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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2004 Week 05 Hansard (Friday, 14 May 2004) . . Page.. 1977 ..

I note that there is $20 million in the budget for Quamby. What the minister needs to do is make sure the perimeter fence is secured now—I don’t care what she does, as long as that is fixed up so the detainees cannot get out. Indeed, perhaps the minister could also fix up some of the very severe staffing problems and low morale at that centre at present. It will not necessarily take a lot of money to do that. But certainly that project, which is due to be completed in 2006, needs immediate attention now, and I hope that she and her department are doing something to secure the perimeter fence now rather than just saying, “Oh, it’s all going to be all right when this project is finally completed.” The $20 million is a lot of money, but work needs to be done now to improve the situation there.

Then, of course, we have sports grants. I was very disappointed this year to see that sport and recreation does not really get a mention in the paper Budget at a Glance. It gets a little bit of a mention through Chief Minister’s in terms of a couple of projects there but there is nothing at all in its own right, and I think that is very unfortunate.

Mrs Dunne: It’s got $80,000 for the maintenance of Phillip oval.

MR STEFANIAK: This is Budget at a Glance. We started these little booklets, and they are great. Sport and recreation, which always got its own nice little chart, does not get anything in the current paper. There are, minister, some serious problems in sport and recreation.

I was very disappointed to see in the budget reference only to how good the grants were and that they would be continued. I am not sure but I think there was a reference in the paper that there would be CPI. One of the other papers did not even make mention of that. But those grants are terribly important.

Your colleague Mr Wood has managed to secure a very significant increase in arts grants funding. But there is a real need for some additional funding in respect of sports grants. The Academy of Sport especially has a real need. Although the academy has been looking after some 265 athletes for several years, and has been subject to some efficiencies, its budget has not been increased and its funding has remained static—in virtually a straight line.

I would suggest to you, Minister, that the academy probably needs about a quarter of million dollars in extra funding just to get back to where it should be so that it can provide its excellent service to our athletes and so that the drain of staff going to other academies, which are tending to be better and better funded, and overseas can be stopped. Neither this neglected area nor sport grounds have been mentioned in the budget.

Then, of course, we have the dragway. Well, congratulations on this nice little catch-up. This quite clearly is very much just an electoral sop to dragway supporters.

Mrs Burke: We collect some money but we don’t know where to spend it.

MR STEFANIAK: Absolutely.

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