Games minister never read the business case

afr.com:

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

Harriet Shing, who was the minister for Commonwealth Games legacy, told a parliamentary inquiry on Thursday she only ever read fragments of the business case by consultancy Ernst & Young which put the cost at between $2.5 billion and $3 billion.

Harriet Shing, the former minister for Commonwealth Games legacy, has claimed she was in the dark for a week about the government’s plan to axe the event.  Chris Hopkins

“I was given details extracted from the business case,” Ms Shing said. “The work had been done… and I was pressing ahead.”

Then-premier Daniel Andrews announced the Games would be cancelled on July 18, saying costs had blown out to up to $7 billion. The inquiry has heard the original costings failed to take account of the government’s insistence Games events be spread across regional areas.

Liberal MP David Davis asked Ms Shing when she first became aware of the cost blowouts, but she rejected phrasing, opting instead for “escalating cost pressures”.

Ms Shing also said she did not mislead parliament when she told it the government would deliver the “Games of a lifetime” a week after plans were initiated to axe the event, because she did not know about those plans.

She told the inquiry on Thursday that then deputy premier Jacinta Allan, who is now premier, informed her on June 22 that the government was considering pulling the pin on the Games.

Two days earlier, Ms Shing told parliament the government would deliver the “Games of a lifetime”. That was nearly a week after Mr Andrews engaged lawyers to look at dropping the event.

During a fiery hearing, Mr Davis described