Northern Territory Local Sport Funding Axed

The NT Government has taken $5 million dollars out of local sports funding this year. Last year’s budget for sport (participation and development programs) was $16.3 million. This year the budget for the same programs is $11.3 million.

(The Government is estimated to spend $26.3 million this year but that increase is largely explained by a one off capital grant of $13.3 million for Traeger Park in Alice Springs. This has the effect of masking the government’s commitment last year to smaller local clubs.)

“This represents a cut of $5 million or nearly a third, of the money that is granted to local sporting clubs this year.” Shadow Sport and Recreation Minister, Terry Mills said today.

“This is a government that should be awash with increased income but has to make cuts because it can not contain its spending habit. The cuts that this government has announced, or rather failed to announce, means that local sporting clubs are going to miss out. The government is still delaying projects like the construction of a soccer stadium at Marrara, a long overdue promise, and now they are going to put that project at risk even further. There are many community organisation who rely on these funds for their survival.

“There are no shortage of grandiose announcements about international cricket, V8 super cars and other major sporting events.

“The CLP clearly supports these iconic events, however these cannot come at the cost of local sporting clubs.

“We know that supporting local sports clubs is also an important part of what government should be doing. Announcing international cricket events suggest that the government is providing new funding. In actual fact what they are doing is just taking the money from local sporting groups to fund these events.

“The Minister must now explain which sporting clubs and organisations are going to have their funding cut or slashed by this government.”

2006-05-05