Page 2522 - Week 08 - Tuesday, 9 August 2016
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Many of these community sports have no avenue to have their voices heard after the demise of ACTSport. ACTSport had provided a way for smaller, local community sports to have access to office space, training and a voice to the government. Unfortunately, we watched on as this government saw fit to allow ACTSport to collapse. In fact, in certain quarters the claim is that the government actually engineered the collapse of ACTSport. It is a shame; in fact, it is a disgrace. But like so many other issues in Canberra, it did not surprise me. As we all know, this government do not like community consultation or hearing from locals who disagree with their way of doing things.
Having the number of high quality, top-level teams playing in and representing Canberra is important. But it should not come at the expense of community sport. Without community sport, these teams will fall away. We cannot sustain these teams without grassroots level support and involvement. (Second speaking period taken.) There are the everyday mums and dads that are running under-10 soccer training on Tuesday night in their spare time and the high school kids who are at the basketball stadium on Saturday morning. They are the future: our next Canberra United superstar, a future Brumbies captain or perhaps another Patty Mills. These people cannot be forgotten. At the moment they are beginning to feel as though this government is leaving them behind.
Sport and recreation does not even have the name as its agency’s title anymore. I am not sure what Active Canberra is supposed to indicate, but I wonder if it does not imply a move towards recreational non-government-funded activities, away from support for organised sport and provision of grounds, pools and tracks. Is money directed into sport and recreation other than at the international tourist level going to be yet another victim of the light rail folly? I guess that if families are not taking their children to sport on a weekend, they can catch the tram from Gungahlin to the city and back as a form of recreation. Perhaps that is where the demand curve for this service is intended to come from.
Madam Speaker, to take up the rest of my time, I would like to go to the venues part of my presentation.
MADAM SPEAKER: Yes; you have 10 minutes, Mr Doszpot.
MR DOSZPOT: Thank you, Madam Speaker. The budget says very little about venues other than that it promotes and manages major events at venues including GIO Stadium, Exhibition Park, Manuka Oval, Stromlo forest and the Canberra Business Event Centre. And what a mixed bag of places this list is. Only today we read in the media that if the Raiders qualify to have a finals game in the third week, they will not have the privilege extended to other clubs of staging it on a home ground.
The Brumbies have struggled all year to get crowds at their games despite the fact that they have been playing probably some of the best rugby the club has seen. The GIO ground infrastructure improvements required have been ignored by this government.
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