NSW government gives Australian Rugby Union $1.7 million grant
Date July 13, 2015 - 4:04PM
Sean Nicholls, Jacob Saulwick
The Australian Rugby Union has been awarded a $1.7 million grant to move its Sydney offices to Moore Park and expand a version of the game from a state government fund designed to build community infrastructure.
The funding - authorised by Deputy Premier Troy Grant - is more than three times that given to other projects last financial year under the ClubGRANTS scheme, funded via the poker machine profits of the state's largest clubs.
But the ARU is not proposing to move offices for another two years.
Mr Grant is refusing to disclose the exact terms of the payment, citing "commercial in confidence" concerns.
And the chairman of the independent committee established to advise him on payments from the fund, Mike Colreavy, would not say if he and the committee supported the decision.
The ClubGRANTS fund allows NSW registered clubs to claim tax breaks of up to 2.25 per cent on their poker machine profits above $1 million if they spend the equivalent amount on approved community projects.
In 2011, the government announced that a new category of funding - category 3 payments - would be introduced to support development of sport, health and community infrastructure projects.
The money would be dispersed by the state government, advised by a committee.
And funding guidelines say that "consideration should be given" for projects that will benefit Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, regional and remote, disadvantaged and culturally and linguistically diverse communities.
Before the 2014-15 funding round, Mr Grant announced the maximum payment for each project would be $500,000 to "ensure greater access and reach".
But the grant to the ARU contradicts the state-wide guidelines.
The ARU was awarded more than three times this supposed maximum - $1.67 million - for "Relocation of ARU to Moore Park Precinct and Stronger Regional Communities Initiative".
The guidelines also state the projects need to start by May 2015, and be finished within two years.
But the ARU is not intending to move offices from its base at St Leonards to Moore Park until 2017, when its current lease expires.
A spokesman for Mr Grant said the "Stronger Regional Communities Initiative" was the roll out in regional areas of Viva7s - a non-contact version of Rugby Sevens.
He said Mr Grant had used his "discretionary power" under the guidelines to authorise the $1.67 million grant.
"This grant supports a sport with over 180,000 participants across NSW and helps promote active and healthy lifestyles through the roll-out of non-contact Sevens," he said.
The spokesman declined to give a breakdown of how much money would be spent on moving the ARU offices from St Leonards to Moore Park and the Viva7s initiative.
"The total funding pool covers a series of initiatives and milestones and payments are dependent upon those being met," he said.
"Further details are commercial in confidence."
It is understood that the ARU will not receive all the funding until it does move offices. But this does not explain why the grant was awarded in the 2014-15 financial year.
A spokesman for the ARU said any savings that would result from its relocation would assist the code "to invest in further initiatives to boost community involvement in the game."
The funding would also support the Viva7s program, and the ARU established 10 Viva7s centres across regional NSW this year, the spokesman said.
According to its accounts, the ARU recorded a $5.5 million loss in 2014, but a $23 million profit in 2013.
Other projects to be funded within the government's $500,000 limit from the scheme include a theatre upgrade in Cooma, the refurbishment of the Dhiiyaan Aboriginal Centre, and an upgrade of the Joan Sutherland Performing Arts Centre in Penrith.
Mr Colreavy referred questions about the independent committee's view of the ARU grant to the Office of Liquor, Gaming and Racing.
An OLGR spokesman said the ARU project "was consistent with the projects and services defined in the CIubGRANTS guidelines, which include sports venues, sports facilities, sporting fields and grandstands, sports services and programs, and recreational services, programs and facilities.
"The minister is ultimately responsible for all funding decisions under category 3, has full discretion and is not bound to seek advice from the CIubGRANTS Fund Committee before making a funding decision."
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/nsw-govern...#ixzz3fojgSrxG
