Page 4933 - Week 16 - Tuesday, 26 November 1991
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Mr Connolly: Bankcard Bernard.
MR COLLAERY: Mr Connolly interrupts from his seat over there, saying "Bankcard". When Mr Connolly gets to set a real budget, if ever he does, he will understand the principles that I have just enunciated. Clearly, sport and recreation in this Territory has suffered grievously because, as Mr Berry said at the sports summit the other evening, "I will appoint the members of the sports council. They will be appointed by me, and they will be people acceptable to the Government". He said that. They were his words. He also said, "There would not - - -
Mr Berry: That is right, yes. That is what governments do, Bernard; they govern.
MR COLLAERY: See, he is quite blatant about it. He is going to appoint a sports council that suits the Government's views. The Alliance Government was moving towards an independent sports commission of the calibre and status of the Australian Institute of Sport. We need an academic sporting institute, and that is what this Territory will get, I promise you. There were 130 registrants at that summit and Mr Berry left the meeting early because his comments were received in a deadpan, dead silence way.
Sporting people have a certain politeness about them that probably no other community that Mr Berry faces has. When they are silent, that is a sure veto - a sign of no confidence. I can assure Mr Berry that nothing but condemnation has come from the Minister's comments. This appropriation allows the Government to get the funds to set up its own council. We have a Bill before the house to deal with what may happen in that regard and we will see what goes - and whether they are game to try it when we get our amendment to become law.
Mr Stefaniak referred to the Bruce Stadium. In a statement to this house, I have alluded to the running oncost of more than $600,000 per year of that arrangement, made without legal advice and without reference to the lawyers by the former Deputy Chief Minister, Mr Whalan. The agreement needs to be submitted to independent inquiry. We believe that that inquiry should have judicial status at some stage. This Labor Government will not escape the Bruce Stadium affair. It will visit them, in one form or another, at some stage, I assure the house.
It must be inquired into. There is a loss to the people of this Territory of a sum of at least $600,000 per year, because a deal was made which had one provision in it that said, "If there is any dispute between the parties, the view of the League will prevail". It was worse than anything that Clancy of the Overflow would have written. Having seen, in my practice as a solicitor, agreements made by farmers over the boundary fences - and Mrs Grassby knows what I am talking about - this arrangement had nothing on a
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