Page 3758 - Week 12 - Wednesday, 23 October 2013
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seeing a lapse in their registrations for each season, particularly in some of the football codes at younger ages. And instead of registering at a local club in Canberra, families are heading off across the border into Queanbeyan, where the registration fees are a fraction of what Tuggeranong clubs are required to charge to meet the ground hire fees, and the facilities that are delivered over the border are far in excess of what most Canberra clubs would be used to.
It is not fair that a motion comes into this place to sing all the praises when it only tells half the story. There is a long way to go in improving the quality and the amenity of our sports and playing facilities within the territory. I would ask that, in future, motions that are brought into the Assembly to sing some of the praises also reflect the true story of areas that still require significant improvement.
MR RATTENBURY (Molonglo—Minister for Territory and Municipal Services, Minister for Corrections, Minister for Housing, Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs and Minister for Ageing) (5.51): I will add a few brief remarks. Mr Wall’s remarks were very interesting, but I know that the Parks and Conservation Service also uses the same open space management usage and satisfaction surveys, and these surveys all have a similar methodology to what TAMS uses. And as Mr Coe will no doubt recount with some glee, when it comes to things like ACTION, they are not all roses. So casting aspersions on the accuracy of the data is an interesting approach; certainly when it comes to ACTION, people are not shy in giving us their views.
Mr Wall: Perhaps the right people aren’t being asked.
MR RATTENBURY: But it is the same people. They are random surveys. Do you think the survey agency that works for the government rings around and finds the people that agree with it? Is that what you are suggesting? Fair dinkum! Anyway, I simply wanted to observe that. We can have a debate about these things, but there has got to be a limit to the craziness of the propositions that you can put in this place.
Mr Coe: You are getting 100 per cent scores—100 per cent.
MR RATTENBURY: I know; it is odd. Anyway, we digress. I simply want to observe that I think the results are impressive.
Members interjecting—
MR ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Mr Gentleman): Order, members! Mr Rattenbury has the floor.
MR RATTENBURY: My apologies, Mr Assistant Speaker; I suspect I started that. I simply wanted to say that they are impressive results, and I think they do reflect the fact that the staff work very hard to maintain these facilities. There are areas for improvement—undoubtedly so. I am sure they are out there pursuing that every day. But I am happy to support the motion today because I think it simply reflects the fact that Canberrans on the whole really appreciate the services the government provides to them. They get out there and just enjoy the fact that we have got ovals and they are in pretty good shape a lot of the time.
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