Controversial Olympics Minister Michael Knight has angered Olympic groups by denying the existence of a Sydney Olympic Games Organising Committee

"The Olympics were organised by millions of ordinary Australians, but the vast majority of the work was done by me personally," said Knight. "The term Sydney Olympic Organising Committee is rhetorical, and to claim that a small proportion of the Australian population called SOCOG deserves special recognition is very divisive."

Knight then dealt with a potentially explosive situation by accepting all awards, compliments, praise and congratulations himself.

Responding to an independent report which claimed that SOCOG and its Chief Executive Sandy Holloway had "done a good job", Knight simply said "who?" When pressed on the issue and asked why he had denied Holloway a special IOC gold medal, Knight claimed that the SOCOG CEO "didn't exist"

Faced with national condemnation of his comments, Knight surprised observers by promptly retiring from politics. International Olympic Committee vice-president Kevan Gosper said that "although he did not know who Michael Knight was, he was very surprised by the announcement this morning that he had retired."

Political commentators are speculating that Knight's exit from the NSW political arena clears the way for Liberal Party pre-selection and a front bench role as Federal Minister for Indigenous Affairs. Some pundits, however, predict that Knight's remarkable ability to remain invisible for four years makes him the Prime Minister's first choice as President of the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission.

Knight was not available to comment on his surprise resignation, as according to a spokesman "he was busy cleaning the Acropolis with a toothbrush."

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