Minister aims to repair CISNOC rift

Kia Orana all,

Please be advised that I have been asked by a number of codes to take on the role of Pesident for CISNOC for the remainder of the term, which I understand is less than 12 months. This will essentially be a caretaker role until elections fall due in March next year.

I have made it clear that I will accept this role, only as a caretaker for the remainder of the term, and only with the mandate and support of our national federations and members. If our NFs and members feel that it is not in their interests to have me as a caretaker president, then the choice is entirely theirs and I will be happy to abide with that.

However when one is asked to help and serve then I will not hesitate to do so. To this end I have made myself available as a nominee to be put forward in the event an election is held to elect a president for the remainder of the term of office. It may be seen as an odd arrangement by some, however internationally it is not unusual for Sports Ministers to also be President of their National Olympic Committee – just look at Tahiti, Samoa and numerous other ANOC members who have this arrangement.

I see this as a great opportunity to firstly have a direct hand in healing the rift that has occurred between a number of national federations and our National Olympic Committee. Secondly it provides me the Minister of Sports the ideal opportunity to fast track initiatives that government wants to put in place for sports.

Essentially the government wants CISNOC, in partnership with relevant stakeholders, to implement the Cook Islands National Sports Policy.

We don’t need a government agency or ministry to do this when we have an internationally recognised body made up of members of all sports codes in the country already in place.

It is the government’s intention, and in the national interest, to reintroduce a level of funding for sports from its annual appropriation to enable our sports policies to be implemented. Of course financial monitoring and reporting measures will need to be out in place to assure the crown and the taxpayer that its investment is being used prudently for the purposes intended (we have already started this process which will be overseen by the Financial Secretary and the Secretary of Internal Affairs).

I would expect monthly financial reporting along with clear and transparent processes that would be open to NF and public scrutiny.

Sorting out the current legal land issues with the Telecom Sports Arena site is also a priority before government can shift the management of our national sports assets to our sports bodies. A positive start has been made and the government will be working toward re-establishing a working relationship based on mutual benefit and trust between the parties affected. Again systems need to be put in place to provide assurance to the owner (the people) that these assets will be utilised and resourced in a manner that maintains their value.

I believe that this financial year will be tough (with CISNOC forced to operate on a shoestring). However it will be a year geared towards positioning CISNOC for its new role. In this regard it would be ideal and opportune to have the minister of sports, finance and CIIC at the helm forging the new direction for this difficult interim period.

My recent meetings with ANOC and in particular ONOC (of which the Cook Islands is a member) were excellent. We were able to reestablish an assurance to these bodies of government’s commitment and support to the IOC ideals and policies regarding governance and closer cooperation.

At the meetings the IOC were very clear in their intentions for countries to forge closer ties and cooperation between governments and member NOCs whilst still maintaining the autonomy of sports. Hearing this at an international meeting really hit close to the mark for myself as a government minister and also as a sportsperson especially in regard to the current situation we are in.

It is clear that this is the way forward. Looking at past government allocations to CISNOC it became very apparent that past allocations of up to $300,000 on top of the Allsports funding was a regular source of income for CISNOC that allowed it to run national and international sports events on behalf of its members. This ceased after 2009 with the breakdown of government - sports relationship in the aftermath of the 2009 Pacific Mini Games. This contributed to the financial woes that CISNOC now finds itself in.

The government intends to restore and repair this rift and lift sports back to its proper role a significant contributor to economic, social and cultural development.

Taking on the role of caretaker president for the remainder of the term allows the government the opportunity to fast track the initiatives that we want to put in place for sports. Next year will be the start of the four-year term for the new president of CISNOC. I have no intention of standing for that position. I fully expect my job to be completed. The new incoming president and executives will be in a good position to capitalise on the positive change that the government intends for sports in our country.

Allow me to outline my own sports experience and background for the non sporty media commentators. I have been a national representative athlete winning silver at Pacific Games, I have coached at national level winning gold at the Pacific Games, I have managed national teams to Pacific Games and Commonwealth Games and I have served as a longtime president (nearly 20 years) of one of our NFs. I am no stranger to sport and our sporting family. I believe I have something to offer.

I would like to end by responding to the Leader of the Opposition’s remarks in the media about me taking on this role. I do realise that I will be sticking out my neck for criticism and ridicule in the event I do not achieve what I have publicly set out above. And it would be nice to just stick to playing masters league or Golden Oldies rugby. But sometimes you just have to swim with the alligators and make sure you don’t get eaten.