Annastacia Palaszczuk ordered to attend Tokyo opening ceremony in awkward press conference

A scathing edit on a popular website has revealed the fury felt at the international humiliation of Annastacia Palaszczuk in Tokyo on Wednesday.

The Wikipedia page of Australia’s most senior Olympic powerbroker was sensationally changed on Thursday morning, after he publicly admonished Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk in a press conference broadcast to the entire world.

Ms Palaszczuk had earlier vowed not to attend the Tokyo Opening Ceremony on Friday night, saying she would watch the events from her hotel room, but was all but ordered to attend by Australian Olympic Committee president John Coates.

At an internationally streamed press conference after the winning vote on Wednesday, Mr Coates scolded the Premier in an exchange that has been wildly criticised as an act of “misogyny” and “bullying”.

Mr Coates’ Wikipedia page was changed in the wake of the incident, with an anonymous author writing that Mr Coates had “recently outed himself as the self-appointed head of Queensland” and had acted “arrogantly and condescendingly”.

John Coates (left) has told the Queensland Premier she ‘will be going’ to the opening ceremony in Tokyo on Friday despite her earlier protestations that she would not attend. Picture: Toru Hanai / AFP

During the exchange, Mr Coates said to Ms Palaszczuk “you are going to the opening ceremony”.

“There will be an opening and a closing ceremony in 2032 and all of you, everyone there, has got to understand the traditional parts of that, what’s involved in an opening ceremony,” Mr Coates said.

“None of you are staying home and going to be sitting in your room.

“You’ve never been to an opening ceremony. You don’t know the protocols and I think it’s a very important lesson for everyone here – opening ceremonies cost in the order of $75 to $100 million.

“My very strong recommendation is the Premier and the Lord Mayor and the minister be there and understand it.”

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk celebrates after Brisbane was announced as the 2032 Summer Olympics’ host city. Picture: Toru Hanai / POOL / AFP

On the updated Wikipedia page, which has since been removed, the author wrote Mr Coates had “arrogantly and condescendingly ordered the elected Premier to attend the opening ceremony … mansplaining the value of attendance”.

“Coates career beyond sports administration was a surprise to many unaware of the changing Constitutional position in Queensland prior to that moment,” the page read.

Someone has been playing with John Coates's Wikipedia entry pic.twitter.com/GlS95ZrQSI

— John McCarthy (@Johnsmccarthy) July 21, 2021

On Thursday, Ms Palaszczuk said “she doesn’t want to offend anyone”, and would attend the ceremony with Brisbane Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner and Federal Sports Minister Richard Colbeck if Mr Coates believed she should.

“John Coates was laying down the law last night,” she told ABC radio.

“We are now a part of the IOC family and I will do what John Coates says.”

She told ABC Breakfast she would leave her attendance in the hands of Mr Coates and IOC President Thomas Bach.

“Now there is an expectation (that we attend),” she said.

In a statement issued on Thursday afternoon, Mr Coates said he had been “misinterpreted” and attending the ceremony was “(Ms Palaszczuk’s) choice”

“My comments regarding the Premier and the Opening Ceremony have been completely misinterpreted by people who weren’t in the room,” he said.

“Absolutely I believe the Premier should come to the Opening Ceremony and she has accepted. I am thrilled about that. Attending the Opening Ceremony has always been her choice.”

Mr Coates said his view remained that all three levels of government should attend the Opening Ceremony.

“The Premier and I have a long standing and very successful relationship. We both know the spirit of my remarks and I have no indication that she was offended in any way,” he said.

“Those in doubt should ask her.”

The Australian Olympic contingency celebrates after the IOC announced Brisbane would host the 2o32 Olympics. Picture: Toru Hanai / Getty Images

Ms Palaszczuk’s trip to Tokyo has been marred by controversy, with more than 130,000 people signing a petition calling her a hypocrite for taking up a spot in hotel quarantine upon her return to Queensland after slashing the spaces available to returning Australians.

She defended her trip once again on Thursday morning, saying being in the same room as the IOC members and talking to them directly was “extremely powerful”.

“That’s why the Lord Mayor (Adrian Schrinner) and I had to be there,” she said.

“To keep the faith that we are absolutely committed.

“After the vote, so many IOC members were coming up and saying well done, that was one of the best presentations we’ve ever seen.”