Money remains the key issue but a "multi-million-pound investment" from Commonwealth Games Australia announced on the weekend appears to have moved the needle.
The Scottish government was "making progress" in its talks with the Australian and international Games bodies, the Glasgow council and the UK government, he told BBC Radio's Good Morning Scotland. "But I am hopeful that we will be able to recognise that if we are to go ahead, this is a different Games.Australian athletes smile as they arrive during the Opening Ceremony for the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games at Celtic Park.
When it announced it was hosting the Games in April 2022, the Victorian government said it would cost $2.6 billion, only for then-premier Daniel Andrews to say that figure had blown out to almost $7 billion after the state backed out as hosts last July.Daniel Andrews said the cost of hosting the Games had blown out by billions, but the auditor-general found the figure he gave to the public was "overstated and not transparent".
Victoria's decision to host and then abandon the 2026 Commonwealth Games has cost the state almost $600 million, according to the state's auditor-general's office.