Page 312 - Week 03 - Wednesday, 31 May 1989
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get involved in a fight. I thoroughly enjoyed playing both codes of football and enjoyed watching them. I have a great deal of time for the sports, and have had a long association with rugby union in particular.
I for one would have no objections to the Canberra Raiders going to the Bruce Stadium, but there are a number of issues that should be considered. I am pleased to see that amongst the athletics associations - and many of those associations and many people have written to me and to my colleagues in relation to this in recent weeks - very few of them, per se, express any problems with the idea of the Raiders moving to Bruce. Most have no objections to the Raiders' move, but they want certain safeguards and they want certain things looked at.
Firstly and most importantly is the question of cost. Some months ago it was stated by Mrs Kelly, the member for Canberra, supported by the then Minister for Territories, that the Raiders would move to Bruce - end of story. Some questions were raised about the cost, and it was indicated in very vague terms that the Raiders would cover the costs of the move. But what does that really involve?
When one looks deeply at the costs of the move one sees that they are quite substantial. Under current proposals they involve the spending of approximately $6.5m. The question is: Who will pay for it? It would appear that the Commonwealth will not do so. Do the Raiders intend to pay for that and, if so, how? Is the ACT community going to pay for that? If so, how much? What percentage is it going to pay? On 23 May I asked the Deputy Chief Minister a question in relation to the cost and he could not give me at that date details of just how much, if anything, the ACT community was to pay. I submit that the ACT community at this stage will almost certainly have to foot a considerable bill for this move.
The estimated cost of upgrading the warm-up track to the specifications outlined in plans that were shown to various interest groups on 18 April this year in the old NCDC offices indicated that $2.9m would need to be expended in upgrading the warm-up track under the proposals, while the cost of the proposed changes to the main arena, the National Athletic Stadium, was $3.5m. There were, I am reliably told by the athletics people, some further points that had to be covered in relation to upgrading the warm-up track. One of the requirements was the provision of a synthetic warm-up facility, and they were also uncertain whether the required underground cabling had been included in the specifications. If it had not been included, that would be an additional cost. So we are looking there at about $6.5m.
It would seem that the most the Raiders can afford to pay in relation to this move is $1m, leaving $5.5m. Where will that come from? There is a problem there because, as we know, we have very tight financial restraints. We, and
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