Category: Government Policy
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Further reflections on the Australian Institute of Sport – a national ‘living’ icon.
By Ron Harvey CVO AM – 3rd Director of the AIS (1987-1989) My recent article AIS – a national living icon and recent reflections by early AIS staff and athletes made me look back to Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser’s comments when he opened the AIS in 1981- “Coaches and athletes working together through this institute,…
australiansportreflections
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Australian Institute of Sport – a national ‘living’ icon
Reflections by Ron Harvey CVO AM – 3rd Director of the AIS (1987-1989) With the passing of Don Talbot this year, I am the oldest living AIS Director and I thought it worthwhile to reflect on the AIS with its 40th anniversary on Australia Day. For over 40 years, I held senior Federal Government positions…
australiansportreflections
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Australian Sport in 2020 – ‘Unprecedented’ Year for Sport Administrators
by Greg Blood Australian sport administrators have been under enormous stress during 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and other issues. It is worthwhile to briefly document the many challenges managed during this ‘unprecedented’ year’. Sports Rorts The year started with the Australian National Audit Office report into Sport Australia’s Community Sport Infrastructure Program that…
australiansportreflections
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2022 Beijing Winter Olympics / Paralympics – sporting sanctions should not be used to protest against China’s human rights record
by Greg Blood The Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China has been reported to call for China to be stripped of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics and Paralympics due to the country’s increasingly poor human rights record. This made me reflect on two instances of the Australian Government using sporting boycotts/sanctions – boycott of 1980 Moscow Olympics and banning…
australiansportreflections
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What is the future of ‘Sport 2030’ in the post COVID19 world?
By Greg Blood In May 2018, I published the article How long can the proposed National Sports Plan survive? It is worthwhile to revisit Sport 2030 , known as the National Sports Plan, due to changes in Australian sport leadership, undetermined Australian Government decisions and significant impact of COVID-19 on sport as well as other parts…
australiansportreflections
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The Relationship between the Australian Olympic Committee and the Australian Sports Commission
By Greg Blood. Orginally published in Sporting Traditions, V35 (1) May 2018 Since the 2016 Rio Olympics, the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) and Australian Sports Commission (ASC) have had several very public disagreements regarding the funding and direction of high performance sport. In 1980, the Fraser Government requested the then Australian Olympic Federation to boycott…
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The Australian Institute of Sport Story 1981-2013
By Greg Blood. Originally published Clyde Street Blog, 15 May 2018. In December 2012, the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS), as we know it, changed when the Australian Sports Commission (ASC) under Chair John Wylie launched its Australia’s Winning Edge 2012-2022 strategy. A major plank of the strategy was for the AIS to no longer directly manage…
australiansportreflections
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Sports Rorts II – A case of very bad politics not good policy
By Greg Blood. Originally published in The Footy Almanac, 12 February 2020. I have observed closely the last two Federal elections from a sporting perspective and found that both the Coalition and Labor have used ‘sport’ to promote their case for election to particularly marginal or contestable electorates. From the data I collected from the…
australiansportreflections
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2019 Federal election – a sport perspective
By Greg Blood. Originally published by The Footy Almanac, 22 May 2019. With the Federal election campaign now over and the Coalition retaining office, you may be interested in my reflections on how sport was utilised by the Coalition and Labor during the campaign. In the lead up to and during the campaign I closely…
australiansportreflections
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Should Governments fund AFL and NRL high performance centres?
By Greg Blood. Originally published in The Footy Almanac, 16 April 2019. Note – this article has been updated in February 2024. The recent Morrison Federal Government budget announced $60m in funding for three AFL clubs (Brisbane, Carlton, Richmond) and one NRL club (North Queensland). This was followed up by the Morrison Government election announcement…
australiansportreflections