Page 469 - Week 02 - Wednesday, 13 February 2013
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Let me turn to the catering issues. Improvements were made after complaints about queues at the PM’s XI. Malfunctions on some of the beer equipment at the PM’s XI were fixed for the one-day international. However, the consumption of food and drink exceeded those for previous PM’s XI matches, and this did put more pressure on catering. The previous beer record at the cricket match at Manuka was 110 kegs. This year the PM’s XI reached 140. The one-dayer hit that record for a six, with 210 kegs of beer being sold.
Other improvements for the one-day international included a 25 per cent increase in food and beverage facilities, equal to about an extra 30 metres of front-of-store space. So there was a very clear response to concerns about queuing. Extra bar facilities at the main concession area behind the Bradman stand were put in place; more staff were employed to assist with moving lines faster; the bar opposite the Menzies stand used a multi-pour system to replace single taps; more facilities with the food menu on the bar registers provided the ability to queue once for food and alcohol, reducing the need to queue; and there was an extra food van. So the government did respond: Events ACT did respond quite comprehensively to patron concerns about waiting times to access food and drink.
Manuka Oval has only a limited amount of permanent infrastructure, but the government is proposing significant upgrades for Manuka Oval as part of our master planning process. They will include further improvements to spectator amenities, building permanent kitchens for the oval and providing better catering facilities.
This is all about making the transition to Manuka becoming a pre-eminent first-class international sporting event venue. We are making the investment. As a government, as a Labor government, we are proud of the investment we are making in providing better facilities so that Canberrans can enjoy international sporting fixtures—and see more of those fixtures played here in the national capital—and improving further the spectator experience. We think we are on the right track. We think we are providing an outstanding venue. There is further work to be done, and that work will be done as part of the master planning process this government has put in place.
MR DOSZPOT (Molonglo) (12.19): Mr Corbell, it is no wonder that Mr Barr would not speak on his own amendment, because it is full of flaws. They sold you a very good dummy pass on this one. You did not correct a lot of the errors of the amendment that Mr Barr wanted to make.
First of all, the match that we are talking about was played on a weekday. Yes, you are correct: there are a number of legal car parks about. But have you tried to get into a legal car park during a working day? The car park is already full. What is going to happen to all the people who you are saying should be using these car parks within a kilometre of the stadium? Your premise is right; your logic is totally flawed. We have 7,500 legal car parks which are occupied by workers and by shoppers in the precincts we are talking about.
Let me go to your statements regarding parking waivers. I parked at Manuka. I did not see any sign of parking waivers anywhere. I had to pay. I did not see any notices up; I
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