NEW ZEALAND HERALD: National's new sport policy to funnel money from Government-run anti-obesity campaigns directly into grass-roots sport at schools and clubs has been criticised by Sport Minister Clayton Cosgrove as "out of touch".
National leader John Key yesterday said his party would review Government anti-obesity campaigns and channel "wasted" money into sports clubs and schools to use for extra-curricula sports instead.
The announcement is sparse on detail, including how National's new policy would operate in practice and how much it would cost.
Mr Key said there were at least eight different Government programmes with similar aims - encouraging healthy eating and fitness - and savings of "millions" of dollars could be made by rationalising the programmes.
He also singled out Sport and Recreation NZ for wasting money on unnecessary exercises, including research, administration and on its website.
"Every dollar we spend in those areas is a dollar we could spend on codes, schools, and clubs that have bats, balls sport facilities and gear ready to ensure more New Zealanders can take part in sport."
Mr Cosgrove said Mr Key was "out of touch" if he thought providing sport equipment was enough to get children onto the sports field.
"In the old days you didn't have to convince kids to get off the couch but today there are so many competing influences that you have to use technological channels such as TV and the internet to reach them. That is why we need programmes such as Mission On and Push Play that encourage Kiwis of all ages to get active and stay healthy."
Mr Key said there was a great deal of "wastage" in the Government programmes by producing gimmicks and self-evident research - none of which would get children onto the sports field.
Areas he considered wastage included a computer game in which an animated character could be made to do hip-hop moves and a music CD sent to schools with "funky tracks for classroom use".
"I think teachers are smart enough to encourage physical activity without using that sort of guff. I'd suggest we we really want to help schools get kids running around at lunchtime then we should apply some common sense and make sure they have decent sports equipment."
Mr Key said many sports clubs were struggling with funding and many parents could also not afford their children's sport costs, yet these were the logical place to encourage children to get involved in sport.
Mr Cosgrove said giving clubs more money without ensuring they could manage it properly was like throwing money into "a black hole".
He said Government funding for sport and recreation had increased from $2.5 million in 1999 to $69.5 million in 2007-08, largely for national and regional sports development, as well as social awareness campaigns.
PPTA president Robin Duff said the announcement was too sparse on detail to make a judgment on. He said teachers' opinions would probably depend on the extra workload it put on them, as they already faced an increased load of academic work.
The policy is National's 15th so far. Mr Key said its policy for high-performance sport would be announced later in the year.
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