More speeches

Sports Funding - Olympic Games Today program, Channel 9 21 August 2008

21 August 2008

MEDIA: Today Show, Channel 9

DATE: 21 August 2008

TRANSCRIPT: Interview , Minister for Sport, Kate Ellis is interviewed about sports funding

Karl Stefanovic: Well, our Olympians have been doing a fantastic job over in Beijing, haven't they? But have we been doing our bit to support them?

The Poms have been pouring money into the sport, and the medal table shows the results of that. They're beating us for the first time in 20 years.

So do our athletes need more funding? Sports Minister Kate Ellis joins us now. Kate, good morning to you.

Kate Ellis: Good morning, Karl. Great to be with you.

Karl Stefanovic: Yeah, good to talk to you as well. I've been wanting to get you on the show for a while now, especially in regards to this issue. I guess, the funding does have a direct correlation with success doesn't it?

Kate Ellis: Well certainly. Obviously, there's a correlation there. But I think it's also important to maintain that it's not all about funding, that Australia has punched above our weight, if you will, for a long time now. And the reason that we've done that is not because we've poured more money in than the countries that we're competing against, it's because we've had a much smarter system and we've had a more innovative approach and we've really been at the cutting edge.

And so whilst, obviously, we're going to have discussions about funding and that takes place every Olympic cycle...

Karl Stefanovic: Mmm.

Kate Ellis: ... I think it's really important that we also have discussions about reform and making sure that our system is up to date and that we stay ahead of the rest of the pack, and that's something that I've committed to doing.

Karl Stefanovic: Kate, most of our coaches, if they were asked now, and some have said so in the last couple of days, say that they are drastically under-funded. Are they wrong?

Kate Ellis: Well, certainly, some countries are offering a lot of money. And I'll be the first to say that when you look strictly on a dollar for dollar basis, and Australia is never going to be able to compete with much larger populations and larger economies, and nor have we ever been able to compete on there.

So, some coaches make the call that they go overseas and go where they can get the top dollar.

Karl Stefanovic: Mmm.

Kate Ellis: Whereas I've spoken to a lot of coaches recently who say that they'll always stay here because they want to see the green and gold succeed, and they want to see us up there on the medal podium. So that's really an individual choice, and it is a global marketplace.

But I think that, certainly, looking at ways that we can recognise the efforts of coaches, ways that we can train our coaches and ways that we can support our coaches is something that we'll be looking at post these Olympics.

Karl Stefanovic: The Prime Minister seems to have indicated that he may support more funding. At this point, are you ruling out more funding for our sports?

Kate Ellis: I'm certainly not ruling out more funding. What we're saying here is that the Australian Government have been very strong supporters of Australian sport, and the Prime Minister's made very clear that we will continue to be into the future.

What I am saying is that I want to make sure that each and every taxpayer dollar is being spent to get the maximum advantage and make sure that we have a look at the system and how it's operating as a whole before we look at just simply adding more money.

Karl Stefanovic: A ...

Kate Ellis: I think that's really over - an over-simplified approach to fixing this problem...

Karl Stefanovic: We asked our...

Kate Ellis: ... if, indeed, there is a problem.

Karl Stefanovic: Sorry.

Kate Ellis: I think we're doing very well over there. Sorry...

Karl Stefanovic: Kate, we asked our audience the other day about this, and I don't think there is an appetite for Australians to want to spend more money. They don't want too much more of their hard-earned money going towards our athletes. But I wonder if there is another way around it.

Doing what the British do, perhaps, in terms of having a lottery and the proceeds of which go towards sport. Is that a possibility, do you think?

Kate Ellis: Well, it's a possibility that's been looked at previously in the Australian situation. Back in 1999, there was a review of our sports system, and there were some recommendations about setting up such a lottery.

It's actually really complicated to do in Australia. In part, because of the different federal and state jurisdictions, but also because we already have well developed lotteries in place.

And one of the things that I will be looking at doing is the different ways that we can expand the funding base and look at getting more dollars to our athletes and to our teams without that necessarily having to come out of the taxpayer purse. So that's something that there's a process under way, and we think that there are ways that we can improve the way that that works.

Karl Stefanovic: All right, Kate, it's always good to talk to you and good to shed some light on that issue. I think we all have enormous pride in our athletes at the Olympics, and it would be great to see them well funded heading towards Great Britain, because you know only too well that if we lose to Great Britain at these Olympics, you've got to go parading around in a Union Jack. Now, that's going to be hell on earth isn't it?

Lisa Wilkinson: [Laughs]

Kate Ellis: Thank you kindly for reminding me of that first thing in the morning, Karl. That was very nice of you.

Karl Stefanovic: [Laughs]

Kate Ellis: But, I tell you, I am, I think, the most popular person on UK television at the moment. I've got all sorts of requests for me to go on and eat humble pie directly to them. So...

Karl Stefanovic: [Laughs]

Kate Ellis: ... I'm cheering on the Aussies extra hard in these last few days.

Lisa Wilkinson: [Laughs]

Karl Stefanovic: All right, Kate, good to talk to you. Thank you for that, appreciate it.

Kate Ellis: Thank you.

Karl Stefanovic: And we'll sure be showing that vision after you've done that, eating humble pie on British television. Oh dear...

Lisa Wilkinson: At least you didn't go the nudie option.

Karl Stefanovic: Yeah, exactly.

Lisa Wilkinson: She'll be breathing a bigger sigh of relief over that.

[ENDS]

More speeches