Parliamentary Speeches
Transcript with the Minister for Sport, Kate Ellis ABC AM - 2008 Beijing Olympics and sports funding
19 Aug 2008MEDIA: ABC Radio AM
DATE: 19 August 2008
TIME: 08:15am
TRANSCRIPT: Interview, Minister for Sport, Kate Ellis is interviewed by ABC AM about the Beijing Olympics and funding for sports.
TONY EASTLEY: Great Britain's performance at these Olympics has been impressive and sports experts put much of the success down to the large amounts of money poured into British sport in recent years.
Australia's head swimming coach, Alan Thompson, says Australia needs to do the same. Britain's Paralympic swimming program, he says, receives more money than the whole mainstream Australian swim program.
But the Sports Minister, Kate Ellis, is warning that extra Australian funding may not be that easy to come by.
She says a restructuring of sports institutions could help and she has signalled some extra assistance for coaches.
Kate Ellis, who returned from the Beijing Olympics last night, is speaking here with our chief political correspondent, Lyndal Curtis.
KATE ELLIS: We've made very clear that the Australian Government wants to continue to be very strong supporters of our Olympic athletes, and indeed all sporting teams into the future, but we also need to be mindful of the size of our economy, the size of our population, versus the competing nations that we are up against.
And that's one of the things that makes our performance all the more remarkable, in that we are a much smaller country which has been punching above our weight for a long time, and that's something that I want to make sure continues into the future.
LYNDAL CURTIS: Britain funds its Olympics teams partially through a lottery, has any consideration been given to creative ways of raising money in Australia?
KATE ELLIS: They do have a very different system in Britain, and I know that right back in 1999, the previous government had an inquiry into sports and the ways forward, and one of the recommendations that was put to the government at the time was to set up a lottery like the one in the UK for Australia.
Of course, with the different State and Federal jurisdictions, that would have been not possible by the government at the time, but one thing I am very keen to do, and we've announced a process, to look at ways we can broaden the funding base for Australian sport, and I doubt very much that that will come up with a lottery being a viable option for us, but I do hope that there's ways that we can restructure the current system, so that we can get as many dollars going towards our athletes as possible.
LYNDAL CURTIS: Sports chiefs tend to use major events such as the Olympics and Commonwealth Games to call for more money; do you believe that their calls will be answered after your review?
KATE ELLIS: Well the Prime Minister was asked this question and made quite clear that the Australian Government does intend to be very strong and partners with the Australian Olympic Committee, going forward.
LYNDAL CURTIS: Does that mean more generous partners as well?
KATE ELLIS: Well obviously increased funding will need to be weighed up against a number of other Government measures, but what I can absolutely commit to is undertaking significant reform of our sporting structures to make sure that we are getting the maximum results and the maximum benefits from every cent of tax payer dollars going forward.
TONY EASTLEY:
The Federal Sports Minister, Kate Ellis, speaking there with Lyndal Curtis.