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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2003 Week 14 Hansard (9 December) . . Page.. 5011 ..

MS MacDONALD: Mr Speaker, I ask a supplementary question. How does this event compare with the other major events that Canberra has hosted, especially with regard to costs?

MR QUINLAN: I am glad you asked, Ms MacDonald, and I am pleased that members on the other side of the house mentioned the stadium. The stadium at Bruce was a great stadium before the Olympic expenditure. Let's get history right.

MR SPEAKER: Come to the point of the question please.

MR QUINLAN: I was just talking about the football in this stadium, which just happened to have pre-existed any refurbishment that was the subject of one of the most embarrassing political events in the history of the ACT, and it was, as I recall, watching Fitzroy playing West Coast, I think, at a great stadium way back then. And it is a stadium now where you can play a lesser variety of sport than you could way back then.

Nevertheless, let us just make a comparison between the world cup and, say, Olympic soccer. Now, the true cost of Olympic soccer in the year 2000 for the ACT, again, may never be known. According to the Auditor-General's report, the Carnell government estimated that, if every seat to every match was sold, the event would achieve a net loss of $12 million.

From time to time, we hear the interjection and the hooting from that side of the house saying, "We built the stadium."You did not. And they say, "We ran successful events."No, you did not. It was planned to make a $12 million loss. That is the starting point. But, as they say, wait; there's more. This was, of course, to be offset by a $23 million benefit, which was going to be earned as a result of 93,000 interstate visitors and 20,000 international visitors. Tragically, we know that this did not take place. Of the 144,000 seats on offer, a little more than half were sold, and there was an average attendance of less than 13,000 per game. Of those attending, only 18,000 were from interstate-18,000 compared to 93,000-and only 5,700 from overseas, as compared to the 20,000 international visitors projected.

Given the dynamics of SOCOG's ticketing regime, the event ran at an estimated loss of $16 million, with a further $5 million having been spent on running the government's Olympic unit, Project 2000 and other programs like Streetsmart. The record of the previous government in running anything is appalling.

Mr Stefaniak: You're embarrassing yourself.

MR QUINLAN: I am enjoying myself, Bill. Maybe this is my natural habitat, then. Let me say that I am likely to stand and do it again. The recent rugby world cup and the soccer of 2000 are an eloquent commentary on the differences between the two sides of this house today.

Mr Stanhope: Mr Speaker, I ask that further questions be placed on the notice paper.

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