Former chair Ricky MacMillan attacks ‘rogue’ Equestrian Australia directors

Former Equestrian Australian chair calls on riders nationwide to elect her to oversee the sport’s voluntary administration.

Former Equestrian Australia chair Ricky Macmillan competes at the Sydney Olympic Games in 2000. She is calling to be appointed to an inspection committee to oversee the administration of embattled body Equestrian Australia after stepping down as chair in May. Picture: Leigh Winburn

Former Equestrian Australian chair Ricky MacMillan has issued a stark warning to members of the embattled organisation, calling on riders across the nation to elect her to an inspection committee to provide oversight of the sport’s voluntary administration.

Two of the sport’s benefactors, former 7 Eleven boss Russ Withers and Canberra Airport’s Terry Snow, have refused to throw the embattled Olympic sport a lifeline with the Equestrian enthusiasts telling The Australian they will not commit funding to save the national body.

“I have not been approached by the organisation,” Mr Withers, a former chair and billionaire, said on Sunday. “It’s not something that is on my radar at the moment. I don’t think it is necessary for people to put their hands in their pockets for this.”

Equestrian Australia last week entered voluntary administration just six weeks out from when the Tokyo Olympic Games were supposed to commence after Sport Australia said it would no longer pour money into an organisation that has been wracked by dysfunction and shoddy governance.

The board has cycled through a staggering number of members in just 16 months with three chairs and eight directors resigning over the period.

MacMillan, a former Olympian, who stepped down from the board in May after declaring change in the organisation "unobtainable" said she could not sit back and watch the sport "taken over by a gang of four directors" in a video posted to the Stop Bullying in Equestrian Facebook page on Sunday.

She accused the board members of “going rogue” and questioned whether entering voluntary administration had been the only option available as the decision meant the sport's accreditation with both the Australian Olympic Committee and the Federation Equestre Internationale now hung in the balance.

“Currently, we don't have a national federation for the AOC to recognise – the Constitution has been stood aside,” MacMillan said. “Don't be fooled this isn't business as usual. the Fed accreditation is in jeopardy and without the FEI affiliation EA cannot run FEI events with FEI officials.”

One of the four remaining directors, Equestrian Australia spokesman John Glenn said the board had been courageous in choosing to enter administration after nearly a decade of problematic governance.

“Without significant change, insolvency was inevitable,” Mr Glenn said. “It wasn’t a decision that was taken lightly and we hope to come out with a restructured sport and have funding returned.”

He said that after Sport Australia froze nearly $600,000 in funding and with uncertainty in membership revenues due to COVID-19 it was only a matter of time before the organisation burned through its $150,000 reserves.

A meeting with creditors on Friday will determine if Craig Shepard and Kate Conneely stay on as administrators and whether an independent inspectors committee, on which MacMillan hopes to be appointed, will be installed to oversee the administration process.

Mr Glenn said he wasn’t sure whether such a committee would be an advantage as it may slow down the administration process and cost the body more.

MacMillan, who represented Aust­ralia in dressage in Sydney and Athens, was considered the sport’s saving grace when she was appointed chair and vowed to change the organisation’s culture, rapidly moving to install a national safety officer to implement the 31 recommendations made after the coronial inquest into the deaths of teenage riders Olivia Inglis and Caitlyn Fischer in 2016.

Sport Australia, which provided Equestrian Australia with a grant for a full-time safety officer following the inquests, last week called on the sporting body to “provide full and prompt reporting to the Australian Sport Commission of its implementation” amid its announcement of voluntary administration.

Mr Glenn said National Safety Officer Meredith Chapman was working on providing a formal response regarding the recommendations.