IOC Says Bed Tax Is A Domestic Issue
26 May 1997A row between Sydney Olympics organisers and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) was resolved when the governing body said a proposed hotel bed tax to help fund the 2000 Games was a domestic issue.
New South Wales state premier Bob Carr on Friday told Juan Antonio Samaranch to mind his own business after the IOC chief criticised the organisers for imposing the levy. But the IOC said in statement on Monday it had told Sandy Hollway, president of the Games organisers, the bed tax was "a matter purely for the New South Wales government to determine. The IOC has never sought and will never seek to intervene in Australian and New South Wales politics," it said.
The New South Wales state government, which is funding much of the massive construction costs for the Games, plans to impose a 10 per cent hotel bed tax starting from September 1 this year. The tax is projected to raise A$64 million (US$50.07 million) a year, offsetting a projected A$3.2 billion bill for building Olympic facilities, about two-thirds of which is being met from the public purse.
Samaranch had said the IOC was not happy with the tax, adding: "We can do nothing -- only tell the organisers that we are not happy".
