Mr RIOLI - 1999-08-12
Why has the Territory government cut funding to the Royal Life Saving Association, most likely meaning an end to the very important water safety program in Territory schools?
ANSWER
Mr Speaker, every year the CLP government in the Territory hands out literally millions of dollars allocated to hundreds of organisations across the Territory. Their activities are an intrinsic part of the Territory lifestyle and we do our bit to assist them. But, as you would appreciate, with a budget and a lot of people after these funds, we have to allocate them in a fair and equitable manner.
Mr Stirling: Water safety is not a priority?
Mr LUGG: I’ll pick up the interjection that water safety is not a priority. If you’d shut up and listen I’ll tell you exactly where the priorities are.
For all of these monies going out to all of these organisations, guidelines for allocating the funds are laid down by the Australian Sports Commission. The Territory has adopted those guidelines in a clear and transparent move towards uniformity and a fair and equitable distribution of funds. And here is where the problem starts for the Royal Life Saving Society.
Last year they got $68 000. This year they got $60 000. The problem for them is one of definition under these guidelines. Apparently they don’t conform in that they don’t have any local competition and they don’t have clear guidelines for selecting teams. In other words, they fall short of the Australian Sports Commission’s criteria. So their funding to attend national championships was cut. I reiterate that the funding was cut for their travel to attend national championships.
They have written asking to talk to me about this. I’ll be particularly interested to find, now that they do not have that money to travel to national championships, how their water safety programs are affected. There is a bit of a mix and match, a bit up here and a bit down there. I invite them to come and talk to me and I will listen to them with an open mind. But I have to be fair to all the other organisations.
I will also tell the Royal Life Saving Society that I do have a lot of sympathy for their cause. I am a bronze medallion holder myself. I trained with them when I was a young fellow. I will be interested in listening to them. I believe there have been some moves with regard to their recognition by the Australian Sports Commission. I invite them to talk to me. I have an open mind on it. They have clearly been caught in a changing allocation schedule, but that’s almost national.
ANSWER
Mr Speaker, every year the CLP government in the Territory hands out literally millions of dollars allocated to hundreds of organisations across the Territory. Their activities are an intrinsic part of the Territory lifestyle and we do our bit to assist them. But, as you would appreciate, with a budget and a lot of people after these funds, we have to allocate them in a fair and equitable manner.
Mr Stirling: Water safety is not a priority?
Mr LUGG: I’ll pick up the interjection that water safety is not a priority. If you’d shut up and listen I’ll tell you exactly where the priorities are.
For all of these monies going out to all of these organisations, guidelines for allocating the funds are laid down by the Australian Sports Commission. The Territory has adopted those guidelines in a clear and transparent move towards uniformity and a fair and equitable distribution of funds. And here is where the problem starts for the Royal Life Saving Society.
Last year they got $68 000. This year they got $60 000. The problem for them is one of definition under these guidelines. Apparently they don’t conform in that they don’t have any local competition and they don’t have clear guidelines for selecting teams. In other words, they fall short of the Australian Sports Commission’s criteria. So their funding to attend national championships was cut. I reiterate that the funding was cut for their travel to attend national championships.
They have written asking to talk to me about this. I’ll be particularly interested to find, now that they do not have that money to travel to national championships, how their water safety programs are affected. There is a bit of a mix and match, a bit up here and a bit down there. I invite them to come and talk to me and I will listen to them with an open mind. But I have to be fair to all the other organisations.
I will also tell the Royal Life Saving Society that I do have a lot of sympathy for their cause. I am a bronze medallion holder myself. I trained with them when I was a young fellow. I will be interested in listening to them. I believe there have been some moves with regard to their recognition by the Australian Sports Commission. I invite them to talk to me. I have an open mind on it. They have clearly been caught in a changing allocation schedule, but that’s almost national.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016