Dolphin Roller-Coaster: Peace With World Aquatics Follows Word On Why Gina Rinehart Pulled Her Millions From Swimming Australia
The Swimming Australia roller-coaster took a couple more twists this week, an announcement today that peace broke out with World Aquatics on the Board’s acceptance of a new constitution a day after the reasons why mining tycoon Gina Rinehart pulled her millions and left the Dolphins’ federation staring into a $7m black hole.
In a statement from Swimming Australia, the board noted in the past hour:
The revised constitution met the governance requirements of World Aquatics (AQUA) and the Australian Sports Commission (ASC) and had the support of the Swimming Australia Board.
The vote yielded the minimum 75 per cent majority required to pass the new constitution, which comes into immediate effect ahead of Swimming Australia’s Annual General Meeting on 25 October 2023.
Statement in full at the foot of this article
In a summary and explanatory document for Swimming Australia Limited revised constitution (in full below SAL general statement), SAL confirms it has rewritten the definition of Coaches’ Commission” and concludes:
SAL, ASC and AQUA are of the opinion that the appointment process in the New Constitution allows the broader community of Australian Swimmers independent participation in the appointment of such a Director to represent swimmers.
The SAL Board will take the necessary steps to ensure the Athletes’ Commission Charter, its composition, duties, and functions, represent the views of SAL’s athletes to SAL.
Crisis, What Crisis? One Down, Two In Play
One crisis averted, the board must now turn its attentions back to another: the loss of millions in support from Australia’s richest woman a dispute over payments to swimmers and the details that emerged from a report into the treatment of female athletes who reported being subjected to sexual innuendo, groping, body shaming as well as mental and physical abuse.
The concerns of athletes, reported to World Aquatics, were also at the root of reasons why the global regulator asked Australian swimming authorities to clean shop.
The mining magnate, head of Hancock Prospecting, continues to fund swimmers directly but her cash has not been flowing through the federation for over a year now. In the wake of Australia’s best performance in the Olympic pool ever at Tokyo2020ne, Rinehart stopped funding Swimming Australia for reasons that have largely remained under wraps until now.
News Corp revealed yesterday that a dispute centred on a lack of communication and transparency over payments to athletes. Since Rinehart cut the pipe to the governance pool, she has injected more than $60million into Olympic and Paralympic sports and still sponsors 92 swimmers directly.
The regulator might still be benefiting from that had the magnate not discovered that a swimmer had not been paid their funding at an event in Noosa ahead of the Tokyo Olympics. That was the start of trouble as Rinehart went panning for clues.
‘SA was made aware that a swimmer had not put in his invoice and therefore had not been paid in late July, 2021 … Upon receiving this information – the swimmer, who SA was told did not know how to download the invoice form – was paid in August, 2021.’ Swimming Australia said in a response to the claim, according to the News Corp report.
Then Rinehart discovered the same thing had happened to six athletes and that two gala award ceremonies that she’d invested $400,000 in had been cancelled in 2020 and 2021.
With The Patron’s Awards axed, Rinehart kept the faith and funded smaller awards nights to recognise swimmers nominated by then-CEO Alex Baumann, the former Canadian great who claimed the medley double for two golds at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
Rinehart’s generosity and tolerance was not returned, she felt, when she asked for a delegate from her company Hancock Prospecting to be included on the Swimming Australia board. They said yes to the seat but no to the voice and vote.
Silent partner and mega investors don’t often got together. Rinehart told News Corp:
“A voiceless observer, hardly an interference with the board. Especially when we learnt that on most matters our observer was asked to leave the room, on grounds of ‘conflict. I suspect if a swimmer was given permission to be a director, or a pod parent, that they may meet the same fate … excluded from much of the actual board meetings. I don’t think it is an unusual or unfair expectation for any sponsor of sports to be sure its funds are going to the athletes and if applicable for agreed purposes. We don’t have such problems with any of the other Olympic sports we sponsor.”
Gina Rinehart. Image: with then president of Swimming Australia John Betrand, courtesy AAP
The News Reports In Full: Rinehart Saga / Peace With World Aquatics
The Statement in full from Swimming Australia
The Board of Swimming Australia is pleased to confirm its voting members have voted 8-1 in favour of adopting a new constitution at a Special General Meeting this evening.
While an earlier version of the constitution was not endorsed, all voting members were in favour of holding an additional meeting where they voted resoundingly in favour on a revised constitution.
The revised constitution met the governance requirements of World Aquatics (AQUA) and the Australian Sports Commission (ASC) and had the support of the Swimming Australia Board.
The vote yielded the minimum 75 per cent majority required to pass the new constitution, which comes into immediate effect ahead of Swimming Australia’s Annual General Meeting on 25 October 2023.
Swimming Australia’s new constitution introduces a range of reforms aimed at delivering a more stable overall environment for the sport and better outcomes from the grassroots and community level through to high-performance.
Importantly the new constitution brings Swimming Australia into line with AQUA’s constitutional requirements and the ASC’s good governance requirements and guidelines, while also creating an Athletes’ Commission which will, in an ongoing capacity, nominate candidates to be appointed to the Swimming Australia Board as the Athlete Director.
There will also be an increase in the overall number of members entitled to vote at general meetings including a greater voice for athletes, the formal introduction of the role of Vice President, along with increases in the proportion of votes that a director requires to be appointed President.
SUMMARY AND EXPLANATORY DOCUMENT FOR SWIMMING AUSTRALIA LIMITED’S REVISED NEW CONSTITUTION
Swimming Australia Limited (SAL) developed a proposed new constitution (New Constitution) that was put to members on the 20 September on the basis that it will be considered by the voting members at a Special General Meeting of SAL, scheduled to be held on 20 October 2023.
The New Constitution was developed with the objective of ensuring that the structure and governance of SAL, and Swimming in Australia more broadly, meets modern corporate and sports governance standards and practices.
The New Constitution was an entirely new document and not an amended version of SAL’s existing constitution as the existing Constitution did not reflect SAL’s obligations as a National Federation Member of World Aquatics (AQUA). The existing constitution was also not aligned with
Since 20 September, discussion on the content of the New Consultation has occurred between SAL and Member Organisations (MOs). SAL has considered feedback on the New Constitution from MOs and has developed a revised New Constitution now approved by AQUA and ASC.
The revised New Constitution adopted at the Special General Meeting keeps the key changes in the New Constitution and contains the following additional changes.
- Varying the composition of the Board in the New Constitution from four Elected Directors, four Appointed Directors plus an Athlete Director and any Australian member of AQUA’s Bureau to five Elected Directors, four Appointed Directors plus an Athlete Director and any Australian member of AQUA’s Bureau. This will mean that the SAL Board can be comprised of a maximum of eleven directors. (Clause 13.1 (a) and (b)).
- Removing the two-year ‘sit-out period’ in clause 13.3(a)(ii) would otherwise have prevented someone coming from a MO Board onto the company’s Board unless they were off the MO
Board for two years. - The revised New Constitution provides a definition for Paralympics Australia and includes Paralympics Australia recognition in the Objects (clause 2(a)).
- The revised New Constitution removes the definition of the Coach’s Commission.
- Clause 2(l) provides clarifying words on the extent of SAL’s promotion, sanctioning, management and conduct of Swimming events.
Page 1 of 2 - Clause 4.8(b)(ii) provides clarifying words on clubs, which by definition includes swim schools being able to be both State members and ASCTA members. Clubs are required to members of State Member Organisations to be members of SAL.
The revised New Constitution still commits SAL to increasing the overall number of members entitled to vote at general meetings to at least 21 (including the current nine voting members) by 31 March 2024 through the vehicle of establishing a Membership Voting Rights Committee.
This change is designed to ensure a more inclusive voice at SAL’s general meetings which is more representative of grassroots swimming. It is also designed to increase the stability of SAL by broadening the base of interested parties who vote on important issues and elect Elected Directors at general meetings.
The SAL Board will work collaboratively with the MOs to ensure that the composition and functioning of the Membership Voting Rights Committee achieves a practical and constructive outcome.
The New Constitution committed SAL to creating an Independent Athletes’ Commission which will, in an ongoing capacity, nominate candidates to be appointed as the Athlete Director.
SAL, ASC and AQUA are of the opinion that the appointment process in the New Constitution allows the broader community of Australian Swimmers independent participation in the appointment of such a Director to represent swimmers.
The SAL Board will take the necessary steps to ensure the Athletes’ Commission Charter, its composition, duties, and functions, represent the views of SAL’s athletes to SAL.