In My View - Quarter 2 2006

By Luke Brailey
Back to Belmore Inc. President

Head to Head with the Federal Opposition Leader: Back to Belmore President Luke Brailey (right) asks Kim Beazley (left) straight up if he will fix Belmore Sports Ground if Labor is elected in 2007.

After the Federal Government announced that the Cronulla Sharks, coincidentally Treasurer Peter Costello’s favourite NRL team, would be given a grant of $9.6 million to upgrade their home ground Toyota Park in April 2006, it was the straw the broke the camel’s back. Back to Belmore’s protest is now mainly aimed at pressuring the Federal and State Governments into coughing up money to fix Belmore Sports Ground, seeking a level playing field.

It is very discouraging to see these ovals being allocated Federal Government funding for purely political reasons. Oki Jubilee Stadium, Toyota Park, Penrith Stadium and Brookvale Oval should not be allocated government funding simply because federal Liberal MPs support the rugby league teams that are based there or because they are located in Liberal electorates.

This pork barrel spending has got to stop. It should be for the benefit of the community and its residents, not for political point-scoring or to satisfy the needs of politicians. Why should the residents of the Canterbury-Bankstown district be deprived of a top-class sporting facility which can be used by the community simply because we don’t live in a Liberal electorate or because a federal Liberal MP does not publicly support the Bulldogs? It should be a level playing field.

I approached the Federal Opposition Leader, Kim Beazley, and told him about the recent pork barrel spending with other sporting venues. I asked whether Labor, if elected in 2007, will carry our cause to Canberra and fund an overdue upgrade to BSG. It appears that the ALP plan to use a different funding model for infrastructure - having an infrastructure council that makes the decisions and how funding for major projects will go ahead.

The Federal MP for Watson, Tony Burke, said that there will be an infrastructure council that is allotted and will make the decisions, and that's how the funding of major projects will go ahead. Mr Burke also said that once it is established he would write to the newly-created council and support the application for a BSG upgrade.

However, Mr Burke said that he would not be able to go to the upcoming 2007 election with a promise about Belmore Sports Ground because Labor would be adopting a different funding model as to how infrastructure is funded. Furthermore, he also said that Labor wouldn't be in the situation to be able to give a guarantee of a reverse pork barrel to even the square.

I urge Morris Iemma, the presiding Member for Lakemba, to make it a top priority of his, during his upcoming election campaign, to procure government funding for Belmore Sports Ground, as its upgrade as a top-class sporting facility would have a long-term benefit for the Canterbury-Bankstown area and its residents. The Premier has a moral obligation to the residents of his constituency to address the totally unacceptable state of Belmore Sports Ground. One would assume that they would all get right behind this campaign as it would undoubtedly be a vote catcher in the critical Western Sydney area with both state and federal elections due next year.