Page 4059 - Week 09 - Thursday, 26 August 2010
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This is indeed a well-earned award nomination. As is the case with Floriade and many of the events run in the ACT, Mr Guthrie and his team at TVE ran it very much hands on. He and his staff were on site the whole weekend, managing fences, dealing with contractors, helping contestants work out where they needed to be, and the countless other tasks that are needed to make an event like the world mountain bike championships a great success.
This award nomination is further evidence of the excellence of Mr Guthrie and his team at TVE—the team who also run Manuka Oval and Canberra Stadium so successfully. This nomination is also—(Time expired.)
MR SPEAKER: Mr Hargreaves, a supplementary question?
MR HARGREAVES: Minister, could you further expand on that little piece of information that you gave us, because I did not get the rest of it, and could you please advise the Assembly what other events—other than a Liberal Party love-in—are due to take place at the Stromlo Forest Park that will benefit the Canberra community?
MR BARR: Again I thank Mr Hargreaves. Members may be aware that a few weeks ago I released a new Access Economics report that shows that the sport sector contributes $245 million a year to the ACT economy. The report finds the industry provides full-time work for nearly 3,000 Canberrans. It finds that around 27,000 Canberrans contribute more than three million hours annually to voluntary roles in the sector. The study shows that participation in sport and recreation saves the community $84.5 million in associated health costs, and the report finds that halving the current rate of physical inactivity across the territory could save nearly an extra $50 million a year.
With that in mind, I think it is fair to say that any time Canberrans use the fantastic facilities at Stromlo Forest Park it is providing a benefit to the ACT community. It is yet another asset delivered for the community by this Labor government to encourage Canberrans of all ages to get into physical activity and to stay active. It is yet another asset delivered by this government to ensure that our community remains the most active community in Australia. On any given weekend, it attracts visitors to the territory to use its world-class facilities.
I am pleased to advise that Stromlo Forest Park has what can only be described as a full dance card of upcoming events in all shapes and sizes, so between today and the end of August, it will host the ACT schools mountain bike championships, a round of the Australian duathlon series and the singletrack mind MTB enduro. Upcoming highlights include the Australian Transplant Games in October, the 24 hours of adrenalin world solo 24-hour mountain bike championships and the Scott 24-hour race.
There are so many upcoming events that within the eight seconds I have left I will not be able to list them all. I could even do a Mr Coe adjournment debate and not quite get through them all! So, if you want to find out more, visit www.stromloforestpark.com.au.
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