The Australian Sports Commission (ASC) and Cycling Australia (CA) today welcomed the appointment of a new board to CA which gives the sport the right mix of skills and expertise for it to reach its full potential.
The new board, which will be led by respected administrator Malcolm Speed as president, was ratified at a CA special general meeting last night.
Outgoing CA President Gerry Ryan said the newly-elected board would ratify Speed as President when it meets for the first time later in the week.
“Under the leadership of one the nation’s top sports administrators in Malcolm Speed, cycling can expect to grow even further in Australia,” he said.
Ryan said the board, which was appointed following a rigorous assessment of an independent nominations committee chaired by Peter Bartels and comprising Don Argus, The Hon. Rod Kemp and Kate Palmer, would bring a new vigour to CA.
The unveiling of the new board coincided with the announcement of a $2 million loan to CA to stabilise the sport’s financial position and protect its successful high performance program while it completed its much-needed governance reform.
ASC Chair John Wylie AM said the ASC would provide a loan of $1.5 million while CA’s member states and Mountain Bike Australia would collectively loan another $500,000.
Wylie said the loan was required to help CA fix the financial and structural issues which it faced as a result of a failed commercial joint venture.
“The ASC undertook an independent and rigorous financial analysis of CA including assessment of the various options available.
“After much consideration, the ASC determined that the most effective way of protecting the sport’s strongest assets – its high performance athletes and mass public appeal – was to grant the existing organisation a loan on the condition it continues its reform agenda.
“The interest-bearing loan has been provided with a strict set of conditions, including the co-contribution by the sport’s member states, complete governance overhaul, and ongoing financial oversight of the high performance program by the AIS.
“Pleasingly under Gerry Ryan’s leadership, impressive governance reform has already been achieved and today’s full board announcement provides further evidence of the sport’s willingness to change.”
Since late last year, CA’s leadership has begun rebuilding through the appointment of Ryan as president and a short term appointment of Adrian Anderson as interim chief executive officer, which concluded in May this year.
“Since I took over as president late last year a number of significant changes have taken place including a review of the sport’s business which identified potential savings within the organisation, renegotiating a new broadcast deal and developing a commercial plan to attract new partners,” Ryan said.
“We have also made necessary governance reform including the move to a company limited by guarantee and made constitutional changes which align to the ASC’s mandatory governance principles.”
ASC Chief Executive Simon Hollingsworth thanked Ryan for his long term support of cycling in Australia as well as stepping into the role of overseeing the caretaker board.
“Gerry’s support for cycling and passion to see it succeed is phenomenal and the work he has done since stepping into the role of short-term president has been fantastic,” he said.
“That work has included developing a business plan which outlines how the organisation will address its financial issues and demonstrate a capacity to repay loans to the ASC and state member bodies.
“Given the significant recent progress made towards getting CA back on track, it was considered important to provide it with this vital financial support while it completes its reforms.”
The new Cycling Australia board is: Malcolm Speed (President-elect), David Ansell, Matt Dever, Linda Evans, Leeanne Grantham, Anthony Griffin, Justin Quill and Gerry Ryan (Appointed Director)
