February 24, 2023
The significant amount of money the Olympics is set to cost Queenslanders seems to be at the forefront of everyone’s minds, but none more so than Katter’s Australian Party leader and Traeger MP Robbie Katter.
$7 billion is the current number floating around, and regional economist Colin Dwyer in a recent report stated that his preliminary Brisbane Olympics Stadiums cost benefit analysis was negative.
Mr Katter has time and time again outlined the significant number of roads, hospitals, schools and more that Queenslanders could benefit from if allocated that type of money.
“The whole Olympics is looking like a $20 billion spend all up.
“If they’ve got that much money to spend, we’d like some up this way”, said Mr Katter.
“I think a report like this is a trigger for identifying critical needs in the regions.
“For one critical need, I want to see a new sports centre in Mount Isa.
“I know sport in the North West is on the verge of a burn out, and we need to strategize against this.
“We have seen a deterioration of volunteer numbers over recent years which is certainly not helping the situation.
Mr Katter outlined his vision of taking away asset management from individual clubs and combining them together in one larger facility likely with different grounds to accommodate.
“This will reduce the amount of older, smaller facilities with clubs who are currently treading water to stay afloat.
“And in turn will provide one large centre where resources can be shared, the workload minimised which should sustain volunteers, and life can be driven back into North West sport.
“This type of initiative fits in well with sport and rec plans that in the past have been developed for the city and has the added benefit of reducing the number of drop off points for parents who are sending their kids to sport.
“Kids living in the North West should have the opportunity to have modern facilities the same as kids on the coast.
“A combined centre could help us deliver that.
“If the government has $7 billion for The Olympic Games, surely, they have a few million left for sporting in the North West. [et_pb_text admin_label="EDIT - use %22ADD MEDIA%22 button to insert PDF" _builder_version="4.6.5" text_font_size="16px"]20230224 - RK media release - Katter calls for sport center in Mount Isa