Page 1248 - Week 04 - Thursday, 21 March 2013
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Opposition members interjecting—
MADAM ACTING SPEAKER: Stop the clock, please. You certainly will not find out by all yelling different questions across the room, and certainly not by putting your hand up. Minister.
MR BARR: Thank you. I appreciate that the shadow minister has only been the shadow minister for nearly five years and only attended probably 30 estimates hearings in relation to these matters. The wage price index is used as the default—
Opposition members interjecting—
MADAM ACTING SPEAKER: Members!
MR BARR: The wage price index is used as the default mechanism. However, from time to time Sport and Recreation Services will make recommendations to the minister of the day to ensure that the available revenue from sports ground hire covers at least a proportion of the costs of maintaining sport and recreation fields across the territory.
At the moment, the fees recover about 13 to 14 per cent of the costs of maintaining those facilities. It is my intention when I make my decision in relation to increasing fees—and fees will be increasing—that they not increase by 54 per cent for anyone, but they will be increasing. I need to ensure that Sport and Recreation Services are in a position to maintain high quality sports fields, because that is important for a number of reasons. (Time expired.)
MADAM ACTING SPEAKER: Supplementary, Mr Wall.
MR WALL: Minister, can you explain why fee increases are not first approved by the relevant minister before clubs are notified, and who authorised this notification to be sent to clubs?
MR BARR: The Sport and Recreation Services area has regular consultations with sport and recreation organisations and has discussions in relation to coming seasons. But ultimately it is the minister who is required to sign off on the fees for a particular period and, as I have indicated previously, I will make that determination. If clubs have been provided with information that suggests a 54 per cent increase in their fees, that is incorrect advice from Sport and Recreation Services and will not be the case.
DR BOURKE: A supplementary.
MADAM ACTING SPEAKER: Yes, Dr Bourke.
DR BOURKE: Minister, what projects to improve sporting grounds have been initiated by this government?
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