No Cricket for Alice Springs

Matt Conlan, the Shadow Minister for Sport, is deeply disappointed that Alice Springs does not have any International Cricket scheduled for the next 3 years.

Under questioning the Minister for Sport, Matthew Bonson, admitted he will only be funding International Cricket in Darwin.

“Once again we see this Government has eyes only for Darwin when it comes to sharing around Government money,” says Matt Conlan.

“This year alone the Labor Government has allocated $2.1 million for 3 one day matches between Australia and Bangladesh in Darwin in August and September.

“It’s outrageous that the Labor Government hasn’t scheduled a single game of International Cricket in Alice for the next 3 years.

“This Minister constantly mouths the line that Territorians love their sport – well I’ve got some news for the Minister – Central Australia is part of the Territory and we are avid cricket player and spectators.

“Equally disappointing was the Minister’s complete lack of understanding regarding the fiasco of the Treager Park Grand Stand.

“Asked to identify the issue as to why the Town Council won’t take ownership of the facility, Bonson mumbled something about a long dialogue with the new mayor, Damien Ryan.

“Take the lead Minister – get this issue resolved so the people of Alice Springs have a sporting venue they can be proud of.

“When asked to identify how many people from Alice Springs make up NT representative sides the Minister has no idea.

“In fact it was revealed they don’t even keep that sort of information. No wonder Alice Springs is continually under represented in Northern Territory teams.

“On the Minister’s performance the people of Alice won’t be seeing any improvement soon.”

2008-07-27