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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 13 Hansard (2 December) . . Page.. 4274 ..

MR STEFANIAK (continuing):

in August this year to discuss our plans to upgrade facilities at Football Park in Phillip and at Manuka, in tandem with the redevelopment of Bruce Stadium. He accepted that proposal and he said it was an extremely significant improvement on his understanding of what we were proposing to do at that stage to either Manuka or Phillip. I told him the amount of money we were thinking of spending. He indicated that that was a very significant amount of money; that a lot could be done with that, and he was very impressed. Mr Jackson said nothing to indicate to me that he agreed with "Chicken Little's" assumption that the proposal would result in a facility that would "inevitably be rejected again by the AFL", as quoted in that person's literature that he was handing out on grand final day. In fact, Mr Jackson was very positive about the role Canberra had to play in the future growth of Australian rules football, and said that the proposed upgrades would only strengthen the AFL's plans in this area.

I have now handed over cheques of $50,000 each to ACTAFL and the ACT Cricket Association, whilst reconfirming the Government's intention to provide multimillion dollar funding for the improvement of facilities at Football Park, Phillip, and at Manuka Oval. Mr Speaker, $3.4m will be provided to ACTAFL to enable them to design and build TV standard lighting at Football Park, Phillip. Initially, the $50,000 was provided to enable them to commence design and to undertake all the necessary planning procedures. The provision of TV standard lighting at Phillip will enable ACTAFL and the Cricket Association to stage night games in both sports in the future, hopefully commencing with some Ansett Cup Australian football games in February 1999 and some day-night matches for the Canberra Comets cricket team in the Mercantile Mutual Cup competition - they are going well so far this year - in the 1998-99 season. Televised night games will give national coverage to Canberra cricketers and will be a significant boost to ambitions to host more Ansett Cup football games in Canberra. If members saw the news last night they would have seen the very positive statements made by Mr Kevin Delmenico, and Justice John Gallop on behalf of ACT Cricket, which indicate just how pleased those two groups are with what the Government is doing.

Mr Hird, $1m will also be provided to ACT Cricket to enable them to improve the facilities at Manuka Oval by upgrading the Bradman Pavilion.

Mr Corbell: I take a point of order, Mr Speaker, on relevance. I do not believe that Mr Hird raised at any stage the issue of funding for cricket or any other sport apart from Australian rules football.

MR SPEAKER: No, but he most certainly should have. Continue, Mr Stefaniak. It is a most appropriate day, I might add. We are playing South Africa.

Mr Hird: And you have on a cricket tie.

MR SPEAKER: I do.

MR STEFANIAK: Well done, Mr Hird. So, $1m will also be provided to ACT Cricket to enable them to upgrade the Bradman Pavilion. The $50,000 was handed over yesterday to enable design work to commence on that project. The new extensions to the Bradman Pavilion will enable ACT Cricket to provide extra corporate facilities, press facilities and upgraded office accommodation for that association.

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