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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2000 Week 8 Hansard (30 August) . . Page.. 2615 ..
Amendment (Ms Tucker's ) to Mr Smyth's amendment agreed to.
Amendment (Mr Smyth's ), as amended, agreed to.
Motion (Mr Stanhope's ), as amended, agreed to.
MR CORBELL (11.23): Mr Speaker, I move:
That this Assembly, recognising the significant economic and social benefits drag-racing has brought to the ACT community, urges the ACT Government to enter into negotiations with the Canberra International Dragway to reach agreement for a suitable, permanent venue for drag-racing in the ACT.
Mr Speaker, this morning in Canberra 15 times Australian top fuel drag-racing champion, Mr Jim Reid, will be present outside the Canberra Centre with his Gregory's publication 5000-horsepower, 300 miles an hour, top fuel dragracer. Unfortunately, Mr Speaker, that is as far as he will get in the ACT at the moment.
Mr Speaker, the reason I am moving this motion today is that there is significant community of interest in the ACT that participates in a legitimate sporting activity which has no venue for that activity. We are all aware of the legal battles that have been fought between the Canberra International Dragway and the ACT and federal governments over the future of their drag-racing strip out near the Canberra Airport.
My motion today is not in any way intended to reflect on that battle. Instead, it is intended to send a positive signal from this Assembly on the need for a permanent drag-racing venue in the ACT-a venue which is suitable and a venue which provides those enthusiasts with a legitimate outlet for the pursuit of their sport and does so in a way which actually brings a beneficial return to the ACT community, both socially and economically.
The first part of my motion asks the Assembly to recognise the significant economic and social benefits that drag-racing brings to the ACT community. Mr Speaker, there is no doubt that drag-racing does do just that. It has been estimated that each year the ACT drag-racing facility, the Canberra International Dragway, brought in approximately $1.5 million in visitor revenue to the ACT.
The reason for that was that it attracted, by and large, a large number of competitors from interstate, particularly Sydney, which does not have its own drag-racing facility. Indeed, since the closure of the Canberra International Dragway, there has been no drag-racing facility in southern New South Wales, including Sydney, for enthusiasts to pursue their sport.
That is perhaps reinforced by the cancellation in February of this year of the world top fuel motorcycle drag-racing series. This series was held in Brisbane, Adelaide and Melbourne and attracted competitors from Great Britain, Europe, Scandinavia, the USA
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