AUSTRALIA)

Australia’s golden Games: pinnacle or new base for nation punching above its weight?

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Kieran Pender
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 13-Aug-24

Australia won a record 18 gold medals at the Paris Olympic Games, and the nation’s overall medal tally of 53 was topped only by the Sydney Olympics in 2000. Meanwhile, Australia ranked fourth on the Paris medal table, matching the Olympic team’s performance in Melbourne in 1956. Australia has also traditionally performed best at home Olympic Games, with Brisbane set to host the world’s biggest sporting event in 2032. An analysis of Summer Olympics results from 1952 to 2012 shows that on average, the host nation has increased their gold medal count by 10 and their overall medal count by 20. The federal government has already increased its Olympic funding ahead of the Brisbane Games.

CORPORATES

Axing the Olympics was never on cards

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Lydia Lynch
The Australian – Page: 7 : 20-Mar-24

The Queensland government has responded to media reports which claimed that it had sought advice on the potential costs associated with cancelling the 2032 Brisbane Olympic Games. A spokeswoman from the office of Premier Steven Miles has stated that the government has not sought advice about cancelling the Games and it has never had any intention of not proceeding with the event. The media reports alleged that the government had been advised that it would have to pay $500m in compensation if the Games were cancelled, while it would also lose $3.5bn worth of infrastructure funding from the federal government.

CORPORATES
QUEENSLAND. DEPT OF THE PREMIER AND CABINET

Corporate fans boost ticket sales for Open

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Ayesha de Kretser
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 8 : 10-Jan-24

The organisers of the Australian Open are hoping for another record attendance at the first grand slam tournament of the year, after the 2023 event attracted a total crowd of 839,192. Tennis Australia’s chief commercial officer Cedric Cornelis says that ticket sales to date have been significantly stronger than in 2023. Meanwhile, Corporate Traveller’s MD Tom Walley notes a post-pandemic trend for business travellers to combine their trip with leisure activities such as attending sports events, in order to justify the cost of travel. The company expects the number of business travellers attending the Australian Open to be 21 per cent higher than in 2023.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN OPEN TENNIS, TENNIS AUSTRALIA, CORPORATE TRAVELLER

50 Commonwealth Games bureaucrats still being paid

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Shannon Deery, Alex White
Herald Sun – Page: Online : 22-Nov-23

The Victorian government is continuing to attract scrutiny over its controversial decision in July to withdraw from hosting the 2026 Commonwealth Games. It has been revealed that the government has yet to finalise exit packages for about 50 staff who were employed to organise the Games; sources say they will continue to be paid until 29 January, which is the deadline for them to ­decide whether to accept an exit package. The Games staff say they have been placed on ‘gardening leave’. The manager of opposition business James Newbury says Premier Jacinta Allan holds the gold medal for wasting taxpayers’ money. Allan was the minister responsible for the Commonwealth Games.

CORPORATES
VICTORIA. DEPT OF PREMIER AND CABINET

Commonwealth Games fiasco biggest debacle in nation’s events history

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Mitch Clarke, Jade Gailberger
Herald Sun – Page: Online : 24-Oct-23

Events industry veteran Simon Thewlis has criticised the Victorian government’s handling of the 2026 Commonwealth Games, which it cancelled in July due to a cost blowout. Thewlis says the government owes the events industry an apology, arguing that the decision to withdraw from hosing the Games was the "final insult" for a sector that had already been hard hit by the pandemic. Meanwhile, Volleyball Australia CEO Andrew Dee has told a parliamentary inquiry into the Games’ cancellation that Victoria has suffered significant reputational damage, and organisers of major events will shun the state for some time.

CORPORATES
VOLLEYBALL AUSTRALIA

Victoria’s Commonwealth Games legal bill balloons to $1.3m

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Gus McCubbing
The Australian Financial Review – Page: Online : 4-Oct-23

Victoria’s upper house is to conduct an inquiry into the cancelled 2026 Commonwealth Games, with the inquiry to start later in October. Filling out a questionnaire in response to the inquiry, the Department of Premier and Cabinet has stated that law firm Arnold Bloch Leibler was paid $1,265,982 for legal services regarding the state’s withdrawal from the Games. Arnold Bloch Leibler’s work was said to have begun in June, meaning it was engaged around three weeks before then Premier Daniel Andrews announced his government was cancelling the games; it ended up having to pay $380 million in compensation to Commonwealth Games bodies

CORPORATES
ARNOLD BLOCH LEIBLER

LAWYERS,[SPACE]VICTORIA – POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT]

No cost-benefit analysis done for $2b in legacy Games projects

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Rachel Eddie
The Age – Page: Online : 26-Jul-23

The Victorian government is under scrutiny over its plans to proceed with $2bn worth of Commonwealth Games-related infrastructure in regional areas. Premier Daniel Andrews has admitted that the government has not done a cost-benefit analysis of the expenditure on new social and affordable housing and upgraded sports facilities in regions that were to have hosted Games events. He contends that such an analysis is not necessary, as it is "common sense" that an increase in affordable housing is needed in regional Victoria. National Party senator Bridget McKenzie says she is shocked but not surprised that the state government has not undertaken a cost-benefit analysis, adding that the $2bn investment will not be sufficient to address problems in regional Victoria.

CORPORATES
VICTORIA. DEPT OF PREMIER AND CABINET, NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA

Andrews blindside puts Commonwealth Games broadcast deal on ice

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Calum Jaspan
The Age – Page: Online : 19-Jul-23

The Seven Network was the official broadcaster of the Commonwealth Games in 2018 and 2022, and it has first-refusal rights to the next two Games. Sources have indicated that Seven had been close to finalising a new broadcasting rights deal, but the negotiations have been put on hold due to uncertainty about the 2026 Games following the Victorian government’s decision to terminate its contract. The source has indicated that the 2026 Games will have significantly less appeal for Seven if they are held in a different timezone.

CORPORATES
SEVEN NETWORK LIMITED, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM

Nine to take a hit from Kyrgios’s Australian Open exit

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Sophie Elsworth
The Australian – Page: 2 : 18-Jan-23

Data from OzTAM shows that the Nine Network’s broadcast of the first night session of the 2023 Australian Open attracted a national audience of just 476,000; this compares with 885,000 viewers in 2022. The withdrawal of Nick Kyrgios from the grand slam tournament due to injury is expected to affect Nine’s rating for the remainder of the event, given that he was one of the major drawcards. A TV industry insider notes that viewers have traditionally tended to lose interest when the leading tennis stars are not playing or are defeated in the early rounds. Nine Entertainment Company renewed its broadcasting rights deal in late 2022; it is paying about $85m a year, plus contra.

CORPORATES
NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, NINE NETWORK AUSTRALIA LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN OPEN TENNIS

We’re full partners in Brisbane Olympics: PM

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Charlie Peel
The Australian – Page: 7 : 23-Jul-21

The federal government has committed to funding half the cost of the 2032 Brisbane Olympic Games. However, in his first press conference after Brisbane was announced as the host city, Prime Minister Scott Morrison was at pains to stress that the arrangement between the federal and Queensland governments is a "50-50 partnership" rather than a "50-50 funding partnership", with the cost of staging the Brisbane Olympic Games expected to be at least $5 billion. The event is expected to generate around $18 billion in economic benefit.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET