What should have been a major celebration of Australian sport has instead become a punchline, with the cancelled 2026 Commonwealth Games now the subject of social‑media satire. The Games were meant to open this week, with the Melbourne Cricket Ground set to host a grand ceremony just as it did in 2006 before events rolled out across regional Victoria.
But the ambitious plan never materialised. In July 2023, the Victorian government abruptly cancelled the event, citing soaring costs. Since then, the Games that never happened have become a symbol of political mismanagement.
On Tuesday, Opposition Leader Jess Wilson and several former Liberal leaders released a comedic video poking fun at the abandoned event. Wilson is shown diving into a pool, Brad Battin lifts 20‑kilogram dumbbells outside state parliament, and Matthew Guy takes part in a mock relay. John Pesutto even attempts a discus throw in jeans and white sneakers.
Premier Jacinta Allan dismissed the video, saying she hadn’t watched it and insisting this was “not the time for petty politics.”
A 2025 parliamentary inquiry found the government had “grossly underestimated costs”, rushing into the decision to host the Games across regional Victoria for the wrong reasons. The inquiry revealed that the final cancellation stemmed from a series of departmental and ministerial failures.
When the government agreed to host the Games in April 2022 just months before a state election the projected cost was $2.6 billion. By 2023, estimates had ballooned far beyond that figure.
With Glasgow now set to host the 2026 Games, Wilson said Victorians had missed out on what should have been a major moment for the state.
“If the Labor government hadn’t cancelled the Commonwealth Games, today we would have had hundreds of thousands of people excited in Victoria at the opening ceremony,” she said.
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