Page 1528 - Week 06 - Wednesday, 6 June 2007
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .
members will be aware. I will start by saying that I had an unusual perspective on proceedings this year. Instead of competing, I took up a position launching the event, and then assisted Greg Bayliss with some of the on-course commentary. I thank Greg for allowing me to be involved.
I would like to boast that this year’s event showcased the first-ever Australian night stage in a rally, something I know the whole rallying community was very pleased with. I could say a lot of great things about the rally, but I would like to use this time to talk about the change in rallying in the ACT. I would like to talk about the past, present and future of this iconic event.
The Rally of Canberra was until recently the last major motor sport event ever funded by the ACT government. That is not to say that it had to remain that way. Times have changed, circumstances have changed and government priorities have changed. As we heard earlier today, the ACT government has negotiated an agreement with the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport to hand over control of the rally to the CAMS for private sector running. This is supported by the ACT rally community. They are very happy with the decision that the event will continue in later years.
While we are in this transitional period of rallying in the ACT, I would like to call on the government to assist in kind, to ensure that the future of the event is secure. The rally community, I am sure, will get behind CAMS in their management of the Rally of Canberra 2008. The combined efforts of CAMS, the Australian motor sport group, and government will go a long way to ensuring the future success of the event.
In light of the announcement of the $103 million surplus budget, I call on the government to provide in-kind support to the rally community. There are many ways in which this can be done. With the boost in funding to the emergency services department, including $6.5 million for 32 new firefighting vehicles and four new ambulances with 16 new staff, emergency services support would be most welcome. Forestry and road management assistance from TAMS, and promotion of the event by Tourism ACT, would also be of great benefit. These are just a few suggestions that would go a long way to making next year’s event an even bigger success.
I send a great thank you to the previous management team for their time and effort over the past few years. The 2007 event attracted increased spectator numbers on the year before, bringing renewed interest in the sport here in Canberra.
I am pleased to announce that community support for this year’s event has increased, with a greater number of volunteers than in previous years. This can be put down to the work done by Wayne Kenny and the previous management team. These volunteers could not have been coordinated, and the smooth running of the event would not have been possible, if it was not for the excellent organisation by Ian Hill, Jenny Boyd and the rest of the team at Australian Capital Tourism. The contributions to the rally’s success—including, as I mentioned, the announcers: Greg Bayliss, Darryl Judd and Paul Loughan—by all the volunteers should be acknowledged. A new team will lead the charge next year. Again I stress the important role that the government still has to ensure the future success of the event.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .