AOC’s Cairns casino investment threatens John Coates’ bid to continue rein

THE AOC’s controversial investment in a Cairns casino just over two decades ago is threatening to jeopardise John Coates’ bid to continue his 27 years at the helm of the organisation.

AOC president John Coates. Picture: AP/Eugene Hoshiko

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THE Australian Olympic Committee’s controversial investment in a Cairns casino just over two decades ago is threatening to re-emerge and jeopardise John Coates’ bid to continue his 27 years at the helm of the organisation.

Coates from June, 1993, to March, 1997, served as a director of Reef Corporate Services, the company which manages The Reef Casino Trust that owns the Reef Hotel Casino complex in Cairns.

The Herald Sun understands critics of Coates have been astounded that his pitch to remain AOC president has hinged on financial management, in light of questions over the Reef investment.

One critic close to the AOC said: “Coates has staked his future on his management of the AOC’s finances. The same AOC that paid him $700,000 a year, spends half of what it earns on overheads, ends up in expensive court battles with sponsors and lost $3.5 million on the Reef casino deal.”

The Reef Hotel Casino in Cairns CBD. Picture: Brendan Radke

Another critic said issues such as Reef have gone undiscussed as critics were afraid of legal action. “People ask why things like Reef are not discussed, it is the prospect of a blizzard of legal letters,” one prominent sports insider said.

The AOC reportedly sold out at a loss from the investment a decade ago.

Mr Coates and the AOC were contacted by the Herald Sun but made no comment.

The AOC’s investment in the casino garnered controversy when it was reported that by 1995 it had ploughed $7.2 million of a $16.9 million cash reserve into the Trust.

In an interview with his old friend journalist Roy Masters in 2007, Mr Coates is reported to have said “Reef came good in the end”.

“We held onto our shares and sold them only last year,” he told the Sydney Morning Herald in 2007. “Our original investment was $7 million and we ended up losing $3.5 million. It was a good lesson because we no longer hold direct investments.”

Available corporate documents lodged by Reef Casino Trust show the AOC’s foundation regularly in the top 20 of unitholders from 1998 to February 2005. They don’t appear on the register a year later in February 2006.

As chairman of Reef Corporate Services, Coates in August 1996 told unitholders that the results “indicate a performance to date that is below expectations as indicated in the prospectus”. He outlined revenue problems and raised questions over debt levels.

Problems with the project at the time reportedly included a complicated trust structure with separate operators for the casino, the hotel and ancillary facilities.

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Originally published as AOC’s Cairns casino investment threatens John Coates’ bid to continue rein