She thanked me John Coates defends bizarre media conference
Australian Olympic Committee president John Coates has defended his bizarre media conference with Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk, saying she âthanked meâ for ordering her to attend Friday nightâs opening ceremony.
Coates has been slammed for the way he spoke to Palaszczuk soon after Brisbane was awarded hosting rights to the 2032 Olympic Games, ordering her to attend the opening ceremony in Tokyo instead of âhidingâ in her hotel room.
The veteran Olympics official, who is also an International Olympic Committee vice-president, contacted the Herald and The Age from Tokyo to clarify his remarks.
He says he had discussed the exchange with Palaszczuk because she was feeling pressure from the sections of the media to not attend.
âWe walked out of there [the media conference] and she thanked me,â Coates said. âThe media in Brisbane have been giving her a hard time, saying she shouldnât go to the opening ceremony, but she had to go.
âThe plan was I was going to fix it. I fixed it. I was taking the heat off her. We all came back and had a drink all night in my room to celebrate. I wasnât having a go at her at all.
âThe Premier and I have a longstanding and very successful relationship and we both know the spirit of my remarks. She has given no indication to me that she was offended in any way.â
Nevertheless, the exchange between Coates and Palaszczuk has been interpreted as breathtakingly awkward. Some have branded it misogynistic and demanded an apology.
It came at a media opportunity after Brisbane had been awarded the hosting rights to 2032 Olympics, beating a field of only itself.
Palaszczuk has been under fire for travelling to Tokyo for the announcement, promising she would not attend the opening ceremony nor events.
âYou are going to the opening ceremony,â Coates said with arms crossed. âIâm still the deputy chair of the candidature leadership group and so far as I understand, there will be an opening and closing ceremony in 2032 and all of you are going to get along there and understand the traditional parts of that, whatâs involved in an opening ceremony, so none of you are staying behind and hiding in your rooms, alright?â
A stunned Palaszczuk say in silence before offering: âI donât want to offend anybody, so...â
Asked if he she had been offended by his tone, given her awkward response, Coates said: âI surprised her. But anyone at the press conference wouldâve seen the glint in my eye. I donât think people understand how subtle I am. My comments have been completely misinterpreted by people who werenât in the room. People donât know me.â
Palaszczuk said she had no rift with Mr Coates over the public exchange.
âHeâs fantastic,â she told the ABC. âIf we didnât have John Coates, this would not have happened.
âJohn Coates has been the driving force behind us securing the Olympics. He has been able to get all levels of government to work together for us to have this bid and his engagement with the business community, his networks are absolutely phenomenal.
âIâm going to give credit where creditâs due. Itâs great for him that he was there with Sydney [
in 2000] and now heâs ushered in this opportunity for Brisbane and Queensland.â
Coates scoffed at claims he was misogynistic because of the way he spoke to Palaszczuk.
âIâve kept this relationship going for six years and thereâs a long way to go,â he said. âThereâs nothing wrong. The relationship is unbelievably strong. I believe the Premier should come to the opening ceremony. Sheâs accepted.â
Andrew Webster is Chief Sports Writer of The Sydney Morning Herald.
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