By David
Gradually Miskimmin is being found out. Of course he will never be exposed from inside sport. Too many people rely on him for their bread and rations. Miskimmin has bought their loyalty, purchased their silence. Can you imagine Renford, the CEO of Swimming New Zealand, ever questioning a Miskimmin decision? Even if the new Mazdas were replaced with well used 1985 Yugo GVs I doubt that Layton, Renford or Villanueva would call out the dear leader. No, change in New Zealand sport is not going to come from within.
The closest anyone came to internal reform was the sterling effort of swimming’s Coalition of Regions. But even then the reformers stumbled at the final hurdle. As has so often happened in New Zealand and world politics, the most probable source of reform is likely to be the Fourth Estate; the New Zealand press. Of course I am not silly enough to include Swimwatch in a list of viable media critics. With only 250 unique readers each day Swimwatch has little influence. Indeed I imagine a fair portion of the blog’s readers are Miskimmin and Renford toadies.
Real change will need far more than Swimwatch. And it looks like that’s just the boost reform is beginning to get. I think Miskimmin and his empire may be beginning to piss off some pretty important people in the main stream media.
Remember when Swimming New Zealand misinformed the Sports Editor of The Dominion Post, Jonathan Millmow, over the results of the New Zealand team at the 2013 World Swimming Championships? I have no idea what Millmow’s private thoughts were about their deceptive blundering. At the very least, I imagine he must have attached a Post-it note on his computer saying, “Double check anything Swimming New Zealand say.”
A week ago the Fairfax New Zealand sport’s journalist of the year in 2012 and 2013, Simon Plumb, wrote an important article for the Stuff website on problems in Bike NZ. Plumb discussed Miskimmin’s decision to withhold information because; “the balance of public interest is in Sport NZ’s ability to carry out its functions effectively.” Fairfax is appealing that nonsense to the Ombudsman.
Plumb also drew attention to Sport NZ’s decision to spend $70,500 on consultancy fees with a firm “owned by former Sport NZ boss, Nick Hill.” Of course everything may be in order, but it is not a good look.
And then Plumb discovered that; “Last year the taxpayer-funded organization avoided “a relatively large” financial deficit only by “capitalizing” $200,000 spent on redeveloping a website”. I suspect many accountants would prefer a sport charity like Bike NZ to expense the cost in their annual profit and loss statement. The impression of hiding a big cost is hard to escape.
Finally Plumb confirmed that; “The organization is still trying to replace the loss of its prime commercial sponsor which left two years ago.” It appears that commercial people may be having trouble supporting the Miskimmin empire. State has left Swimming New Zealand. When good money is at stake, commercial people have an uncanny nose for the scent of trouble.
And this weekend another Fairfax and vastly experienced journalist, Mark Reason, wrote an opinion piece, published in the Sunday Star Times. His topic was Miskimmin’s plans to centralize the preparation of elite canoeing at Lake Karapiro. Here is a summary of what Mark Reason had to say.
A High Performance Canoeing Centre that will cost in the region of $1.5 million is forecast to be used by 14 people. That’s less than a single rugby team. For the past week many of New Zealand’s canoeists have been paddling furiously against the current to tell Fairfax Media why the proposed centre will be such a colossal waste of money.
Even the CEO of Canoe Racing New Zealand says he would have distributed the funding for the centre more evenly through the sport if that decision had been available to him. But Peter Miskimmin, the head of Sport New Zealand, confirms that the choice was a high-performance centre or nothing.
The thinking behind the centre is that it will bring a number of sports together in the one environment. Rowing, cycling, triathlon and canoeing can all share certain facilities and learn from each other. Everyone is pulling together.
Many in the canoeing community believe that this is Utopian moonshine. And if you wonder why I do not directly quote all these malcontents, it is because they are afraid of the consequences. They are afraid that they will be punished for publicly airing their views. Maybe they are paranoid, but they believe that Sport New Zealand suppresses free discussion through ostracism and financial sanctions.
Mark Weatherall, the CEO of Canoe Racing New Zealand, says: “The key decision is to make a commitment to build a facility. We are yet to determine how best to use the facility. Weatherall acknowledges as “a fair call” my comment that it seems strange to approve and build a facility without first determining its purpose.
Alex Baumann, the CEO of High Performance Sport, says the centre is a long-term project. “We believe canoeing has the potential to grow. It’s a great opportunity for the future.”
Miskimmin says: “We’re looking at 15-20 years and beyond. We’re creating something for the future.” Miskimmin also expresses surprise that Canoe Racing New Zealand has not yet explicitly determined the purpose of the centre.
These men believe in their vision of excellence. Germany and Hungary, the world’s most successful canoeing nations, are club-based. But the vision for the future (in NZ) sees a high-performance centre and so a high-performance centre will be built.
“Utopian moonshine” – what a perfect description. The socialist dogma with which Miskimmin and Baumann pursue their centralized dream has not been seen since East German communism built centralized facilities for swimming in Potsdam and boxing, track and field, volleyball and yachtingat Kienbaum. We have all heard the stuff Miskimmin and Baumann come up with to justify the millions spent on their socialist ambition.
Well, you just guess who said this about their national facilities, “this was the facility where athletes and coaches from a variety of disciplines would go to hone their training in preparation for major competitions.” “In its heyday the National High Performance unit employed up to 40 coaches, six physicians, ten physical therapists, five medical assistants and four nurses for the students and 70 other athletes including world record holders.”
If you guessed the author was either Miskkimmin or Baumann, you are wrong but not without good reason. I doubt there is a fair person reading this story who would deny that the description sounds as if it was lifted straight from the Miskimmin/Baumann policy manual. But no this is in fact an East German PR hand-out telling the world about their high performance training facility in Kienbaum. It is difficult to believe that it is a National Government that is funding New Zealand’s experiment in pure sporting socialism.
Miskimmin and Baumann tell us, “this is a long term project”. We are looking “at 15-20 years and beyond. We’re creating something for the future.” Well let me have a shot at forecasting the future of the facilities being built by those two. In 15-20 years they will have been tried and proven to not work. They will be done and discarded. Cycle tracks will have been taken over by wood-worm, canoe facilities will be overrun with river weed, concrete buildings will be cracking and worn and paths and tracks will be wind-blown and unused. The purpose for which they were built will not have been achieved. The Miskimmin and Baumann dream will have failed; will have become a national nightmare.
Like every socialist sport’s delivery experiment New Zealand will be beaten by those who deliver elite sport through a diversified free enterprise open market. Eventually we will adopt a private enterprise approach. Sadly we will have lost millions and two or three generations of sporting talent in the process.
But, there is hope. The fourth estate is waking up. Forces far greater than Miskimmin or Baumann are beginning to see weaknesses; are beginning to ask why. And that is good for sport; for New Zealand; for my country and probably yours.
