Mr MILLS - 2005-08-17
The Under Treasurer confirmed that the Labor government’s election promises left virtually no room for further spending initiatives. You had to find an extra $1m to fund the proposed Territory Bulldogs deal. Is this the real reason you have decided to delay work on the new soccer facility? If not, where is the extra money for the Bulldogs deal coming from?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I welcome the question. There is no absolutely no connection between the magnificent football facility that this government is currently building at Marrara and the exciting aspect of bringing the Bulldogs back to the Northern Territory next year. There is no link whatsoever. Rest assured, the two are completely separate.
I have spoken to Football NT about the design phase of the stadium. What has been proposed is to build the pitches and the grounds first - there is a lot of expense in terms of the grass and surface – play in 2006 then, after that, build the stadium itself. Advice I have received is that, in the process of constructing the stadium, you are tearing up the ground, so you have spent hundreds of thousands of taxpayers’ dollars on it.
My decision as minister was: do I put the cart before the horse? If it means a one season delay in the final completion of the football stadium, but a better process of constructing the buildings first and then laying the all-important surface, that is a better process to follow. Football NT are very happy with that. They have agreed to that, and they see a sense in it. There are absolutely no concerns between Football NT and the Northern Territory government about the stadium being built. Categorically, it is being built. I am waiting on the final plans to come through.
The surface is what makes stadiums succeed or fail, fundamentally. What will be attractive about soccer in the Northern Territory is having an A1 surface to play on with a nice stadium around it. Rest assured, it is about not putting the cart before the horse in constructing the football stadium. I have said this on radio; it is not news.
Also, we are being quite specific about the type of grass we use and the type of construction going into the surface of football; that is, soccer as we know it. We do not want another Telstra Dome. We do not want to get the surface itself wrong, and then have to go back and spend another fortune to get it right. The timing of the grass is that there is a particular window of opportunity in each season of the year, if you like, to lay the grass so that it takes hold enough before the Wet Season rains come. Otherwise, if you lay the grass at the wrong time, you will actually get a fortune being washed away by the rain. That also impacted on the delay. There were two aspects to the delay: not putting the cart before the horse in laying the surface and after you do the construction job itself, but also the type of grass you use and the timing of the season in laying the grass.
It is wrong. We are not going to pay $1m for the Bulldogs. Your information there is completely wrong.
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I welcome the question. There is no absolutely no connection between the magnificent football facility that this government is currently building at Marrara and the exciting aspect of bringing the Bulldogs back to the Northern Territory next year. There is no link whatsoever. Rest assured, the two are completely separate.
I have spoken to Football NT about the design phase of the stadium. What has been proposed is to build the pitches and the grounds first - there is a lot of expense in terms of the grass and surface – play in 2006 then, after that, build the stadium itself. Advice I have received is that, in the process of constructing the stadium, you are tearing up the ground, so you have spent hundreds of thousands of taxpayers’ dollars on it.
My decision as minister was: do I put the cart before the horse? If it means a one season delay in the final completion of the football stadium, but a better process of constructing the buildings first and then laying the all-important surface, that is a better process to follow. Football NT are very happy with that. They have agreed to that, and they see a sense in it. There are absolutely no concerns between Football NT and the Northern Territory government about the stadium being built. Categorically, it is being built. I am waiting on the final plans to come through.
The surface is what makes stadiums succeed or fail, fundamentally. What will be attractive about soccer in the Northern Territory is having an A1 surface to play on with a nice stadium around it. Rest assured, it is about not putting the cart before the horse in constructing the football stadium. I have said this on radio; it is not news.
Also, we are being quite specific about the type of grass we use and the type of construction going into the surface of football; that is, soccer as we know it. We do not want another Telstra Dome. We do not want to get the surface itself wrong, and then have to go back and spend another fortune to get it right. The timing of the grass is that there is a particular window of opportunity in each season of the year, if you like, to lay the grass so that it takes hold enough before the Wet Season rains come. Otherwise, if you lay the grass at the wrong time, you will actually get a fortune being washed away by the rain. That also impacted on the delay. There were two aspects to the delay: not putting the cart before the horse in laying the surface and after you do the construction job itself, but also the type of grass you use and the timing of the season in laying the grass.
It is wrong. We are not going to pay $1m for the Bulldogs. Your information there is completely wrong.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016