Dan knows best, regardless of the collateral damage

Today, Victoria’s economy is every bit as bad as it was in the early 1990s yet Andrews, who cruised to another election victory in November last year, was happy to use the Commonwealth Games no one else wanted to help secure that victory.

Andrews has never shown much regard for economics, and he grabbed the Games because of the political dividend.

Touting a total cost of $2.6 billion, the Victorian government maximised that political dividend by pledging to host them in the regions.

So, he just killed the Games, claimed it all to be someone else’s fault, and refused to apologise.

This, however, would be much more expensive, given temporary venues would have to be built. Why not, for example, use the perfectly good velodrome in Melbourne? Because you could chase votes by building a temporary facility in Oonawoopwoop.

“We were talking about ways of containing costs for the delivery of the Games and the operational costs of the Games,” said Commonwealth Games Australia chief executive Craig Phillips.

“Some of those suggestions from us were to start to look at being pragmatic and reduce the reliance on temporary builds in regional locations – to come back to existing venues, particularly here in Melbourne.

“But we were told by the Victorian government: ‘Not interested.’”

Dan knows best. Sound familiar?

Andrews disputes this, claiming all options were explored and even if the feds were willing to pay half the alleged blowout cost – which they were not – the Games were not worth it.

So, he just killed the Games, claimed it all to be someone else’s fault, and refused to apologise. All while seamlessly flicking the switch to a virtuous prioritisation of schools and hospitals over bread and circuses.

Well, almost. Rather than save all the money, he’s still going to blow a fair bit in the regions to mitigate against political blowback.

“It was the most Andrews thing ever,” noted one Labor source.

“Do a press conference indignant about the cost, and act as if you are about to do a royal commission into who commissioned it.”

Andrews will most likely get away with it because he is bulletproof, a “good politician” as his defenders always contend, regardless of the human and economic costs involved.

Well-heeled codes

At some stage in this country, the definition of “good politics” needs to be expanded beyond doing what it takes to win elections, regardless of the collateral damage. Legacy should also matter.

If any good is to come of his shameless deflection about this being purely about spending priorities, it is the highlighting of the growing penchant by governments to hurl money at sport, especially the well-heeled codes, in return for votes.

That doesn’t mean it’s a bad thing, but a little more scrutiny of governments being shaken down wouldn’t hurt.

Anyone who was in Adelaide for the AFL’s Gather Round in April could not dispute the value of the Malinauskas government paying $15 million to host the event.

The city was heaving like it hasn’t heaved since just before it was wiped out in the recession the early 1990s. Unlike Melbourne.

Still, Premier Peter Malinauskas needs to be careful. He paid tens of millions more to secure Gather Round for another three years while also being on the hook to help fund a new training facility of the Adelaide Crows, to which the feds have already pledged $15 million.

The funding-starved arts crowd in Adelaide has started labelling Malinauskas a “bogan”, more so after he tipped in an undisclosed amount to secure the Saudi-backed LIV Golf tournament at Grange Golf Club, just so golf could be defiled by drunken yobs throwing beer all over the players and the course, under the guise of that was what the game needed.

The AFL has more money than God, but after Josh Frydenberg once gave Carlton $15 million to upgrade its facilities at Princes Park, the other clubs put their hands out as well.

Exhibit A right now is the blowback in Tasmania against the proposed $715 million Australian Rules stadium in Hobart, a condition of that state being given its long-desired AFL side.

Anthony Albanese thought he was on to a winner when he went to Tassie to announce the Commonwealth would contribute about $240 million towards the project. Instead, he was heckled by protesters, while Jeremy Rockliff’s government has been brought to its knees by defections.

Cautionary tale

The fact no other state wanted the Commonwealth Games also speaks volumes.

And then, of course, there’s the Brisbane Olympics scheduled for 2032. The Games will proceed, but there’s a cautionary tale.

In the late 1990s, in the lead-up to the Sydney Olympics, then SA premier John Olsen held a press conference on the pitch of the then-undeveloped Hindmarsh soccer stadium to announce SA would host seven Olympic matches, including a quarter-final.

There was a cost, of course, but Olsen banged on about it being the state’s biggest sporting coup since the Grand Prix – despite every other state also getting matches – and SA would benefit from the international exposure, etc etc.

From the back of the press pack, a reporter asked Olsen if he could remember where the soccer qualifiers were played during the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.

He couldn’t, so the reporter then asked: “So what makes you think anyone is going to notice Adelaide?”

Starting to fume, the premier said the stadium would be pasted with the “Sensational Adelaide” slogan and beamed into living rooms around the world.

The journo again: “But, under the International Olympic Committee rules, all signage is banned at venues except ‘Sydney 2000’.”

And that was it for the press conference.