Page 3754 - Week 12 - Wednesday, 23 October 2013
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cost-saving measure than damage to soils. Across the border in New South Wales, ovals use lime wash, which is much more environmentally sound and effective. Admittedly it does not last as long as diesel, but neither do the negative impacts.
The Labor Party went to the last election promising great things for sports. They will want to deliver, because the Canberra sports community will be making sure they are kept to account. We already have doubtful promises and pledges over restoring ovals taken offline during the drought, and the restoration time line is very long. We know how long the Gungahlin grandstand took to get going, as did the swim centre. The Chief Minister has promised a new swimming complex for Weston Creek, but the forward estimates indicate it will not be built until after the next election. On top of that, the government appears to not be able to supervise the contracts the centres have without disenfranchising local swim clubs.
The upgrade for athletics in the south of Canberra has been a political football, and the Woden Football Club faced a nervous wait to find out whether it would have a venue for its winter competition. Other promises—the expansion of Tuggeranong pool, a north side indoor sports centre and irrigation and surface improvements for Kambah and Hawker district playing fields—are also in the distant future. So while Ms Porter’s motion is commendable as far as it goes, the reality is that it does not go very far and paints a somewhat inadequate picture.
MR BARR (Molonglo—Deputy Chief Minister, Treasurer, Minister for Economic Development, Minister for Sport and Recreation, Minister for Tourism and Events and Minister for Community Services) (5.37): I thank Ms Porter for raising this motion today. For the first half of Mr Doszpot’s speech, I was going to thank him for bringing a bipartisan approach to this debate in congratulating Sport and Recreation Services for their work, but in a 10-minute speech he could not even bring himself to not have a go at them.
This is an important opportunity to celebrate the success of Sport and Recreation Services and the work that they and the parks and conservation team within TAMS do for Canberra residents. Their satisfaction survey demonstrates that their hard work in recent times, with the extra resources that have been provided in this area, is delivering results on the ground. That is very encouraging, and I think it behoves this place to support the team in Sport and Recreation Services for the good work that they are doing, to acknowledge it in this way through a motion like this, and to have the opportunity to talk a little more about what is coming for sport and recreation.
As part of the government’s goal to ensure an active city, we are continuing to devote significant resources to facilities that encourage Canberrans of all ages to become and to stay physically active.
Part of this investment is being made through the facilities improvement program, an annual capital upgrade program which delivers both improvements and enhancements to our local sport and recreational facilities.
Since 2011-12, just under $4.5 million has been invested in this program. One of the projects from the 2011-12 program was the $450,000 upgrade and extension of the
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