Speculation mounts Melbourne and regional Victoria could host 2026 Commonwealth Games

Two decades after the last Melbourne Commonwealth Games, Victoria is emerging as a frontrunner to host the 2026 event.

An Australian Commonwealth Games committee spokesperson has told the ABC that «a number» of cities are currently being approached about putting forward bids.

However, governments in Western Australia, South Australia, and New South Wales have already flagged they would not be proceeding with bids.

Queensland already hosted the event in 2018 and will be preparing for the 2032 Olympic Games by 2026.

Nine newspapers have reported that the Commonwealth Games Federation approached Victoria, rather than the state making a bid, due to lack of interest in hosting the event.

Premier Daniel Andrews today said he was not ready to make any announcements regarding the Commonwealth Games, but said the government was always advocating for more major events in Victoria.

«What you can all be certain of, and what I think Victorians know, is that the government and Visit Victoria, we're out there every day working as hard as we can to get all the big major events to come to the major events capital of our nation,» he said.

Melbourne has existing infrastructure to support the more than 5,000 athletes and officials who attend the event, and cities like Shepparton, Ballarat and Bendigo are also home to world-class stadiums that would be well-suited to host events.

An alliance of 11 regional Victorian centres, including Shepparton, Bendigo, Geelong, Traralgon, Ballarat, Warrnambool, Nagambie, Wodonga and Yarrawonga had previously launched a campaign for Greater Victoria to host the 2030 games.

Former Victorian Minister for Sport Justin Madden told ABC Radio Melbourne a regional-based games could be the way to go.

«A lot of the big