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Rugby World Cup

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About this Item
Subjects -  Football; Central Coast; Sport and Recreation; Festivals; Clubs; Tax: Poker Machines; Tourist Industry
Speakers - McBride Mr Grant; Hartcher Mr Chris; Acting-Speaker (Ms Marianne Saliba); Andrews Ms Marie
Business - Matter of Public Importance


    RUGBY WORLD CUP
Page: 3917


    Matter of Public Importance

    Mr GRANT McBRIDE: (The Entrance—Minister for Gaming and Racing) [4.34 p.m.]: The Rugby World Cup, the biggest sporting event in the world this year, is proving to be a tremendous boost for the Central Coast. Three games are being contested at the Central Coast stadium in Gosford, which is undoubtedly—and I might be a bit biased—one of the best venues in the country for watching rugby. The Central Coast is one of only four regional centres in Australia to host games. Clearly, it is maximising opportunities from the elite competition. There was a great expectation that the World Cup would deliver significant benefits to the Central Coast. That is certainly happening. I attended the games on Saturday and Sunday nights and they were both a sell-out. There were close to 20,000 people in the stadium on each night. It was a fantastic spectacle. I quote an article that was published in the Daily Telegraph, which states:

    Louise de Martin from Gosford Chamber of Commerce said a local storeowner nearly cried at the sight of a sea of green rolling down the main street on Saturday night. Ms de Martin said she believed 6,000 of the fans had never been to the coast before, giving the city a huge financial boost.

    The World Cup is proving to be not just a tremendous sporting experience for the coast; it is also a tremendous community experience. On Saturday a sea of green flooded the stadium and the central business district [CBD] for the Ireland versus Romania clash. Businesses in the CBD enjoyed record trade and every restaurant was full—something to which I can testify. Every hotel was full, and again I can testify to that. They were not only full; people were spilling out all over the footpath. Iguana Joe's and the Central Coast Leagues Club were literally bursting at the seams. A crowd of about 2,000 or 3,000 tried to get into the club after the game, notwithstanding the fact that the club was reasonably full at that point. The Gosford Chamber of Commerce is now planning a survey to accurately gauge the value of the World Cup to the CBD.

    The strong business in Gosford, however, is just part of the spin-off from this prestigious international event. Our tourism sector has enjoyed an increased turnover. Operators estimate that the event is injecting more than $10 million into the local economy. Motels, bed and breakfasts and cafes have welcomed the large number of visitors. The Irish team—and it is wonderful that it made this decision—has been staying at Crowne Plaza at Terrigal. Members of that team have been able to experience life on the beach while preparing for their important game. Having one of the major teams located on the Central Coast is a magnificent achievement for those people associated with bidding for them. It is estimated that the cup will deliver a $300 million boost to the New South Wales economy, and the Central Coast is sharing a slice of that investment. The event has attracted an estimated 55,000 international visitors. It is estimated that it is creating more than 2,500 thousand direct and indirect jobs.

    Four thousand media representatives are attending the games and the competition is being broadcast to more than 200 countries. The estimated television audience is about four billion people. The words "Central Coast" are printed on signage around the stadium, so those four billion people will see the name "Central Coast" and realise what a wonderful place it is. Importantly, the Central Coast began planning many months ago to ensure that there were lasting benefits for the region. A Rugby World Cup business task force was set up comprising business, community and government representatives. I especially thank the team at the Department of State and Regional Development for its contribution to that task force. I have been closely involved with that group and I have been spokesperson for the task force. I also point out that the ambassador for the task force on the Central Coast was Mark Ella. As anyone in rugby would know, Mark Ella, one of the great legends in rugby, also lives on the Central Coast.

    I have been involved with planning a broad range of business and community events to be held alongside the World Cup. The business program has been carefully planned to promote Central Coast goods and services to specific overseas markets. Functions have been planned for Terrigal, Gosford and east Gosford. On Saturday I hosted a business cruise on Brisbane Water. Close to 100 local business people were given the chance to meet international representatives associated with the visiting rugby teams. I am convinced that there will be a number of new business arrangements as a result of Saturday's function. I have been assured that two items will be forthcoming in the not too distant future as a result of the action taken by the business task force in regard to recruiting. That will have a dramatic impact on some local firms, it will lead to new export opportunities and, importantly, it will lead to new jobs on the Central Coast.

    Another business function will be held on 27 October involving Central Coast, Japanese and American representatives. The event will be held at the regional art gallery and Japanese gardens at east Gosford. The community programs aim to ensure that the whole region shares this great opportunity, not just those with tickets to the games. The events are extending the World Cup experience from the field to the broader community. More than 2,000 people attended a major surf carnival at Terrigal held especially for Rugby World Cup visitors. I understand that some of the Irish players who were staying at Terrigal were keen to get involved in that event. It was a great opportunity for Surf Life Saving Central Coast Inc. to show off our young ambassadors to the rest of the world. A comedy festival was held at Woy Woy and an estimated 3,000 people attended the family fun day in Kibble Park, Gosford. Again I can attest to that because I was there. That clearly shows that the Central Coast community is part of this international event.

    There are still more community events to be staged. The Festival of the Waters will draw thousands of people to the spectacular Gosford waterfront this weekend and an oyster festival will be held at Woy Woy on 26 October. It will be a feast of entertainment, food and shopping. I am pleased to report that the volunteer program has also worked extremely well. It was modelled on the volunteer program that was used during the Sydney Olympics and subsequently during the Manchester Commonwealth Games. Close to 100 people donated their time in order to assist visitors to the Central Coast. The volunteers were one of the success stories of the Sydney Olympics and helped to make the event friendly for visitors from around the world. We are fortunate to have a group of volunteers on the Central Coast who are ready to help out during the world cup. They have performed a range of duties and are stationed at various sites throughout the Gosford central business district.

    The Rugby World Cup is a tremendous shot in the arm for the Central Coast, and I expect that the benefits will not end with the closing ceremony. There will be lasting benefits for the region in terms of new tourism opportunities, new business opportunities and, importantly, new jobs. One of the biggest challenges facing the Central Coast is the creation of new employment opportunities for the region. I am convinced that this prestigious sporting event will go a long way towards helping us to overcome this challenge. The spirit in the stadium for the two rugby games that I attended was absolutely magnificent. I met some peacekeepers after the Namibian game last night.

    I note that the honourable member for Gosford and my colleague the honourable member for Peats are in the Chamber. I think they attended the Irish game last Saturday. The Namibian team received magnificent support from the entire stadium at yesterday's game. When the players won a line-out they got a standing ovation from the crowd and when they scored a try in the first half the stadium exploded. There was applause for four or five minutes, and the try scorer was absolutely delighted. The atmosphere was magnificent. I think that says a lot about the Central Coast community and its enthusiasm for life.

    The world cup has been a wonderful experience so far. The United States and Japan teams will play at the stadium later this month, and I am sure that that will be another stellar experience for the people of the Central Coast. I have spoken to several people—including a Parliament House attendant—who plan to go to the game. I am sure that the spectators will enjoy a fantastic experience—I am not sure whether there are any tickets left—at one of the best regional stadiums in Australia among a crowd that loves sport, particularly rugby.

    Mr CHRIS HARTCHER (Gosford) [4.42 p.m.]: The Minister for Gaming and Racing talked at length about rugby on the Central Coast—football is an important part of life in that region—and of sell-out games. However, the Minister should be conscious of the fact that the major sporting sell-out on the Central Coast is the one being orchestrated by his Government through the poker machines tax, which will rip money from regional sport. The tax will take every penny away from junior rugby league. The rugby union players on the field last night were running as hard as the Minister is trampling junior rugby league. The facilities that the Central Coast Leagues Club offers to rugby union are at risk because the Minister and the Australian Labor Party are ripping money from the club movement, and subsequently away from sport on the Central Coast.

    The honourable member for Peats is in the Chamber. The poker machines tax will take $13.5 million from clubs in her electorate—money that would otherwise be spent on sport on the Central Coast. The Australian Labor Party is striking a blow against the people of the Central Coast and against the sports that the club movement supports and maintains. The only support for rugby union in this Chamber was offered by the honourable member for Lachlan yesterday when he gave notice of his intention to move a motion congratulating the Australian Rugby Union, Peter Crittle and all the other people who organised this successful Rugby World Cup. The Government does not want to debate that issue. The Minister for Gaming and Racing, who is also chairman of the rugby union task force, has chosen instead to move this self-indulgent motion.

    Not once during his 10-minute speech did the Minister mention junior sport or the impact that Labor Party policies will have on clubs on the Central Coast. Not once during his 10-minute speech did the Minister mention the thousands of children who assemble every Saturday morning to play rugby and who will no longer receive financial assistance. The hundreds of nippers who assemble at our surf life saving clubs every Sunday morning will no longer receive financial support thanks to this Government. I invite the Minster and the honourable member for Peats to attend the club rally "Axe the Tax" on the Central Coast. We will see what the Minister says when the Mingara Club fills with 1,000 angry people demanding that the tax be axed. We will see whether the Minister turns up to that meeting and whether he makes the same self-indulgent, self-congratulatory speech that he has made this afternoon.

    Mr Grant McBride: Point of order—

    Mr CHRIS HARTCHER: You will deal with him like the Speaker deals with false points of order during question time.

    Madam ACTING-SPEAKER (Ms Saliba): Order! I place the honourable member for Gosford on two calls to order.

    Mr Grant McBride: Will the honourable member for Gosford confirm whether the president of the Mingara Club is an unsuccessful Liberal candidate for the seat of The Entrance in the past two State elections?

    Madam ACTING-SPEAKER (Ms Saliba): Order! There is no point of order.

    Mr CHRIS HARTCHER: The Minister for Gaming and Racing has now attacked the executive officer of the club movement on the Central Coast. He has criticised the president of the Mingara Club. Will the Minister attend the rally? Will he address the rally and make a self-indulgent speech about Labor's promotion of the Central Coast while defending this Government's decision to rip millions of dollars from the club movement and from sport in that area? The Minister for Gaming and Racing spoke not just about the Rugby World Cup but about the Oyster Festival at Woy Woy and the Garden Festival. We heard all about the Labor Party's alleged achievements on the Central Coast. Let us hear about the one issue that the people of the Central Coast are concerned about: the millions of dollars that the Government will take from their clubs and from junior sporting organisations.

    Ms Marie Andrews: Point of order: We are debating a matter of public importance concerning Rugby World Cup matches on the Central Coast. The remarks of the honourable member for Gosford are anything but relevant to this debate.

    Madam ACTING-SPEAKER (Ms Saliba): Order! The honourable member for Gosford should confine his remarks to the motion before the Chair.

    Mr CHRIS HARTCHER: I will, Madam Acting-Speaker. The Minister mentioned the Oyster Festival at Woy Woy, the Garden Festival at Mount Penang, Olympic Games volunteers and many issues relating to rugby, and I shall do the same. The Minister has now left the chamber. He cannot handle debate on this issue—

    Mr Grant McBride: Point of order: The honourable member for Gosford said that I left the chamber. I did not; I was talking to the Clerk at the table. The quality of that comment is equivalent to everything else he has said in this debate so far: it is totally wrong.

    Mr CHRIS HARTCHER: The Minister for Gaming and Racing made a personal explanation but failed to address the issue of what the poker machines tax will do to junior sport on the Central Coast. He offers a self-indulgent defence regarding where he is at any given time. Of course he was in a box watching the rugby matches and enjoying the hospitality available to him. However, he does not offer any hospitality to the children, the rugby movement or the other 100 sports on the Central Coast that will lose their funding as a consequence of this Government's tax. Coalition members consider the Rugby World Cup to be a great success and we congratulate the Australian Rugby Union and the International Rugby Board. That success has nothing to do with the Carr Labor Government.

    We acknowledge that it has everything to do with the people and the council of the Central Coast and Telstra Stadium and all the other organisational facilities across Australia that have made this voluntary event happen. As the honourable member for Lachlan said yesterday in this House, they are the people who deserve to be congratulated. This afternoon we heard the self-indulgent speech of the Minister for Gaming and Racing and no doubt we are about to hear the same from the honourable member for Peats, but they are not the ones to be congratulated. The survey of leagues clubs showed that of all the electorates in New South Wales, the people of the Entrance electorate most fiercely resented the poker machine tax.

    I challenge the honourable member for Peats and the Minister for Gaming and Racing to put to the rally on the Central Coast their views on why the poker machine tax should go ahead. They should say why clubs will lose their money. Why will junior sports not be funded? Why will the little kids on Saturday mornings not get the jerseys? Why will the nippers on Sunday mornings not have facilities to practise surf lifesaving? Why will funding to surf lifesaving clubs be denied? Why will community groups, including the kitchen in Dormison Street, Gosford, lose their funding from the Central Coast Leagues Club? Why will pensioners who go to the Mingara Club each day lose their subsidised meals? How will they react to the usual speech that we hear so often about the wonderful job being done on the Central Coast because it has an oyster festival? Yes, they will choke on their oysters as they know that their members of Parliament are not even prepared to address the one issue that concerns them.

    The people of the Central Coast enjoy the rugby. The people of New South Wales and Australia also enjoy the rugby but they do not think any credit belongs to the Carr Labor Government for the rugby. They know where the credit lies and they will give the credit to the appropriate corner, that is, to the rugby union movement. They also know that a political party which once said it stood for the clubs and for the working people and pensioners is now trampling all over them in grand style. The Labor members of the Central Coast need to understand where the hearts of the people are: they want their clubs and junior sports and they expect the Labor members of Parliament to give them support. They will ask their Labor members of Parliament to come to the rally and state why they vote for this tax. [Time expired.]

    Ms MARIE ANDREWS (Peats) [4.52 p.m.]: I have pleasure in speaking to this matter of public importance—which, if honourable members opposite have forgotten, is the Rugby World Cup on the Central Coast. The Central Coast rounds of the Rugby World Cup commenced with Ireland defeating Romania 45 points to 17 last Saturday evening, 11 October. I had the pleasure of attending the game together with my parliamentary colleagues the Minister for Gaming and Racing, who is also the member for The Entrance, and the honourable member for Gosford, who has just spoken.

    Ms Alison Megarrity: And has left the Chamber.

    Ms MARIE ANDREWS: Yes. The match was considerably closer than the final score indicates, with the Romanians being described as plucky against their tough Irish counterparts. The Rugby World Cup represents a wonderful opportunity for the Central Coast to showcase its premier sporting venue and picturesque surrounds, being one of just four venues in New South Wales to host Rugby World Cup games. The Central Coast Express Advocate Stadium, along with WIN Stadium in the Illawarra, is one of just two regional venues in New South Wales to host the Rugby World Cup, which is the third largest sporting event in the world. The stadium is one of just four regional Rugby World Cup venues nationwide, along with Launceston, Townsville and the Illawarra. Central Coast Stadium, with its spectacular Brisbane Water backdrop, has to date showcased two World Cup pool matches during the World Cup—Ireland versus Romania on Saturday, and last night Argentina versus Namibia. Argentina won that match 67 points to 14.

    Mr Andrew Fraser: A good game.

    Ms MARIE ANDREWS: It was a good match. I did not attend but I have read all the reports and I have spoken to my colleague the Minister for Gaming and Racing. Namibia has a support group on the Central Coast and they certainly gave the team their full support, as did a large number of people in attendance. In accord with Australian's love and spirit of sport a lot of spectators cheered for the underdog, Namibia. The third match on the Central Coast will be the United States of America versus Japan on 27 October which will be telecast to 209 countries around the world. The demand for tickets for each of the games has been very high. The Rugby World Cup is expected to inject more than $300 million into the New South Wales economy, and the Central Coast will benefit from this as well as from the influx of approximately 55,000 international visitors. The region will benefit from this competition through the generation of an estimated $10 million in tourism business.

    It is expected that the Rugby World Cup will create approximately 2,500 jobs statewide, and this will also benefit the Central Coast. The Central Coast stadium was formally opened in February 2000 as a world-class 20,000-seat sporting venue, and this is certainly being reflected in the involvement the Central Coast is having in hosting the Rugby World Cup. Central Coast stadium has already had more than half a million visitors pass through its turnstiles since its opening. In addition to hosting international rugby events, there has been the unforgettable Australia A victory over the British Lions in 2001, and the Olympic torch festivities involving hundreds of local school students in the year 2000. The stadium has hosted rugby league and boxing events, and is a true multipurpose sporting venue.

    It is not just those with tickets who will enjoy the experience of the Rugby World Cup coming to the Central Coast. Community and local business activities have ensured that this experience is shared and celebrated across our region. The support from local businesses has been nothing short of spectacular, with a civic reception being held for the Irish, Namibian and Romanian teams, a twilight surf carnival and a series of business networking functions. With its scenic ambience, world-class facilities and local infrastructure, Central Coast Express Advocate Stadium has ensured that the entire region is well placed to maximise the opportunities the Rugby World Cup presents. The Carr Government's investment in the Central Coast stadium has proven to be of major benefit to the Central Coast community. It is now my wish that, following on from the success of the Rugby World Cup, many more events will be staged there. I take this opportunity to congratulate and praise all those who have been involved in staging the matches throughout New South Wales.

    [Discussion interrupted.]


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