Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . .

Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2002 Week 5 Hansard (9 May) . . Page.. 1442 ..

MR STEFANIAK (continuing):

I hope that Ms MacDonald is successful in her campaign. It would be wonderful even to get a game at Canberra Stadium early in the tournament in which Australia plays a lower ranked side. Even if that does not happen, we should try.

Ms MacDonald is absolutely right to try, and, again, at least it will make the ARU sit up and think. Just in case some people outside of the ACT think otherwise, it will reinforce the fact that there are three major forces in Australian rugby-Sydney, Queensland and the ACT. It will reinforce the commitment of ACT rugby supporters and, indeed, the commitment of the government of which Ms MacDonald is a member, to getting quality games for Canberra and getting the Wallabies here if at all possible. So I think what Ms MacDonald is doing is most important. I was delighted to sign her petition. Indeed, I am sure that any of my colleagues who have not signed the petition will be absolutely delighted to do so. I wish Ms MacDonald well with that.

I think Mr Quinlan is probably right in saying that you do not throw money in an effort to get events. I think we have an excellent venue which is easy to get to. We have good accommodation and Canberra is a great place for people to visit. I don't think we necessarily need to throw money. We have certainly spent a lot of money on our venue and often such expenditure is not necessarily counterproductive. I know we did not spend any money to get the two Wallaby tests in 1998 and 2000. It was just as a result of lobbying and the strength the Brumbies were showing on the paddock, which has certainly been even more enhanced since then. Those are the sorts of things that I think will make them sit up and think.

I think the ARU knows that it has a really good thing going in Canberra, that Canberra really has helped Australian rugby. In fact, in 1997 I can remember telling them, "Look, because of those players who have been developed so well by the Brumbies, we have increased by 10 per cent the strength of Australian rugby, and that may well be enough to win us a world cup." Well, it did and I think the continued strength of the Brumbies in the Super 12 competition does ensure that Australian rugby is constantly strong. If you took them away, the standard in Australian rugby would drop considerably because fewer players would have the opportunity to play at that high level.

The Brumbies are certainly a Canberra icon. Being an old rugby man, I am rather proud of our community. I am amazed how quickly non-rugby people have picked up the game and how quickly they can in unison, right around the ground, pick a refereeing mistake. Rugby is a pretty technical game but our crowds are really good. They can quickly pick some obscure mistake the referee makes and give him curry, which is exactly what should happen. Again, I think an Adelaide crowd or a Melbourne crowd would not necessarily have a clue what was going on.

Last year I went down to see the Lions and Wallabies match in Melbourne and it was a fantastic spectacle. It was wonderful to see the very loud Lions spectators rather silent after half time when Joe Roff got two quick tries and their team started losing for the first time. It was also interesting to see a very enthusiastic Australian crowd. However, quite clearly some were at the match just to watch. They were not really too sure what was happening on the field but they certainly could read the scoreboard, and Australia was winning. The Canberra crowd is a bit different to that. It is well educated and it really knows what the rules of the game are. As well as generally being a very strong sporting community, we are a very strong rugby community.

Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . .