The state inquiry joins a federal inquiry already underway into the preparedness of Victoria and Brisbane to hold the Commonwealth and Olympic Games respectively.
Despite the Labor Party being in power in Victoria, the motion to hold a state inquiry passed with the support from the Greens and the entire cross bench.
The federal senate inquiry has also reopened submissions following the announcement of the cancellation of the Commonwealth Games on July 18.
Also the former minister for sport, McKenzie, who was born and grew up in regional Victoria, instigated the inquiry after raising concerns in January about the viability of the Commonwealth Games.
“I’ve been hearing for a long time from local councils, from national sporting groups and international stakeholders, through my previous role as sports minister that there were concerns that the state government was dragging its heel on the normal things you need to see as you roll out a global event of this scale,” McKenzie told Sky News the day after Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews announced the cancellation.
“Consultation with local communities, engagement with national sporting bodies to understand the technical requirements for the builds in these communities so that the event facilities actually were fit for purpose and indeed simple things like the social infrastructure around transport and housing that was going to be required – those conversations were not happening on the ground and so that led to us setting up the inquiry,” she said.
