Royal Park Protection Group Inc
MEDIA RELEASE 7 APRIL 2005
WELFARE OF GAMES ATHLETES THREATENED BY SUBSTANDARD HOUSING
Members of The Royal Park Protection Group and Protectors of Public Lands Victoria hope to meet the press today from between 12 30 pm and 1:30 pm at the gates of the so-called "Games Village" in Parkville. (We know that the visiting Commonwealth Games officials are doing a tour of the site around this time.) We are demanding, in the best interests of the 2006 Games athletes and in an attempt to defend Victoria’s reputation as a Games host, that the plans to accommodate athletes on the "Parkville Gardens" development site be abandoned before its too late.
Rod Quantock Deputy Convenor of the Royal Park Protection Group commented:
"The gold medal for Government incompetence will soon be hanging around the neck of Premier Steve Bracks. We know that athletes are going to be accommodated 24 to a house and will be sleeping in specially fitted out garages, laundries and kitchens. And that’s the deluxe accommodation. Many will be staying in portable corrugated huts; some positioned on the road reserve outside CSL and the Juvenile Detention Centre.
The whole "Games Village" is more reminiscent of a boyscout jamboree than a world class, custom-built Village such as the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games facilities. Bracks must make other arrangements before its too late and look again at other options. Our elite international sports guests might take it into their own hands as they did at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, which saw a mass exodus of athletes from the official Games Village into hotels close to the main events".
Julianne Bell, Convenor of the RPPG, said: "We know that the Australian athletes are threatening to stay in motels in Parkville given that they are unlikely to get a good night’s sleep in the official Village. A senior economics writer for one of Melbourne’s newspapers estimated that the cost to the taxpayer of the so-called Games Village amounts to $23 000 per athlete. At that rate each competitor could have spent seven weeks at a luxury hotel in Melbourne and been in top condition for the Games."
RPPG representatives chiefly blame Games Minister Justin Madden for this debacle. He already appears to have dropped the baton in the race to finish the Games Housing Event. Local ALP MP’s Jennings, Romanes and Pike dropped out of the race long ago.
Contact: Julianne Bell, Convenor RPPG: 98184114 or 0408022408