Coates slams govt over Olympics funding

Australian Olympic chief John Coates has slammed the Federal Sports Minister Kate
Ellis, claiming she has "gone missing" since the release of the Crawford report
which rejects calls for increased Olympic sports funding.
Coates, who initially labelled the report "disrespectful" and "insulting" to
Australia's Olympic achievements, has been disappointed by the lack of response from
Ellis since she released the report last Tuesday.
"I don't know if she is taking it seriously," Coates told Network Ten on Sunday.
"She certainly hasn't engaged with us since she's become the minister on this issue."
In later statement a spokesperson for Ellis said the minister had already been in
contact with Coates twice.
"John Coates and the AOC are important stakeholders in Australian sport," the
statement said. "In line with this, the minister has had two direct conversations
with Mr Coates since the Government received the Independent Sport Panel report and
the minister has requested to sit down with Mr Coates and discuss the
recommendations." The report dismissed the Australian Olympic Committee's calls
for an extra $100 million a year for 10 years for elite sports, saying that money
would be better spent elsewhere.
It also rejected the AOC's goal of reclaiming "top five" status on the medal table
at the 2012 London Olympics and future Games as not sensible and not an appropriate
measure of Australian performance.
The report had 39 wide-ranging recommendations now open to public debate and Ellis
said last week the government would likely deliver its response early next year.
However, Coates believed she should be talking to the AOC about the issues and he
took a crack at her for taking time to arm-wrestle professional wrestler Hulk Hogan
last week.
"In the week that she's released the report she has been arm-wrestling with steroids
while we're out there taking it seriously," he said.
"We will certainly come back and respond professionally to this report.
"We want to have a debate with her, but she has gone missing."
While, it did not recommend cutting Olympic sports funding, the Crawford report
suggests more should be done for the grass roots of popular sports to ensure greater
participation at a time when the nation faces a growing obesity problem.
It also said there was no evidence big events like the Olympics inspired children to
take up sport.
Coates disagreed, and said more funding was needed at both the elite and grassroots
levels of sport.
"We acknowledge that more needs to be done to address obesity through the department
of health through additional funding, but not at the expense of funding directed to
people who are our role models," said Coates.
"When Cathy Freeman won in Sydney, Little Athletics memberships went through the roof.
"There is a history of kids who take up basketball because of Andrew Gaze, kids who
are swimming because of Kieren Perkins and Ian Thorpe.
"All of our sports provide those role models. We just have to put the two together."