings that strict environmental rules set for a $1 billion wind farm project in the state’s south-west threaten to hinder the energy transition.

The Andrews government will face more heat over its shock decision to cancel the Commonwealth Games after the Victorian Liberals won support from the crossbench to hold a parliamentary inquiry into the debacle.

MPs and two councillors were involved in receiving significant sums of money and political donations to promote the interests of John Woodman, a millionaire property industry figure. The Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission found that two City of Casey councillors, Geoff Ablett and Sameh Aziz, accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars in undeclared payments to advance Woodman's interests within the council's processes. Additionally, the investigation found that former Labor MPs Jude Perera and Judith Graley also received financial support for their election campaigns. Subsequently, they sought to influence the planning minister and other government decision-makers to support a rezoning proposal that would have resulted in substantial gains for Woodman and certain landowners. According to the Operation Sandon report, Premier Daniel Andrews provided evidence to the investigation. However, IBAC did not find any adverse findings against him.