Page 4318 - Week 14 - Wednesday, 27 November 2013
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sport infrastructure at UC, which is available to students, organised sport and the community.
Unfortunately, in what is becoming a trend, upon coming into office the Abbott government said that it will not honour the commitments made by the former government under regional development funding. This is very disappointing considering the obvious benefits that this project would have, not only to Canberra but also to the entire south-east region of New South Wales.
Just think about Eden-Monaro and the multitude of small town sporting clubs with aspiring young athletes. They are looking to take the next step with the professional coaches, advanced sports medicine and fitness training that stage 2 the sports commons project could offer them. That is why it is critical all members of the Legislative Assembly do what they can to lobby our federal counterparts here, and perhaps more influentially in Eden-Monaro, to honour the commonwealth commitment on this project.
I imagine the new member for Eden-Monaro, Dr Hendy, is already under siege from local New South Wales state members about the broken schools funding promise from the no-surprises Gonski comb-over Abbott government. I notice the Canberra Times today is saying, “Mr Pyne is now refusing to repeat his pre-election assurance that ‘you can vote Liberal or Labor and you will get exactly the same amount of funding for your school.’”
However, the UC sports commons is a brilliant opportunity for community sport and recreation in the ACT and New South Wales. There should be bipartisan support to ensure both stages of the project are delivered. The UC sports commons will also be home to elite sporting organisations such as the Brumbies.
It will undertake other activities such as skills development for officials and volunteers; development of education, fitness and skills programs for schools and community-based delivery; placement of student interns with elite and community sporting organisations, thus increasing the resources available to sport in the territory and leveraging the capacity of our university sector; development of further collaborations within existing partnerships between the University of Canberra and the Australian Institute of Sport, other elite sports and the business sector; and fostering the development of research and marketing programs at all levels of sport in Canberra and the region to increase sports participation and promote healthy lifestyles.
The University of Canberra aims to become regarded as Australia’s leading university for sports education and research. It wants to be internationally regarded for its collaborations and innovation, which will increase our sports people’s performance. In order to do this, it is vital that the UC sports commons project not only attracts more students in the sports and sports medicines fields but also that it builds collaboration between the university, community sport and business.
This is why this motion today is so important. Without the funding commitment for future stages of the UC sports commons by the federal government this project is at risk of not being able to fully realise the potential to become the model sports facility in Australia. I commend the motion to the Assembly.
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