Page 2466 - Week 08 - Thursday, 30 August 2007
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opportunity to attend breakfast with the athletes and was able to provide some additional cash assistance for them as they begin the countdown to Beijing. It is less than a year away now. It was tremendous to see the number of athletes from the ACT who will be participating, with our support, in the Olympics and in the Paralympics. That was terrific.
The budget contains just short of $11½ million worth of new initiatives in the sport and recreation area. In particular, there is just short of $4 million in funding for the Harrison district playing fields. When I was out at the new and very rapidly developing Harrison primary school last week, I had the opportunity to have a quick look at the progress on the playing fields. It is terrific that we are able to partner with ACT Cricket to see a fantastic facility being developed for the people of east Gungahlin.
There is $250,000 for the fencing of Griffith oval, an important community asset and one that the Brumbies undertake their training on. We are putting a perimeter fence around that to stop people driving their cars on the oval, hitting golf balls or taking their dog for a walk—so that we can maintain that as a premier training facility for the Brumbies when they are in town in the first part of the year. But it is also to maintain it as a quality sporting facility.
Mr Smyth made mention of additional funding that is available for the refurbishment of the Lakeside Leisure Centre and the Olympic pool. Again, there is welcome funding in those areas. And, of course, as part of the regular capital upgrade program there is $1.1 million to upgrade our sporting facilities.
Whilst on the subject of the sport and recreation budget, I would draw members’ attention to the sport and rec budget in 2006-07—budget paper 4, page 297, $15,648,000—and 2007-08—BP 4, page 284, $18,695,000. There are one-off factors that affect the sport and recreation budget. For example, last year we provided an additional $500,000 for sportsgrounds and $300,000 for equipment replacement for the academy of sport. And there were some fairly minor corporate changes, in the order of about $200,000, in relation to corporate expenses within the sport and rec area of the department. So there are fluctuations from time to time. But overall it is a good budget for sport and recreation.
In terms of sports funding, there will be $2 million available in the sport and rec community grants program, $450,000 for the national league team program, and a further $2.1 million in performance fees—for the AFL, $276,000; the Brumbies, $700,000; and the Canberra Raiders, $1.125 million.
When we look at the organisations that have been funded through the sports grants, it is pleasing to note that the number of organisations that received annual funding through the sport and rec grants process increased in 2007, from 22 to 28. It was more than the 25 that were funded in 2005. The number of organisations with triennial funding was maintained at 32. We were able to see five additional capital projects funded in 2007—with 22 projects, up from 17 in 2006. Overall, 83 per cent of applications to the sport and rec grants process were funded in 2007—up from 78 per cent in 2006 and 69 per cent in 2004.
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