Page 2951 - Week 08 - Thursday, 25 June 2009
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We then get to other issues inside the broader TAMS portfolio which other members have addressed largely. I want to comment on one matter particularly, the Tharwa bridge. There was some discussion when the Minister for Territory and Municipal Services was there and there was an incorrect accusation by that minister about statements made by Minister Hargreaves concerning timber to be used for restoring the heritage bridge. What the community was told was that the bridge could not be repaired because the timber did not exist. There was some discussion about that.
I want to put the words on the record here. Mr Hargreaves, on 25 September 2007, in regard to the timbers, said, “They are not available anymore.” That is what he said, quite simply. In answer to a question, he said, “We cannot do it because they are not available anymore.” Yet we now know that the timbers are available. The bridge is being restored. I think the Minister for TAMS, the Chief Minister, should check his facts before throwing such accusations around.
MR RATTENBURY (Molonglo) (11.46): I want to make a couple of brief comments on the Department of Territory and Municipal Services, particularly in relation to sport, recreation and tourism. I did raise an issue around the Brumbies funding the other night, which I think Mr Barr might speak to when he gets up, and I look forward to that.
The other comments I wanted to make really are around the sport portfolio. I have mentioned this before, but I think there is still a need for some sort of strategic vision on sports funding. We discussed this as a matter of public importance one day. I raised some questions in the estimates hearings with Ms Marriage, who is the Director of Sport and Recreation Services. I think there is a fundamental difference of views here. The view was put by the department that we could not have a long-term plan for sports funding because that would result in inflexibility. The comment was “we do not want to have a static document because that does not do anything except put a list of expectations or a wish list in place”.
I guess my view is that it is possible to have a long-term strategy and that there really are concrete examples of why we need to do this, and I cite as an example our equestrian and horse paddock facilities. I attended a recent meeting with representatives of the equestrian scene here in Canberra and they were talking about the loss of horse paddocks around the city as a result of urban and other development. That is an inevitable part of the growth of the city, but what we are not seeing is the provision of new areas. We are not seeing a plan that sets out where the new areas are going to be as we consume the existing ones. That is an example of the kind of long-term planning that we need to do.
I think the Deakin pool, which we discussed at some length in the earlier part of the year, is another example. That was clearly a ticking time bomb. We knew it for some time yet there was no plan to deal with either that site or a possible alternative facility. Currently there is a shortage of indoor sports facilities, which I have also talked about in estimates, with sports such as basketball having to turn away potential new participants. Table tennis is turning away potential new participants. These kinds of shortcomings could be addressed in some sort of strategic plan.
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