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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1996 Week 12 Hansard (21 November) . . Page.. 4104 ..

MS McRAE (continuing):

The consultation consisted of a number of steps. An initial questionnaire was sent to all peak sporting bodies; a draft strategic plan was developed; the draft plan was sent back; additional face-to-face meetings were held; and a subcommittee was formed. This was a 10-year plan that was already drawn up. This is what happened. Note the change. This really takes a few prizes. The answer was:

The sub-committee is currently reviewing the draft plan in light of these extensive consultations.

On page 16 of the Government's response to the Estimates Committee we had a plan. It was the same plan as I saw last year. On page 17 - hey, presto! - it has become a "draft" plan. I wonder whether they noticed that something had happened between all these consultations and when they wrote this answer, and they thought, "Oh, my God! We had better go back to the drawing board. There is something that has come up by the lake, all of a sudden". It is very strange. What is more, they will continue to support the development of a sport and recreation directory and calendar. The connection to the previous sentence defies all logic, but this is what they are going to do. Maybe from the calendar we will find out when the next futsal field is to appear.

It is a matter of major concern. There are bits of national land all over the ACT. Where else has the NCA set a futsal field seed to grow? Where else is $250,000 suddenly going to emerge in the form of an international stadium for a sport that is going to be played at Olympic standard, for an indoor sport to be played outside? Members, we have a major worry here. If these things happen like that at a quarter of a million dollars and the Minister has no idea, we do have some major concerns about the sport budget. At the very least, I hope that the Minister can explain how an existing 10-year plan becomes a draft plan. Secondly, how on earth can budgets talk about emerging needs and not have anything in them about emerging needs that grow all of a sudden? I will call on the Minister to come clean about this process. It was obviously a good idea in some place at some time.

One hopes sincerely that this will not become a white elephant. I will take at face value the idea that it will have some attraction for some people at the lake one day. I have yet to drive past and see anyone there. But I do find it extraordinary that such an expensive item can come up in the budget, unexpectedly, unprepared, unplanned for, and then be dealt with as a wonderful thing for the ACT. I sincerely hope that it will be a wonderful thing for the ACT. But I do not think that anybody can have any faith in a sport budget which claims to have a 10-year plan, which claims to have a schedule of events, which claims to have a process of grant giving and management of facilities, suddenly to discover that a quarter of a million dollars can be spent like that. I wish that I did have a few friends who could line up and find out how this happened, because I do not think it is a very good indication of how our sport budget is being managed.

I do think that those emerging needs were extremely important. Table tennis and badminton are played by an awful lot of people. If there was this much money able to be found, I think it would be good if the rest of the people of the ACT knew that at some point they too could be in on this and did not have to wait for some magic formula that none of us have yet found out about.

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