Commonwealth Games Australia provides more money to athletes and sports than the Australian Olympic Committee, "despite operating on half the budget," a comparative analysis of the two organizations revealed, according to Chip Le Grand of THE AUSTRALIAN. Published and unpublished accounts of the sporting bodies show while AOC President John Coates receives the equivalent of a full-time exec salary, CGA President Sam Coffa "does the job for an honorarium and use of a car." While the AOC spends more than A$500,000 ($375,042) a year to maintain the lease on its HQ, the CGA was until recently based in a A$66,000 ($49,505)-a-year terrace house in Melbourne’s inner-north Carlton. It has since "moved to larger digs in Albert Park to the city’s south to accommodate more staff" in the lead-up to the 2018 Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast. The cost of the new office space is understood to be about A$90,000 ($67,507)-a-year. Coffa has chaired the board of the CGA for nearly 20 years and said that the "guiding philosophy" established by former CEO Perry Crosswhite was simple: "He was a great believer in doing the best he could with the least expense." Coffa: "I think there is a belief and a culture in the Commonwealth Games that we really exist for athletes and sports and we minimize the costs" (THE AUSTRALIAN, 4/11).
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