Page 1445 - Week 04 - Thursday, 26 March 2009
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A couple of weeks ago, I visited the current site that they are looking at expanding. I was very impressed with the community participation that already exists and that has the potential to expand. I have spoken to Steve Caldicott, President of the Tuggeranong Archery Club, and his active committee. I commend them for their hard work and dedication to finding a much-needed solution that would assist a number of sports in the Tuggeranong area.
There is a lack of facilities in the ACT. This has been compounded by the demolition of the YMCA here in the city and the sale of the Woden basketball stadium. Many clubs are looking for a facility, including ACT fencing, ACT trampolining, table tennis—and the list goes on. The proposal that has been put forward certainly goes a long way to addressing these much-needed requirements.
I know that my colleagues will reiterate the importance of sport and recreation to the community. I cannot emphasise this enough. It is our job here in this place to ensure that we facilitate healthy activity to the best of our ability by providing safe, well-planned sporting facilities for our Canberra community.
MR BARR (Molonglo—Minister for Education and Training, Minister for Children and Young People, Minister for Planning and Minister for Tourism, Sport and Recreation) (3.53): The government has a very proud record of supporting and promoting sport and recreation activities and facilities and we believe that an active community is a healthy and productive community and that is why we have invested so much in high quality sporting facilities and sporting activities so that all Canberrans have access to sport and recreation activities.
Labor has invested not only in the elite level of sport and recreation provision but also in grassroots clubs and programs to promote participation in sport and recreation by people of all ages and backgrounds and to promote Canberra sporting teams and events around the nation and the world.
Some examples of that investment in major sporting facilities that serve both elite and grassroots participation include the development of Stromlo Forest Park, a $7.5 million commitment to provide a new home for world-class mountain bike and cross-country championships as well as a fantastic facility for the local community. We have ensured that our sporting fields can still be used during a period of drought by investing $16 million in changing the turf, installing irrigation and reducing our reliance on potable water for the upkeep of these facilities. We have also upgraded and built new sporting facilities across all parts of the city. And as a result of this investment we have seen an increase of almost 29,000 people participating in organised sport and recreation in the territory. As we know, starting healthy habits early is important, so we are very pleased to note that an additional 12,000 school children are now playing sport or participating in recreational activities.
In terms of direct promotion and investment in publicly owned sport and recreation facilities, $8.6 million has been invested to make the Lyneham sports precinct concept a reality. This includes a significant capital investment from the government in associated infrastructure to support a $3 million grant to the ACT Netball Centre to upgrade and construct a new 3,000-seat arena.
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