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AUSTRALIAN and Queensland Rugby Union officials were last night devastated when told their proposed National Rugby Academy at Ballymore had been undermined by the Federal Government's withdrawal of $25 million in funding.
Former prime minister John Howard announced last June that the government would contribute $25 million to the state-of-the-art home for the Wallabies and Queensland Reds, which was scheduled to include gymnasiums, a sports science centre and a motel for visiting teams.
However, the $40 million revamp is now in serious doubt following the funding cut.
ARU chief executive John O'Neill said last night: "This has come out of the blue and we are clearly disappointed about the decision. We had a commitment from the previous government. We were told the money was in the bank. We're absorbing the shock of this decision. The disappointment is profound."
O'Neill said the ARU and QRU had already spent about $500,000 in engaging architects and planners to begin the design of the academy.
"The project was designed to create a train-play-stay environment available to all sports and to all countries in our region, particularly Fiji and other South Pacific nations," O'Neill said.
QRU chairman Peter Lewis said the government's decision had "come as a complete shock to us, especially when we believed we had a binding business agreement and have outlaid hundreds of thousands of dollars on plans, surveys and community consultation on that basis".
"I feel like a lineout jumper whose lifters have suddenly walked off with me still in mid-air."