Lotto the key to budget

Press, 13 December 1986, Page 3

Lotto the key to budget

Lotto is the key to the success or failure of the new Hillary Commission for Recreation and Sport. Whether it can implement all the programmes it wants depends on its budget, which now stands at about $5 million from the Government. If Lotto is introduced next year the commission could expect to get another $lO million to $l5 million.

That, says the Minister of Sport and Recreation, Mr Moore, will make the difference in what the commission can achieve. The Minister is confident that the Government has the numbers in Parliament to pass Lotto and believes it could be running by June, 1987. If it doesn’t, he admits the commission will

“struggle” to achieve its aims on a $5 million budget. “Frankly that’s not enough. The commission will implement some programmes with that, of course. But it could do brilliantly with $l5 million or $2O million.”

He estimated that Lotto could provide up to $500,000 a week for distribution to community welfare, recreation, sport and the arts.

Without Lotto, the commission will have to rely on Lottery Board funds and the Government. It will be an agent of the Lottery Board for lottery profits distribution.

Almost as important to the success of the commission is the right chief executive.