Page 1453 - Week 04 - Thursday, 26 March 2009
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I do not just tar Mr Barr with this failure, though. I will tell you that this is another inheritance from his colleague Mr Corbell—another Simon stuff-up, on the back of the AMC that he has flick-passed to Mr Hargreaves, the busway, the GDE; and so on. Mr Barr is just inheriting yet another failure from his good mate Mr Corbell.
Turning more broadly to recreational facilities in the ACT, it would be very much agreed, I think, in this place that sport is an important part of the fabric of our community. It binds our community together. There are people of different ethnic origins, different genders and different ages all getting together and playing on the sporting field. It is something that unites us all as a community so it is an incredibly important part of it. It has an economic element, both at the lower end and also with the elite sports in attracting people to our community to watch games that occur here, be it the Brumbies, the Raiders, the Caps and so on.
But probably most important is the health impact. As shadow health minister, I am very interested in this element of it. It is through physical exercise that people of all ages stay healthy and prevent chronic illness in our community—prevent diabetes and prevent obesity. This is something we have got to encourage for all people—give them access to recreational facilities. It is not just at the elite end; this is something that children can access. In my view, there is nothing that separates the importance of the local bowling green for older members of our community to stay active and the elite sports facilities that we have for people like the Raiders and the Brumbies.
Labor’s approach—we heard much from Mr Barr, but let us remember the budget cuts of 2006 and the $2.3 million that was cut out of such facilities. It is interesting that that is the same amount that we are spending this year on public art. It is an interesting element that we are spending that same amount, which is quite remarkable.
I will give you a quote from the 2006 budget cuts from the ACT Sport chief executive Joan Perry, who observed that the budget cuts were disproportionately focused on sport. She said:
The Government forecast cuts of $840,000 yet when the figures were released, that had escalated to $2.3 million. It was a huge hit. Sport makes up 1.5 per cent of the ACT budget yet when the Government announced a total budget cut of $35 million, sport was 6.5 per cent of that ... These budget cuts are making it harder to hire grounds, which is resulting in more cancellations, making it harder for kids to play sport.
That was from the chief executive in the Canberra Times in 2007.
As a summary of the neglect of the Stanhope-Gallagher government, there has been the closure of playing fields, an end to the watering of two dozen locations, and then wasting seven years ignoring the worst stages of drought, only coming up with a plan at 10 minutes to midnight. There have been severe budget cuts, including cuts to sports and recreational committee grants; a reduction in the kids at play program; a failure to support and enforce legislated activity in schools; reductions in scholarships at the ACT Academy of Sport; cancellation of the fitness assessment tender in 2001; and the poor provision of sporting facilities for new suburbs, particularly in Gungahlin.
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