Page 760 - Week 03 - Wednesday, 13 April 1994
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fitness programs. That was an initiative of the Labor Party. That project was one that was started early by another Labor sports Minister, and I was very proud to have been able to extract the money and get the centre built. I know that for decades the people of the ACT will enjoy that facility. Of course, we have also refurbished the Dickson pool.
We have been involved in new sportsground lighting. Narrabundah ballpark has had its final major stage constructed. Albert Hall has been provided with some additional facilities. Erindale Leisure Centre has had some new extensions. The Canberra softball centre has had work start on stage 1. The Conder playing fields have begun. Bruce Stadium modifications have been implemented to increase its flexibility.
Then we come to the ACT Academy of Sport. The Academy of Sport runs an elite program which the Government supports. It is our program. In 1993 I requested a review of the academy and its programs, to recommend strategies for its future directions. That was completed in January 1994, and those recommendations and strategies will have to be considered to develop the future of the academy. But that academy has been a gem for the ACT because it is the focus of elite athletes in the Territory. It is now not living in the shadow of the Australian Institute of Sport; it has broken out of that mould. It is succeeding in drawing local sponsorship. I congratulate all sponsors. The academy will play an important role in the development of sport in the ACT for a long time, and I am very proud to be associated with that.
I introduced the volunteers award as a result of the need to recognise the contribution that volunteers make to sport. The thousands who get out there of a weekend and at nights to look after their youngsters and look after themselves had to be recognised. It was Labor that recognised volunteers in sport in the ACT. In 1992 we also introduced a program to recognise and acknowledge the outstanding achievement by ACT sports people.
In racing, legislation for the three codes of racing is being developed. There has been much debate in this place about the TAB in the last little while, but it is now a statutory authority. We decorporatised it, much to the anxiety of the Liberals, to make sure that all this nonsense about privatising it was taken off the agenda. We can see what is happening in Victoria. They are going to sell the family silver for one meal. Because of the situation that exists in Victoria, they are going to sell the TAB. The income that the Government has received for useful social programs will be lost to the private sector. It will no longer go to those useful social programs.
Mr De Domenico: Absolute bunkum!
MR BERRY: That is where Mr De Domenico and the Liberals and Labor stand well apart. To the Liberals, if it does not have a useful social purpose, it is really not worth worrying about too much. The Liberals focus on dollars and money in their pockets. Over the past two years sport and recreation development grants were made to over 130 sport and recreation organisations for the development and capital equipment categories. Of course, we have maintained a sensible level of funding there. This Government has always demonstrated its commitment to sport and the useful social role that sport plays.
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