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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 9 Hansard (2 September) . . Page.. 2735 ..

MR WHITECROSS: My question is to Mrs Carnell in her capacity as Chief Minister and Minister for Business, et cetera. Chief Minister, I refer to an article which appeared in the Canberra Times on the weekend. I do not know whether you have had a chance to read it. This article claims that the ACT Government signed a memorandum of understanding with SOCOG which will see 11 Olympic soccer matches played at Bruce during the 2000 Olympics. Would you explain what commitments the ACT Government made in that memorandum of understanding and what commitments SOCOG have made, and would you provide a copy of the memorandum of understanding to the Assembly?

MRS CARNELL: It is always interesting that those opposite seem to have a very real problem with anything that is likely to produce dollars and jobs for the ACT. They claim every day that they support jobs, but the moment there is any chance of new jobs or new investment they are the first ones to be out there criticising.

Mr Whitecross: I just want some information.

MRS CARNELL: Mr Whitecross made the point, "All I want is information". That is fine. We are happy to give him information. All he needed to do was ring our office and we would have organised a briefing, but I am happy to give the information in this place.

The memorandum of understanding signed between SOCOG and Canberra, like that provided to other host venues, outlines the general principles, responsibilities and major costs for the tournament. Negotiations with SOCOG over the past six months to finalise the memorandum of understanding have involved detailed discussions on program needs as well as the financial costs and revenue opportunities for the tournament for Canberra.

The key areas outlined in the memorandum of understanding involve the following issues. The first is costs. At this time the estimated costs of staging the 2000 Olympic football tournament in Canberra is up to $10m, which includes known service fees to be paid to SOCOG, which are capped at $4.71m. These fees include athlete accommodation and travel, volunteer recruitment and training, as well as marketing of the venue. Undefined program areas and expenses such as security make up the balance of the estimated $10m. These expenses will not become clearer until much closer to the event and will depend on the security risk assessment and FIFA requirements.

The next issue is revenue. To offset these costs, Canberra will receive several revenue streams from the tournament, including from ticket sales, corporate boxes, program sales and car parking. Associated events also provide revenue opportunities for the Territory. Potential ticket sales alone for Canberra are estimated at $3m, with the remaining revenue streams potentially providing an additional $1m to the Territory. SOCOG's ticket revenue target of $5.286m for the tournament in Canberra has been underwritten. This agreement with SOCOG has provided the maximum revenue opportunities from ticket sales for the Territory. This SOCOG revenue represents only 60 per cent of the ticket sales. All costs and revenues to SOCOG are subject to a CPI index, with such costs to be paid in instalments beginning in the 1998-99 financial year.

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