Phillips appointed to SOCOG board
Posted: Thursday January 14, 1999 11:38 AM
SYDNEY, Australia (AP) -- Ron Phillips, deputy leader of the
opposition party in the New South Wales state parliament, was
appointed Opposition Olympics spokesman and an Olympic organizing
committee board member Thursday.
The appointment comes 10 weeks before a state election that
could see the ruling Australian Labor Party replaced, with Phillips
then likely to succeed Micael Knight as Olympics minister.
Opposition Leader Kerry Chikarovski said Phillips would not
become president of the Sydney Organizing Committee for the Olympic
Games (SOCOG), if her coalition parties won the election.
That comment puts her in opposition to Australian Olympic
Committee president and SOCOG member John Coates.
Coates believes that the same person should hold the dual roles
of Olympics minister and SOCOG president - as is the case with
Knight - and has a veto against any change.
Phillips will officially become a SOCOG director at the next
board meeting in February.
On Thursday, Phillips became shadow Olympics spokesman in place
of Ian Armstrong, who had also been dumped as National Party leader
hours earlier in favor of George Souris. Phillips will replace
Armstrong on the SOCOG board.
Copyright 2003 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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