Page 2468 - Week 08 - Thursday, 30 August 2007
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We need to look at what the options are in terms of replacement of the dome. It was prudent to make the provision for a replacement of the dome and also to undertake a piece of work into future aquatic provision in line with a number of other pieces of the puzzle that have to fall into place, rather than waiting until the next budget to free forward $2 million if the decision is—and it may well be determined very shortly, depending on what happens in the federal election—that the convention centre is going to be in West Basin if there is to be a convention centre, and I am 99 per cent sure that that is what is going to happen.
I believe that we will need to rejuvenate facilities in terms of the swimming pool on the existing site. That is my sense of the direction of the current debate and the views of the NCA. Unless there is a major change of heart from the incoming Rudd government or, by some fluke, the Howard government is re-elected and changes its mind, I think that we are looking at needing to redevelop the swimming facilities on the city site.
Mr Smyth raised the issue of ACTAS. I am pleased to be able to provide a full response. I did make one mistake, and I apologise to the Assembly. In the hearings of the public accounts committee, I confused the number of athletes that the Tasmanian academy of sport has with that of the Northern Territory academy of sport. The Northern Territory has 150 athletes in its program; Tasmania has 103. I got them round the wrong way, and I apologise. I corrected that in the next hearing, when I got them around the right way. But the point I was making was this, and I need to quote from the Hansard of the committee at that time, on 30 November. Mr Smyth asked me whether I had finalised the numbers. (Second speaking period taken.) I said:
I am seeking to ensure that there is thorough consultation with those sports. I am sure you would be criticising me if I sought to make an arbitrary decision in advance of that consultation. We are working with each of the sports. Obviously, with a number of team sports we can look at the size of the squads in each of those sports.
The questioning continued:
MR SMYTH: Is there a target?
Mr Barr: I would not say there is an absolute target, but I am conscious of looking at how we equate with similar sized jurisdictions. There is the Tasmanian model, where they provide a significantly larger amount of per capita assistance to their athletes than we do. They have around 150 in their program.
That was incorrect: it was the Northern Territory that had 150; Tasmania has 103. The exchange continued:
MR SMYTH: Is that the target—150?
Mr Barr: Again, I am not going to be pinned to an absolute target, but I think we need to have some comparability with jurisdictions of similar size. My concern is to ensure that the quality of our programs is there and that we are able to provide our athletes with high-quality assistance.
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