at every games, Australia's sporting bodies should not bow to political pressure to boycott, but rather should indeed send a team to Moscow. In the mid-1990s, Coates together with Leo Wallner, then Austrian Olympic Committee president and head of Casinos Austria, joined with the Australian Olympic Committee's investment arm, under Coates' leadership, to invest in the establishment of a casino in Cairns in north-east Australia. In 2007, Coates said We held onto our shares and sold them only last year. Our original investment was $7 million and we ended up losing $3.5 million. In 1997, Coates and then NSW State Treasurer Michael Egan engaged in a dispute over an alleged conflict of interest arising from criticisms Coates had made in regard to accommodation taxes imposed by the government. Coates and Sydney radio host Alan Jones have had a long-standing feud that has occasionally ended in litigation. In April 2007, this litigation was concluded when Coates was awarded $360,000 damages when a jury found a broadcast made by Jones in December 2004 conveyed defamatory meanings. In August 2007, during a broadcast from Beijing, Jones made comments, based on wire service reports, about an interview that Coates had given in which it was alleged that he (Coates) had made disparaging remarks about Beijing. Subsequently, in October 2007, Jones apologised to Coates on air for his comments. In July 2021, Coates was criticised for an exchange he had with Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk at a press conference in Tokyo. After Brisbane was announced as the winning host city of the 2032 Summer Olympics, Coates told the premier to be present at the opening ceremony of the 2020 Summer Olympics when she had previously declined the invitation to attend. Australian media personalities such as Julia Zemiro, Magda Szubanski, Ellen Fanning and Natalie Forrest all condemned the way he spoke to the Queensland premier with Szubanksi describing it as "thuggish" while Zemiro accused him of humiliating and pestering Palaszczuk. Former Swimming Australia CEO Leigh Russell said it was "disgusting" and another example of how women in sport are treated. Palaszczuk said she hadn't wanted to offend anyone. Coates later defended the exchange with Palaszczuk in a statement. He said his comments had been "completely misinterpreted". Although he believed all three levels of government should go to the opening ceremony, Coates said it had always been Palaszczuk's choice whether she attended. He also said that he