Western Sydney business groups and Perth's mayor have wasted no time in launching their pitch to host the 2026 Commonwealth Games dropped by Victoria.
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Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews made the bombshell announcement on Tuesday to ditch the event after updated estimates put the cost at up to $7 billion.
"Thanks to Victoria's false start, Western Sydney is ready to relight the flame," Business Western Sydney executive director David Borger said.
"Back in 2000 we had one fantastic stadium site in Sydney Olympic Park, now we have another world-class stadium in Parramatta.
"We have rowing in the heart of Penrith and a cycling velodrome right next to Bankstown."
A potential Sydney bid also won an "enthusiastic yes" from the Committee for Sydney while fellow think-tank Western Sydney Dialogue said the west could "clean up Victoria's Games mess".
"As the home of major events and sporting excellence, Sydney stands ready and extremely bloody willing to host the Commonwealth Games," Committee for Sydney chief executive Eamon Waterford said.
The state opposition also encouraged an urgent bid for the best sporting infrastructure, the best sports fans and putting on the best global events.
In the west, Perth mayor Basil Zempilas claimed the athletes village could be built for $500 million and later used to home 7000 people in the city.
"We've got a huge opportunity to swoop in now, get it at the right price and do something defining for our city in this decade," he told Triple M.
But trying to convince those who would foot the bill - state governments - is a whole other task.
NSW, South Australia and Western Australia all hosed down potential bids while 2032 Olympics host Queensland said filling the void was highly unlikely.
NSW Premier Chris Minns pointed to the state's record debt and his government's lengthy list of election promises.
Even in the land of healthy surpluses - Western Australia - hope of a future bid was quickly quashed.
"This would cost a significant amount of money and provide very little return on that investment, providing a highly expensive sugar hit of a 12-day sporting festival," Premier Roger Cook told reporters on Tuesday.
"What I want to see in WA is a continued investment in our schools and our hospitals, making sure we make Western Australia a great place to live."
Queensland said it was focused on hosting the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
The $7b infrastructure budget for the Olympics was locked in and there was an overarching aim for the event to be cost-neutral, Deputy Premier Steven Miles said.
Gold Coast deputy mayor Donna Gates put a line through her city coming to the rescue after hosting the event in 2018.
"Our Commonwealth Games were so successful because they were very well planned over 10 years," she said.
"It would be, I think, impractical to think that any city could step in now with such a short timeframe."
Commonwealth Games Australia chief executive Craig Phillips was scathing of Victoria's decision and said the forecast cost overruns were a "gross exaggeration".
The quadrennial event has only once been hosted outside Australia and the United Kingdom in the 21st century.
Australian Associated Press
