Pollies squabble over Kokoda
1 June 1998A potential row is simmering between the Federal Minister for Sport, Mr Thomson, and Australia's two International Olympic Committee (IOC) members, Mr Kevan Gosper and Mr Phil Coles, over a suggestion that the Olympic torch be carried down the Kokoda trail.
Mr Coles and Mr Gosper have both publicly rejected the idea of running the torch over the Kokoda trail, saying it is "unacceptable" for security reasons. Mr Gosper also said the IOC had a policy of not running the torch over routes which commemorated non-Olympic events.
However, Mr Thomson strongly supports the idea, and on Friday issued a strongly worded statement which suggested the Federal Government's funding of the Olympic Torch relay through Oceania might be linked with the Prime Minister's support for the torch being run along the Kokoda trail.
Speaking from Lisbon yesterday, Mr Gosper expressed "surprise" at Mr Thomson's statement, issued without consultation with the IOC members. He described the statement as divisive, and said both he and Mr Coles agreed on the torch relay. He said he was "finding it difficult to understand why this is being championed so strongly" by the minister.
In his statement on Friday, Mr Thomson said Mr Coles, who chairs the committee which is deciding the route for the torch relay, had told his office on April 6 "that the Kokoda trail would go ahead".
However Mr Coles, who is travelling and unavailable, has previously said that the torch would not be run over the Kokoda trail for security reasons. "We have already made it clear that the Kokoda trail is not on," he said. "It's a risk."
