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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1996 Week 10 Hansard (4 September) . . Page.. 3075 ..

MR STEFANIAK (continuing):

I am also advised by him that Don Allan rang ACTION, off his own bat - he did not ring me, he did not ring Tony De Domenico, he did not ring you - and offered to pay $500 for the actual parade. It so happens, Ms McRae, that that is exactly the same amount as was paid for the parade last Monday week. That money for the schoolchildren was picked up by the Department of Education and Training. Mr De Domenico also advises me, Ms McRae, that, whilst 20 buses are being provided now, ACTION is quite happy to provide up to 50 buses, should that be required. Mr De Domenico can elaborate, if need be. I would suggest that you should have checked that with Mr De Domenico, and specifically checked it with Don Allan, who has been working with ACTION and also other people in relation to the organisation of this parade. So, again, I think it is a case of checking your facts. That really means that the amendment which Ms Follett has circulated should become unnecessary.

So, Mr Speaker, having disposed of that - and the Deputy Chief Minister can elaborate, if need be, on the details in relation to his buses - I would like to support Mr Hird's motion, which is to praise all of our athletes - both the Olympians and the Paralympians - who competed at the recent Atlanta Games. Firstly, in relation to the earlier Games, there were 19 ACT Academy of Sport athletes who competed in the Atlanta Olympic Games. They won five medals, including gold for Lisa and Katrina Powell, the other medals being bronze for lightweight double sculls rower Bruce Hick and softballers Sally McDermid and Joanne Brown.

Mr Speaker, when it is considered that there was only one ACT Academy of Sport athlete at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, the impact and effectiveness of the program of the ACT Academy of Sport over the past four years can, by any account, be judged to have been extremely significant. I think Canberrans can be proud that the investment the ACT Government has made in the ACT Academy of Sport programs has been of the first order, and we can look forward to an even greater representation, as a result, in Sydney in 2000. Last year, the Government decided to impose a one per cent poker machine levy on ACT clubs to further fund the ACT Academy of Sport. No-one likes to be slugged with an extra tax; but I am happy to say that the clubs have been very supportive of the ACT Academy of Sport, and they are more than satisfied with the results of their input.

ACT representation in the team on a per capita basis was 5.5 per cent, which is great when you consider that we are only 1.2 per cent of the population base of Australia. All the athletes graduated from both the academy's intensive training centre programs, in sports such as hockey, rowing and softball, and the academy's individual scholarship program, in sports such as archery, yachting and modern pentathlon. Not only were there five medallists, but other academy athletes - including Sue Hobson, in athletics; Brendan Todd in yachting; Kay Hick and Karina Weiland in rowing; and Mary Grigson in cycling mountain bike - made finals or finished in the top 16.

The ACT Academy of Sport athletes at the Olympics were: In women's hockey, Lisa and Trini Powell; in softball, Sally McDermid and Joanne Brown; in rowing, Bruce Hick, Craig Jones, Kay Hick, Karina Weiland, Angela Holbeck, Stuart McRae and Ballanda Sack; in athletics, Simon Baker and Sue Hobson; in archery, Myfanwy Matthews; in yachting, Brendan Todd; in judo, Narelle Hill and Brian Power; in modern pentathlon, Alex Johnson; and in cycling mountain bike, Mary Grigson.

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