AOC Boss John Coates Accused Of Mansplaining To Queensland Premier

The boss of the Australian Olympic Committee has been called out for the way he spoke to the Queensland Premier.

Annastacia Palaszczuk promised that she would only be flying to Japan to secure Brisbane's bid for the 2032 Olympic Games.

Once that was done, she said she would be on the first plane back to Australia.

However, she was promptly told by John Coates that she should stay in Tokyo to observe the Opening Ceremony to get a feel of how things are run.

While it's an understandable sentiment, the way he spoke and the fact he did it in front of a room full of reporters, has been slammed.

Mr Coates said at the press conference: "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.

"So, none of you are staying behind and hiding in your rooms, alright?"

It was a tense and awkward moment for everyone and the order left the Premier speechless for a few seconds.

Ms Palaszczuk said she didn't want to offend anyone by leaving, despite previously declaring she wouldn't attend any events associated with the Tokyo Games.

The comments and Mr Coates' tone haven't gone down well with people on social media.

But Mr Coates wasn't done.

He continued to tell Ms Palaszczuk: "You've never been to an opening ceremony of the Olympic Games, have you?.

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 million to $100 million."

"It puts a stamp on the Games and it's very important to the broadcasts that follow and it's my very strong recommendation that the Premier, and the Lord Mayor and the Sports Minister be there and understand it."

It seems like it's water off a duck's back for the Premier.

Annastacia told the ABC: "John Coates was laying down the law last nigh. We are now a part of the IOC family and I will do what John Coates says.

"I've known John for years. If we didn't have John Coates, this would not have happened. John Coates has been the driving force behind us securing the Olympics."

Topics: Australia

Stewart Perrie

Stewart Perrie is a Trending Journalist at LADbible. His first job was as a newsreader and journalist at the award winning Sydney radio station, Macquarie Radio. He was solely responsible for the content broadcast on multiple stations across Australia when the MH17, Germanwings and AirAsia disasters unfolded. Stewart has covered the conflict in Syria for LADbible, interviewing a doctor on the front line, and has contributed to the hugely successful UOKM8 campaign.

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