The cancellation of the 2026 Commonwealth Games has not made it harder for Victoria to attract other major events, the state's tourism agency says.
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Victoria suddenly pulled the pin on hosting the Games in July over cost concerns, with the decision sparking fears the state would suffer long-term reputational damage.
But Visit Victoria chief executive Brendan McClements was adamant it had not generated any issues in discussion with major event rights holders.
"Having had extensive conversations since July the 18th, my professional advice is, no, it hasn't," he told a parliamentary inquiry into the Games bid on Friday.
Commonwealth Games Australia boss Craig Phillips, former Australian Olympic Committee president John Coates and former Australian Sports Commission chair John Wiley have all expressed concerns the cancellation would damage Melbourne and Victoria's standing internationally.
Liberal MP and committee member David Davis put their statements to Mr McClements but he stood firm in his assessment.
"If anything, it's actually increased the interest in people coming to Melbourne and Victoria," Mr McClements said.
The idea of Victoria looking into hosting the Games was conceived by the agency in March 2021, with the concept first put to then-sports minister Martin Pakula's office on October 12.
At the time, the event was without a host after Durban was stripped of the 2022 Games and original 2026 rights holder Birmingham moved up to replace the South African city.
The ill-fated original business case submitted to the Victorian government in January 2022 initially put the cost of hosting the event across regional hubs between $2.5 billion to $3 billion.
But the estimated cost was revised to between $6 billion to $7 billion and used by then-premier Daniel Andrews to justify cancelling the Games on July 18.
Documents submitted to the inquiry show Visit Victoria spent $1.9 million of its $26 million marketing budget.
A promotional video, titled A Games Like No Other, launched at the 2022 Birmingham Games closing ceremony, cost almost $590,000 to produce.
Taxpayers footed a $52,143 bill to send former Victorian Governor Linda Dessau to Birmingham in June 2022 for a final bid presentation, while it cost $41,032 to fly Mr McClements to Birmingham and London across three trips.
Mr McClements said some tasks could not be performed online.
"Decisions around awarding the Games are made in person at a Commonwealth Games meeting of the federation board - you are required to attend," he said.
The agency paid polling outfit YouGov $14,000 to research the popularity of the sport Kabaddi in India earlier this year, and a contractor was hired to analyse social media coverage after the event was dumped at a cost of $6575.
Outgoing Department of Treasury and Finance secretary David Martine was grilled on the rigour and methodology of the original business case, which was pulled together by consultancy firm Ernst & Young.
Mr Andrews previously described the business case as "hardly the greatest piece of work" and Mr Martine conceded it did not involve "detailed work".
"The costings of the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games (were) used as the start point and then adjusted for inflation over time and other cost pressures," he said.
"They did make an allowance for the differences and the complexities in dispersing the model across a region versus hosting it in one location."
The inquiry continues.
Australian Associated Press
