Much-maligned multinational consulting firm PwC had some advice the Victorian government might have done well to take on board before it embarked on its ill-fated attempt to hold the Commonwealth Games.
The firm’s “Commonwealth Games Value Framework” report published in 2019 and compiled by its UK office for the Commonwealth Games Federation states upfront that “the costs of staging a global event such as the Commonwealth Games can deter those cities that have competing priorities for funding”.
If Victoria had just listened to PwC years ago, maybe it wouldn’t be in this mess.Credit: Gus McCubbing
A prescient, if not obvious, warning to Dan Andrews and associates.
Additionally, the advice states the pitfalls of taking the Games on, only to run them poorly (or just unceremoniously dump them), could damage a state’s reputation and international standing in the process.
“Portraying a positive image of the city around the world is important,” the report continues.
“Bad news stories in the media at the time of the Games, for example regarding public transport and the availability of accommodation can deter future visitors.”
Not only that, but the report specifically states that botching an event of this prominence could damage trust in a host city’s reputation.
“Any logistical disruption could create a negative impression, not only among Games visitors but also those watching and reading about the Games. This will reduce the likelihood of the city securing follow-on events in the years after the Games.”
It seems that Commonwealth Games Australia boss Craig Phillips may have read the report, saying on Tuesday: “I would be very careful if I was an international sporting body, coming and doing business in this state in the future.”
So much for Victoria’s whole “events state” schtick.
PwC told us they didn’t work on the Victorian government’s games bid at all, so there were no conflict of interest issues on this occasion.
Yesterday this masthead confirmed with government and major events sources that another big consultancy firm, Ernst & Young, was commissioned to provide the estimates for Victoria. EY and other consultants also estimated the smaller initial cost.
We’re not trying to shift responsibility from the government – there’s enough blame to go around.
Especially now it looks like the games, that quaint relic of empire, have finally got the death knell they’ve been waiting for.
PROFESSOR HARRY
Billionaire apartment mogul Harry Triguboff is now a professor – of sorts.
The Meriton boss was given an honorary professorship by the University of Canberra this week to mark the property developer’s first foray into the nation’s capital, a place where trends really do take their time to arrive.
As one of Australia’s richest men, Triguboff could probably do better than the institution colloquially known as Belconnen Tafe, who feted him at an intimate event hosted by Governor-General David Hurley and his wife, Linda Hurley, at Yarralumla.
Mrs Hurley has developed a reputation as quite the chanteuse, concocting little ditties for the many ribbon-cutting events she appears at, often forcing guests, and even unsuspecting diners at Canberra cafés, to sing along.
To CBD’s immense disappointment, Mrs Hurley didn’t have a song for the occasion. Given her hits include “song for the Invasive Species Solutions Trust”, Harry ought to feel a little miffed.
IT’S COMING HOME
For the last month, all diplomatic exchanges between Australia and the United Kingdom have been dominated by lacklustre Ashes banter. It culminated in Anthony Albanese and his British counterpart Rishi Sunak trading feel-pinions about the Jonny Bairstow stumping and later doing a bit of sledging during the recent NATO summit.
At least the Women’s World Cup, which starts today, and Dan Andrews’ embarrassing capitulation on the Commonwealth Games should give the bigwigs something else to talk about.
They’ll get their chance next week, when Britain’s Minister for Sport, Gambling and Civil Society Stuart Andrew is in town to support the Lionesses’ World Cup push, with High Commissioner Vicki Treadell hosting him at a networking event at Sydney’s Museum of Contemporary Arts.
England’s team are one of the tournament favourites after winning last year’s European Championships, but will inevitably disappoint if they’re anything like their male counterparts.
SCAMMER IN THE WORKS
By now it’s become clear that Gina Rinehart doesn’t take kindly to people using her image to sell, well, anything that she’s not involved with.
Gina Rinehart is taking on the scammers.Credit: Bloomberg
In April, CBD reported that Rinehart took issue with crypto con artists using her good name to fleece gullible or greedy Australians out of their hard-earned cash. Scammers? In crypto? Surely not.
Now she’s going after yet another scam, posting on her website that she and her company “have been made aware today of fake social media posts and associated news stories alleging that Mrs Rinehart has an association with selling company shares resulting in a fraudulent monthly income”.
“This is a scam designed to use Mrs Rinehart’s positive corporate image to lure people in to invest,” a statement from the billionaire’s people said.
Rinehart, along with Andrew “Twiggy” Forrest, former Sunrise host David Koch and folksy entrepreneur Dick Smith, is part of an elite group that scammers can’t seem to get enough of.
At least the Rinehart scams are a little less macabre than recent social media posts falsely mourning the “death” of Kochie.
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