
Issue No 5		19 March 1999

Sport

Kissing The Rings

By Peter Lewis

For those of us who raised their voices against Sydney's original bid for the Games, the recent outrage about Olympic corruption is like the hangover that comes back to haunt you after you've nonchalantly hit the turps the night before. It might be hurting, but you can't expect sympathy.

Bribes were paid to IOC officials, the papers report breathlessly. And when it came to the sucking up of the delegates, Sydney was up to its neck in the brown matter.

Hello! What did you think was going on back in 1993? That the ritual crawling that included sickly page one editorials to King Juan and those all-expenses paid trips were just part of our breezy hospitality?

For those who don't remember, 1993 was a scary time for Sydney-siders disloyal enough to think the Games may not be such a good idea.

With major media outlets given seats on the Bid Committee and an almost paranoiac belief that any Games criticism would create a domino-like collapse of the Bid, there were no column inches available for the nay-sayers.

Worse, there was a public frowning down upon any sort of dissent, as if it was our patriotic duty as Sydneysiders to love the Games.

After all what news value could there be in questioning a celebration of doped athletes, fueling nationalistic fervour in what had become a marketing event for a few select trans-nationals?

What interest could there be in the millstone we were tying around our necks? The sale of the Showgrounds? The cuts to public spending on health and education? The higher taxes?

After all, we were embracing the vogue growth model of the time; the mega-project, we would create jobs by building sports stadiums and roads to get people there. Simple. The notion that there was nothing sustainable about this sort of economics did not appear to cross anyone's mind at the time.

About the only person to speak out against the Games at the time was Sydney's official historian, Dr Shirley Fitzgerald who questioned the need for 'total public support'. She likened the limits on free expression critical of the Games to some of the other cities Sydney was attempting to distinguish itself from.

Her comments, unlike those of every two-bit athlete and soap star were broadcast on 2SER and carried by AAP, but were not picked up by the mainstream press.

It was left to a very few journalists to raise any questions about the Games: Steve McDonnell on ABC radio, Ross Coulthardt, then with Four Corners, 2SER and yours truly, then sending stories into the ether at AAP.

McDonnell remenbers being personally attacked by then Olympics Minister Bruce Baird for questioning him over the removal of armaments from the Olympics site to Jervis Bay at one press conference.

"If anyone gets in the way of the Bid, then watch out," Baird said at the time.

This is tha same guy who recently alleged, then recanted, that there had been a deal amongst media proprietors not to run negative stories in the lead-up to the vote.

But it wasn't just Baird. McDonnell says there was equal hostility from other members of the media after the conference was over.

Remembering the feeling at the time, it was like nothing I had ever experienced. You felt yourself being watched, suspected your phone of being tapped.

The Bid PR flak accused me of being a wanker as he officially described suggestions of public censorship of criticism as "crap". And maybe I was. Who was I to spoil this orgy of self-satisfaction.

To criticise The Bid amounted to state treachery. For the Bairds and Faheys who now rule over more than NSW there was a desperate need to embrace all things Olympic, so that the flashing of a few mega-bucks would have seemed like nothing at all.

And on the big night I stood back from the thousands who lined the Harbour foreshore, certain I would see the realisation of my city's folly as the games went to Beijing.

But no, I heard those dreaded three syllabyles "Sid-o-nee" and the self-congratulation, the fireworks and me sitting there with my head in my hands, not wanting to think what the late 1990's would be like.

And now that future is almost upon us; the roads are blocked, the budget is blowing and we're starting to realise that the Olympics are not a synonym for virtue

So enough of the mock outrage people, you reap what you sow. Expect much more fear and loathing or join me on some Greek Island in September 2000, when I will not be cheering for anybody, apart from the man with the bottle of ouzo.

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Issue 5 contents

Interview: Towards An Information International
FIET general secretary Phillip Jennings talks about the development of the Union Network International and its potential to organise globally.

Unions: The Integral Price of Loyalty
Workers at Integral Energy are asking for their share of the fruits of power reform.

History: A Very Public History
Historian Ray Markey and Public Service Association General Secretary Janet Good take a look at the unionďż˝s first 100 years.

Review: Bullworth - Beattyďż˝s Political Rap
Warren Beatty makes some gutsy calls in his new film about a politician who, when all else fails, tries the truth.

Campaign Diary: The Ultimate Punt
As the leaders slug it through the final weeks of the campaign, the armchair critics get their chance to work their pet election theories.

» Streamlined ILO To Focus On ďż˝Decentďż˝ Work

» Kelty Sees Global Minimum Wage On Horizon

» International Superunion Given Go-Ahead

» FIET Takes Hammer To Debt Wall

» Is The World Bank Anti-Union?

» Lectures Cancelled Over University Pay Claim

» 100 Reasons Why Public Sector Unionism Will Survive

» Maccas Death Call

» Cleaners Time Out Hours Cut