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Mr THOMAS GEORGE (Lismore) [11.30 a.m.]: I wish to pay tribute to Therese Crollick and her committee for organising the recent Lismore Rainbow Region Masters Games III, the theme of which was "Love the Legend". Therese would want me to acknowledge all members of the committee, which I am proud to be part of, for their contribution to the games. It is all very well to have a committee, but you have to have workers. I also pay tribute to John Bancroft, the Events Co-ordinator for Lismore City Council, and Leanne Clarke for their contribution over the past two years in organising these successful and magnificent games. Their efforts were well and truly rewarded by the success of the event.
Such events are not possible without sponsorship. Lismore City Council has supported the event for the past six years—these are the third games. The Lismore Workers Club has been the major sponsor since the inception of the games. The club provided excellent service, assistance and financial support, which resulted in the success of the games. Other major sponsors include Rex Airlines and Lismore Unlimited, together with
Northern Star, Radio 2LM and NBN Television. Peter Cordery,Business Manager, Corporate Services, Dave Arthur, Dave Graham and volunteers interns all from Southern Cross University provided the committee with advice and expertise. I pay tribute to the Southern Cross University for its involvement, which has helped to professionalise theo rganisation and mould the team into what it has become.
More than 2,500 competitors participated in athletics, badminton, basketball, dressage, golf, hockey, swimming, table tennis, tenpin bowling and rebound volleyball, to name a few. The games injected more than $1 million into the Lismore economy. Competitors came from Townsville in the north, to Melbourne in the south and from areas west of the Great Dividing Range. The games were a tremendous success and everyone appeared to enjoy themselves. I had the honour of being a member of the tenpin bowling team. I am proud to say that I won a medal, which takes pride of place in my office.
For the past two years the committee worked very hard to put the games together. Some eight months ago it sent out entry forms, which set out the entry fee. In 2001 insurance for the games was $5,500, which was $2.50 per competitor. The committee had been working with its insurance company, but, sadly, it was unable to finalise the cost of insurance until all competitors for the games had been nominated. The committee budgeted for an insurance increase of up to 100 per cent—$2.50 to $5.00 per competitor. However, only two weeks prior to the games the committee was informed that the cost of insurance would increase to $23,000—$11.50 per entry form—which has created considerable angst for the committee because it could not increase entry fees in the two weeks leading up to the games. I am confident that the professionalism of the committee will enable it to solve the problem of the unexpected shortfall in costs, but it could not match a similar increase in the next two years. The cost of liability insurance in this State is still a concern, and must be examined.
Mr NEVILLE NEWELL (Tweed—Parliamentary Secretary) [11.35 a.m.]: I thank the honourable member for Lismore for drawing to the attention of the House the successful rainbow games that were held in Lismore and his success in winning a medal. As some of the commentators say in other games, he is one of our many competitors who medalled at the rainbow games. I also acknowledge the work of Therese Crollick and her committee, and those from Lismore Unlimited, a dedicated and enthusiastic group. As my electorate is adjacent to the electorate of the honourable member for Lismore, I am aware of some of the groups that do great things for the local community. I also congratulate Lismore City Council, the Lismore Workers Club and Southern Cross University on supporting this very successful event that involved 2,500 competitors. No doubt the event was a big boost to the local economy.