Mr WOOD - 2013-10-15
You said in your sports statement that Sports House will be sold, meaning the home of badminton for 30 years will no longer exist. The NT Badminton Association has been trying hard but has not been about to find a suitable replacement venue. Considering that Sports House site, when rezoned to medium residential – which is being proposed – will be worth millions of dollars to the government, could some of the money from the sale of the block go towards a purpose-built venue for badminton, judo and table tennis at Marrara? Will you meet with the NT Badminton Association? They have tried to meet with you a number of times to discuss the matter, but so far to no avail.
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Nelson for his question. First of all, my department has met with NT Badminton on a number of occasions. There are some concerns around …
Mr WOOD: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Standing Order 113: relevance. The question was whether the minister will meet with NT Badminton?
Mr CONLAN: I am not going to be browbeaten by the member for Nelson about meeting with various stakeholders. We have met with a number of stakeholders with regard to this …
Ms FYLES: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Standing Order 113: relevance. It was a very direct question. The NT Badminton Association is very keen to meet with the minister, but he is refusing.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Nightcliff, the minister has three minutes and he is answering it.
Mr CONLAN: That is misleading. Under no circumstances have I refused to meet with the NT Badminton Association, so that is not true.
Let us get back to what is happening. Sports House is a building that is at the end of its life. We have to find out what we can do to house the various sporting organisations that are in there. One of those is badminton.
Nothing is off the table, member for Nelson. In fact, everything is on the table when it comes to finding NT Badminton a spot to play. There are a number of areas around Darwin that can house badminton and we are looking at those. Our department is working overtime with the NT Badminton Association. I agree they are very concerned. There are a couple of hundred members who are very concerned about the future of the sport of badminton. So am I and so is the department.
We are doing everything we can to ensure they find an appropriate facility down the track. We are looking at, potentially, extending the life of that dilapidated building at Sports House. Let us face it, we are not closing it down because we do not like badminton or the sporting organisations. The place has run the course of its life. It is in serious breach of occupational health and safety standards.
At the end of the day, we are doing everything we possibly can to ensure that badminton, Sub Aqua and everyone else has the appropriate facility to undertake their sport. We will be doing everything we can, and we will continue to do it.
However, I will not be browbeaten, I will hold a gun to my head because you do not like the way we have handled it. We have been in consultation with NT Badminton and they seem pretty happy with the way things are. Of course, they are concerned about the future of the sport. They are not happy about that aspect of it. However, if you are not happy, bad luck!
At the end of the day, we are doing everything we can to ensure NT Badminton has an appropriate facility to play their sport, and that is all we can do at the moment.
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Nelson for his question. First of all, my department has met with NT Badminton on a number of occasions. There are some concerns around …
Mr WOOD: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Standing Order 113: relevance. The question was whether the minister will meet with NT Badminton?
Mr CONLAN: I am not going to be browbeaten by the member for Nelson about meeting with various stakeholders. We have met with a number of stakeholders with regard to this …
Ms FYLES: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Standing Order 113: relevance. It was a very direct question. The NT Badminton Association is very keen to meet with the minister, but he is refusing.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Nightcliff, the minister has three minutes and he is answering it.
Mr CONLAN: That is misleading. Under no circumstances have I refused to meet with the NT Badminton Association, so that is not true.
Let us get back to what is happening. Sports House is a building that is at the end of its life. We have to find out what we can do to house the various sporting organisations that are in there. One of those is badminton.
Nothing is off the table, member for Nelson. In fact, everything is on the table when it comes to finding NT Badminton a spot to play. There are a number of areas around Darwin that can house badminton and we are looking at those. Our department is working overtime with the NT Badminton Association. I agree they are very concerned. There are a couple of hundred members who are very concerned about the future of the sport of badminton. So am I and so is the department.
We are doing everything we can to ensure they find an appropriate facility down the track. We are looking at, potentially, extending the life of that dilapidated building at Sports House. Let us face it, we are not closing it down because we do not like badminton or the sporting organisations. The place has run the course of its life. It is in serious breach of occupational health and safety standards.
At the end of the day, we are doing everything we possibly can to ensure that badminton, Sub Aqua and everyone else has the appropriate facility to undertake their sport. We will be doing everything we can, and we will continue to do it.
However, I will not be browbeaten, I will hold a gun to my head because you do not like the way we have handled it. We have been in consultation with NT Badminton and they seem pretty happy with the way things are. Of course, they are concerned about the future of the sport. They are not happy about that aspect of it. However, if you are not happy, bad luck!
At the end of the day, we are doing everything we can to ensure NT Badminton has an appropriate facility to play their sport, and that is all we can do at the moment.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016