Is this the end of the Commonwealth Games?
The event was supposed to be a massive boost for the regional cities hosting it, at a cost of A$2.6 billion ."I've made a lot of difficult calls, a lot of very difficult decisions in this job. This is not one of them," he told reporters.The CGF say they were blindsided by Victoria's decision, and dispute the estimates.
Durban was supposed to be the first city in Africa to stage the Games, but were stripped of hosting rights in 2017 after running into money troubles and missing key deadlines. And while New South Wales was widely seen as the most viable Australian alternative due to its existing infrastructure, its premier Chris Minns said, "hosting the Commonwealth Games would be something nice to do. Schools and hospitals are must do's".
But more and more former colonies are distancing themselves from Britain, with many either becoming republics or, like Australia, weighing it up."It's hard to get people that are not from a British background buying into this concept of uniting Australia with the mother country and the other former colonies."
And with Australia in the grips of both a cost of living crisis and a debate over recognising its Indigenous people in the constitution, some say pouring billions into the Games would be a terrible look.Its president, Dame Louise Martin, in 2018 said it was facing an "existential crisis".
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