Former Labor powerbroker Mark Arbib has been unveiled as the new chief executive of the Australian Olympic Committee.
Arbib, who has served on the AOC executive since 2016, will replace outgoing chief executive Matt Carroll, whose eight-year tenure ends next month at the organisation’s annual general meeting.
Athletics Australia’s president for six years until 2021, Arbib edged out former Cricket Australia chief executive Nick Hockley and Commonwealth Games Australia president Ben Houston for one of the most significant roles in Australian sport.
Arbib held several ministerial portfolios, including minister for sport and assistant treasurer, before he resigned from politics in 2012.
The 53-year-old former Labor senator was a key figure in the 2010 coup against Kevin Rudd that saw the prime minister ousted for Julia Gillard.
Arbib was a campaign director for the NSW state election in 2007 before being elected to the Senate later that year.
Former federal sport minister and Athletics Australia president Mark Arbib. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
After leaving federal politics, Arbib spent a decade as a senior executive with James Packer’s private investment company, including on the billionaire’s Crown Sydney casino venture.
He has also been a director of Sydney FC and the South Sydney Rabbitohs, on whose board he sat as a representative of James Packer’s Consolidated Press Holdings.
