Tuesday 14 August 2012

I don't want Australia's 2012 Olympic Games performance reviewed - I want the public money tap turned off!


In the Brisbane Times on 11th August 2012:
“AUSTRALIA'S performance at the London Olympics, its worst result in 20 years, has cost taxpayers $10 million for each medal won……
The data reveals that the Australian Institute of Sport spent a record $310 million of public money on the Olympics campaign. Swimming, with one gold medal in the women's 4x100 metres freestyle relay, took nearly $39 million of that, over four years. Australia's swimmers won six gold medals in Beijing (2008) and seven in Athens (2004).
Its budget has almost doubled since 2009, in preparation for these Games. The last time Australia failed to win an individual swimming gold was at Montreal in 1976, when its feeble overall performance (one silver and five bronzes) led the Fraser government to pump money into the creation of the institute. Swimming Australia has ordered a review of this year's performance.”
Now I like cheering on Aussie teams as much as the next bloke, but I have to agree with Maud Up The Street – this is an obscene amount of money to waste on what in real terms are professional sportsmen and women competing in a commercial enterprise run by a corrupt multinational masquerading as a philanthropic organisation sitting on a revenue pot currently worth around AUD $6 billion.
Australia's hard-earned money should have gone towards setting up the National Disability Insurance Scheme.

1 comment:

Rod said...

What a waste, I was surprised to hear that the rowing team actually have an Australian staffed facility in southern Italy (the Australian staff are there to make them feel at home). So the money spent doesn't even indirectly help Australian sports, it helps the Italians!