The Senate inquiry which is investigating the cancellation of the Commonwealth Games is giving Victorian regional communities a very important voice.
Tomorrow, the Mayor of Greater Geelong and representatives from the Committee for Geelong and G21 Geelong Regional Alliance will give evidence to the Senate inquiry into Australia’s Preparedness to host Commonwealth, Olympic and Paralympic Games.
The inquiry, initiated by the Coalition, is being conducted by the Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport References Committee, chaired by Senator Matt Canavan.
Representatives from Commonwealth Games Australia including CEO Craig Phillips will also appear at a public hearing in Melbourne tomorrow.
On Tuesday, the committee will move to Bendigo when various sporting bodies and the Committee for Ballarat and Committee for Greater Shepparton are also scheduled to appear.
I am pleased that Mayor Trent Sullivan has confirmed he will appear to provide important information about the terrible impact of the cancellation on the Greater Geelong community. I call on the mayors of Ballarat and Greater Bendigo to give their communities a voice and appear at the hearing in Bendigo on Tuesday.
It is very disappointing that Premier Andrews and the responsible Victorian minister, Jacinta Allan, have snubbed the inquiry.
Victorians deserve to know the truth about Labor’s shocking cancellation of the Commonwealth Games. Working hand in glove with the Albanese Government, Premier Andrews and Labor have left our international sporting reputation in tatters, robbed the regions of legacy sporting infrastructure and demonstrated the full scale of Labor’s economic mismanagement.