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Much-maligned multinational consulting firm PwC has copped a bit of a battering of late but CBD has spotted one piece of quite prescient advice it offered about hosting the Commonwealth Games.

In their report, Commonwealth Games Value Framework – published in 2019 and compiled by their UK office for the Commonwealth Games Federation – the firm states upfront that “the costs of staging a global event such as the Commonwealth Games can deter those cities that have competing priorities for funding”.

You don’t say? Additionally, the advice states the pitfalls of taking the Games on only to run them poorly (or, say, to take them on and unceremoniously dump them) could damage a state’s reputation and international standing.

“Portraying a positive image of the city around the world is important,” the report continues.

“Bad news stories in the media at the time of the Games, for example regarding public transport and the availability of accommodation can deter future visitors.”

Not only that, the PwC report specifically states that botching an event of this prominence could damage trust in the reputation of the host city.

“Any logistical disruption could create a negative impression, not only among Games visitors but also those watching and reading about the Games. This will reduce the likelihood of the city securing follow-on events in the years after the Games.”

It seems Commonwealth Games Australia boss Craig Phillips, though, may have read the report, saying yesterday: “I would be very careful, if I was an international sporting body, coming and doing business in this state in the future.”

So much for Victoria being Australia’s sport events capital. PwC told us that even though their UK branch wrote the report, they didn’t work on the Victorian government’s Games bid at all, so there are no conflict of interest issues on this occasion.

On Tuesday, this masthead confirmed with government and major events sources that another big consultancy firm, EY, was commissioned to provide the government’s estimates. EY and other consultants also estimated the smaller initial cost.

Alas EY’s report is yet to make its way into the public realm. Maybe one day we will see if it had similar warnings.

DIP-LOW-MATIC EXCHANGES

For the last month, all diplomatic exchanges between Australia and the UK have been dominated by lacklustre Ashes banter. It culminated in Anthony Albanese and his British counterpart Rishi Sunak trading feel-pinions about the Jonny Bairstow stumping and later doing a bit of sledging during the recent NATO summit.

At least the upcoming Women’s World Cup and Dan Andrews’ embarrassing capitulation on the Commonwealth Games should give bigwigs something else to talk about.

They’ll get their chance next week, when Britain’s Minister for Sport, Gambling and Civil Society, Stuart Andrew, is in town to support the Lionesses’ World Cup push, with High Commissioner Vicki Treadell hosting him at a special networking event at Sydney’s Museum of Contemporary Art.

Matildas skipper Sam Kerr in action against England during a friendly match in April.Credit: Reuters

England’s team is one of the tournament favourites after winning last year’s European Championships but will inevitably disappoint if they’re anything like their male counterparts.

WILD ABOUT HARRY

Billionaire apartment mogul Harry Triguboff is now a professor – of sorts. The Meriton boss was given an honorary professorship by the University of Canberra this week, to mark the property developer’s first foray into the nation’s capital, a place where trends really do take their time to arrive.

As one of Australia’s richest men, Triguboff could probably do better than the institution colloquially known as Belconnen TAFE, which feted him at an intimate event hosted by Governor-General David Hurley and his wife Linda Hurley at Yarralumla.

Professor Harry Triguboff.Credit: Janie Barrett

Mrs Hurley has developed a reputation as quite the chanteuse, concocting little ditties for the many ribbon-cutting events she appears at, often forcing guests – and even unsuspecting diners at Canberra cafes – to sing along.

To CBD’s immense disappointment, Mrs Hurley didn’t have a song for the occasion. Given that her hits include Song for the Invasive Species Solutions Trust, Harry ought to feel a little miffed.

GINA SLAPS SCAMMERS

By now it’s become clear that Gina Rinehart doesn’t take kindly to people using her image to sell, well, anything that she’s not involved with.

Gina staunchly defends her image.Credit: Getty

In April, this column reported that the nation’s richest person took issue with crypto con artists using her good name to fleece gullible or greedy Australians out of their hard-earned cash. Scammers? In crypto? Surely not.

Now she’s going after yet another scam, posting on her website that she and her company “have been made aware today of fake social media posts and associated news stories alleging that Mrs Rinehart has an association with selling company shares resulting in a fraudulent monthly income”.

“This is a scam designed to use Mrs Rinehart’s positive corporate image to lure people in to invest,” a statement from the billionaire’s people said.

Rinehart, along with Andrew “Twiggy” Forrest, former Sunrise host David Koch and folksy entrepreneur Dick Smith, is one of those people that scammers can’t seem to get enough of.

At least the Rinehart scams are a little less macabre than recent social media posts falsely mourning the “death” of Kochie.

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