Aussie supporters at the Olympics. Photo by Elizabeth Chapman
John Coates, the wily president of the Australian Olympic Committee has sent a letter asking the Sports Minister, Kate Ellis, a number of leading questions, according to the Sydney Morning Herald, designed to test the independence of the Independent Sport Panel looking into the funding of Australian sport.
The panel made recommendations that funds should be diverted from Olympic Sports to professional sports like Australian Rules football. This funding change has been furiously attacked by Coates.
His questions, on the face of it, make a strong case for the notion that Ellis was indulging in gold medal spin in naming the panel an Independent Sport Panel.
1. Coates wants to know if the author of the report, businessman David Crawford, informed Ellis or declared any association he may have had with the AFL.
2. He wants to know whether Crawford requested, recommended or suggested the appointment of the AFL commissioner Sam Mostyn or AFL foundation board member Colin Carter.
3. Did Mostyn and Carter declare or inform Ellis of their AFL connections?
4. Did the hockey administrator Pam Tye tell Ellis that in 2001 she was an unsuccessful candidate for all seven vacent positions on the AOC executive?
The details of this letter by Coates to Ellis were revealed by Jacqueline Magnay in the SMH. Magnay is an excellent sports journalist with an expertise in investigations (she was part of the team that broke open the Firepower affair). She covers all the sports and has been a brilliant reporter at the Olympic Games.
Interestingly, the columnist on the SMH who has been most supportive of the Crawford recommendations is Richard Hinds, a talented columnist who covers the AFL for his paper.
Ellis’ initial response to Magnay’s story was hardly convincing: ‘We are committed to increasing government support for Olympic and Paralympic sport and also community sport.’
This is not good enough. On the face of it, Ellis set up a supposedly ‘independent’ panel which had obvious conflicts of interest regarding the their funding recommendations. In the case of Tye, there is a history with the AOC.
Why wasn’t a more representative panel co-opted?
If Ellis did know about the sports interests of the panel why didn’t she balance it out with people from other sports?
If she did not know the sports interests of the panel, why didn’t she?
It is hardly a secret that the South Australian Ellis is an AFL tragic. Her knowledge of other major sports in Australia was not up to speed, even after she became the Sports Minister. She rather famously remarked once that Australia needed world class women’s sports teams, not long after the Australian Women’s Rugby Sevens side had won the inaugural World Cup.
Ellis’ over-loading of an ‘independent’ panel with AFL devotees coincides with an era of triumphalism on the part of the Australian Rules community.
In New Zealand, for instance, Hawthorn are putting in a program in some primary schools and demanding a government subsidy.
There has been the swaggering attempt to force the NSW State Government to subsidise the development of another ground in the western suburbs of Sydney for a new team intended to turn the area from a heartland of rugby league to an AFL growth area. The embattled Premier, Nathan Rees, has finally squashed the idea.
There is a great deal of hubris involved in all of this. The cost to the AFL of the push into the western suburbs of Sydney is estimated at about $200 million. If the AFL want to spend their own money on such engrandisements, then so be it. It is their money and however they spend it is their concern.
But Coates’ point is, and many Australians will feel that it is a valid point, that this empire-building should not be subsidised at the cost of a number of Olympic sports.
If there is to be increased subsidies, why not to a genuine grassroots sports like touch football – which just happens not to have an AFL component to it?
If Ellis want the Australian sports community to accept the Crawford recommendations, she needs to deal fully and convincingly with the questions that Coates has raised. So far, Coates looks like winning Olympic gold in this argument and Ellis is looking like an also-ran.
Life Coach
Guest
Even in any kind of sports, money is still an issue. Sometimes, many good athletes are not recognized or given attention to because of lack of funding. Some people might also be corrupt in some other ways for their own personal interest. Hope, it will be a win-win situation for both parties. Hail, all the athletes!
Fly on the Wall
Guest
The sports that generate big money for the top athletes are the ones that command big TV deals, simple as that. That's why women athletes earn so much less, except in tennis. And that's why Australia's top athletes in many Olympic sports do it tough - hockey, shooting, equestrian, rowing, cycling (except the TdF guys). My payback suggestion would go something like this - Stephanie Rice received public funding of, say, $100,000 over 5 years. She's now earning say $500,000 a year through endorsements, so she can pay back the $100,000 over a few years - money that either gets put into grassroots swimming (has to be proved) or gets returned to the government. How much taxpayer money did Lleyton Hewitt get? Don't know - but whatever it was he can now afford to pay it back. What's wrong with that? We don't begrudge the handout and they don't begrudge handing it back once they can afford to.
Jameswm
Guest
Yes another great irony FOTW. Ronald was even there to officially open the carnival on Saturday. Shows how much Maccas my kids have when my 9yo thought his name was Ryan McDonald. IGA also sponsor it, as do coke. These days obesity levels have a correlation with IQ, so says a study I saw not too long ago. I can't see how it's the right thing to force an athlete, on a dole level handout whilst training, eventually getting a decent earn, to pay it back to the Govt. Where do you draw the line? You went to a 4-day training camp 7 years ago, we've CPI'ed the cost to $1,200, so pay that back too thanks. Talk about a disincentive to earn. Reducing or stopping the payouts when they are self-sufficient - different story. But paying them back? Think about it this way. You put monmey into a kid's Little Athletics club so they can improve, and then when they are good, they have to fund $30,000 per annum to go overseas for competition. Pip wrongly assumes that if a sport is followed by kids, it will generate top $ at the snr level. He also wrongly assumes that if it does, it will put the money back into elite jnr coaching. Not true - look at swimming as well. Athletics is the poor cousin, because it's so much tougher to excel in it than in swimming.
bever fever
Guest
Nailed it Beast.
Gotta love the tinfoil hat. What a sublime piece of impartial journalism, check out these gems: "force the NSW State Government", "demanding a government subsidy", oh and my personal favourite "empire-building should not be subsidised". Got anymore loaded words up the sleeve? Quality journalism.
Fly on the Wall
Guest
Agreed - primary school is crucial to developing good exercise habits. The sports that need the funding don't have the development officers to go around schools conducting basic skills clinics. Vicious cycle repeats.
Fly on the Wall
Guest
There are many factors behind rising obesity levels. But the most important one is adults buying crap food - for themselves and their kids. Stop doing that and the problem is 3/4 solved. Yes, food standard labelling and regulations should be much tougher - but just don't buy the stuff to start with. Get in contact with Susie Burrell, a nutritionist, and she will send you a weekly email outlining healthy food choices - it's a great weekly read and invaluable for anyone with kids who love eating crap. Now, back onto the Crawford report - how about the athletes sign a contract that says they will pay back their taxpayer-provided funding once they earn / win a certain amount of money? The reason GB is now doing great at sport is because they have national lottery funding and have bought excellent Australian coaches to set up their own institutes. This was all a reaction to Thatcher selling off thousands of school ovals - their 'Montreal moment' if you like. Jameswm - do you think it is right for Little Athletics to have McDonalds as a sponsor? Sort of legitimises the bad eating habits of the obese people you mentioned.
Jameswm
Guest
Why does everyone think spending a few dollars on pools or athletics equipment at local clubs, or even improved PE programs at public schools, will have any significant impact on the obesity problems? I was at a Little Aths meet on Saturday - the obese people (and ironically there were many) were drinking coke and eating chips and ice creams.
Pippinu
Roar Guru
Amen to that. Fly - it's also about getting more money into sport at primary school level - and hockey should definitely be one of the choices available for primary school kids to play. I've said above - looking at years 5 and 6 - split up the school year into six segments of around six weeks each - and kids would play one specific sport for those six weeks, incl basics, training and games. You'd have some standard ones that most schools would do: cricket, athletics, soccer and netball, and then you'd have others from which all schools could choose: touch footy, hockey, basketball, softball, auskick, etc. This is where the focus of Crawford's findings should lead us - getting kids playing sport at school again.
Redb
Roar Guru
Excellent post.
Chris
Guest
When I run, swin or cycle it is to keep fit. It is not because I have been inspired by an Olympian.
Fly on the Wall
Guest
One last thing, Coates is not going for gold - he's going for the gutter in a pathetic display of jingoistic flag-waving tosh that makes me want to vomit. Sydney 2000 gave the AOC a mountain cash with which to fund all Australia's future Olympic campaigns. If Coates is not equipped to manage that investment he should let someone do it and stick to the pen-pushing, glad-handing that he excels at.
Fly on the Wall
Guest
Grow up Spiro, you have it all wrong. The Crawford report does not recommend any cuts to Olympic funding. Full stop. End of story. The whingeing bully Coates wants an EXTRA $100m for the AOC. Crawford rightly says any increase should go to grassroots development and he has my full support, although I disagree that fully professional sports should get public handouts (tennis, AFL, NRL, ARU, FFA, cricket etc) . That money should go to hockey, cycling, netball, softball, swimming and so on. Amateur Olympic sports cannot capitalise on gold medals that much because they are forbidden by the IOC from selling any Olympic-related merchandise. Remember the men's hockey finally winning gold in Athens? I'd love a video / T-shirt / poster of that game / moment and Australia's efforts in the tournament. Sorry, IOC doesn't allow it. How many Geelong / Storm fans have bought a video, T-shirt or other 2009 premiership merchandise in the past two months? I'll bet tens of thousands - it makes a huge difference to Olympic sports that are not fully professional. And please stop with the anti-AFL rubbish - they are the gold standard in Australian sports administration and miles ahead of the AOC and ASC. Sure they are not perfect but they do it better than anyone. Richard Hinds got it dead right in his article. Did any Fox Sports viewers catch the Kookaburras destroying Holland yesterday in the Champions Trophy hockey in Melbourne? A magical performance. How many development officers does Hockey NSW have? Two at most. That's where any extra money needs to go.
Jaredsbro
Roar Guru
Fair enough. These days that's probably true, but it has other functions too of course. Sometimes it takes real selflessness to really spread the message, but sometimes unfortunately athletes can get away with doing it half-heartedly and the results start falling out of the sky
Jaredsbro
Roar Guru
Yeah I apologise for attacking the man not the ball and I know you're in love with plenty of sports of which many are on the fringe like Korfball ;)...but why I got so passive-agressive was because you seemed to be suggesting a free market kind of logic about sport, and for heaven's sake can we leave our sporting culture apart from all cruel and alienating aspects of business...
Pippinu
Roar Guru
I actually view most of the Olympic events as attempts at personal glory.
Jaredsbro
Roar Guru
But by plying their trade overseas a la a snowboarder for example they're not contributing in anyway to helping other like minded people into getting into the same discipline as them. It might work if their main aim is personal glory as they'd truly get to perform on the highest stage but how does this help a youngster or even a person my age who may or may not want/be willing to give half pipe snowboarding for eg a go. Part of funding is gaining exposure. But that's an issue of rolemodels, which means I'm kinda disgressing
Pippinu
Roar Guru
Jaredsbro I'm not sure why people are assuming I'm somehow against Athletics. If ou read my Roar blurb, you will note that at one stage I held the triple jump record at my primary school. The point is, we used to do athletics at primary school, and my guess is that that is now a rarety. Some money needs to be directed back to primary school PE where kids can learn and practice stuff like track and field; soccer; cricket; touch footy; netball; etc.
Jaredsbro
Roar Guru
It needs more than kids to get into the idea of athletics as people like Pip are only interested in athletics as far as it's spectator appeal :P
Jaredsbro
Roar Guru
Third consecutive reply to a reply... :D Yes the report is aimed at this but I was analysing your defence of it Pip. You're dead right as is the report about the waste of money going into the very tip of the Pohutakawa Tree ( ;) ) which is almost entirely avoidable, but the real mission is to convince people like you that athletics or in fact the entire Olympic movement is relevant not just to those who are any good but also something worthy of the entire nation buying into it (even at the risk of corny advertising space) providing for example an auskick equivalent, but one not just for kids because we don't want this to end up just like a sporting Christmas parade (if you get my drift)...because if you're representative of the everyman there's a way to go yet isn't there :)