1
00:00:00,520 --> 00:00:03,960
Speaker 1: Well, the other Springs Masters Games they return this weekend.

2
00:00:04,280 --> 00:00:07,640
Speaker 1: We're told that there's one one hundred and fifty entrants

3
00:00:07,960 --> 00:00:11,240
Speaker 1: ready to show off their sporting prowess and have fun

4
00:00:11,280 --> 00:00:13,920
Speaker 1: at the eighteenth edition of the Games. The Games are

5
00:00:13,960 --> 00:00:15,600
Speaker 1: going to be taking place, as we know, from the

6
00:00:15,640 --> 00:00:19,119
Speaker 1: twelfth to the nineteenth of October, with competition being held

7
00:00:19,160 --> 00:00:24,040
Speaker 1: across various sporting fields and centers in Alice Springs. The entrance,

8
00:00:24,200 --> 00:00:28,160
Speaker 1: as I said, they're going to make up well one thousand,

9
00:00:28,320 --> 00:00:31,960
Speaker 1: two hundred and fifty sporting registrations is what we're told

10
00:00:32,280 --> 00:00:37,360
Speaker 1: across twenty three sports including cycling, golf, archery, hockey, and tennis.

11
00:00:37,600 --> 00:00:40,000
Speaker 1: I know it's a little different to what it has

12
00:00:40,040 --> 00:00:42,960
Speaker 1: been in previous years, but joining us on the line

13
00:00:43,040 --> 00:00:46,680
Speaker 1: right now is the Mayor of Alice Springs, Matt Patterson.

14
00:00:46,720 --> 00:00:49,839
Speaker 2: Good morning, Matt, good morning, Thanks for having me.

15
00:00:50,040 --> 00:00:52,440
Speaker 1: Yeah, good to have you on mate. How are things

16
00:00:52,440 --> 00:00:54,240
Speaker 1: looking ahead of the Masters.

17
00:00:55,440 --> 00:00:58,600
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think everyone has a little bit of a

18
00:00:58,600 --> 00:01:01,480
Speaker 2: bug to get ready for next week. Obviously been a

19
00:01:01,520 --> 00:01:05,000
Speaker 2: few years between drinks, but near look, people are pretty excited.

20
00:01:05,400 --> 00:01:08,120
Speaker 2: Obviously the numbers are down, but hopefully this is the

21
00:01:08,120 --> 00:01:09,560
Speaker 2: start of it. Coming back all that and.

22
00:01:09,520 --> 00:01:13,240
Speaker 1: See, yeah, are you finding I mean, based on those numbers,

23
00:01:13,480 --> 00:01:17,120
Speaker 1: they are down on what they've been in previous previous

24
00:01:17,200 --> 00:01:19,200
Speaker 1: years when the Masters have been held. But it's still

25
00:01:19,240 --> 00:01:22,199
Speaker 1: a big injection, right of people coming into the nty

26
00:01:22,280 --> 00:01:23,399
Speaker 1: and into Alice Springs.

27
00:01:25,000 --> 00:01:29,800
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean we'll always you know, welcome people coming here. Yes,

28
00:01:29,840 --> 00:01:32,959
Speaker 2: substantially down, but that's you know, there's a range of things,

29
00:01:33,319 --> 00:01:37,280
Speaker 2: cost of living, prices to get here, you know, the

30
00:01:37,280 --> 00:01:39,280
Speaker 2: reputation of our springs around the country. At the moment,

31
00:01:39,319 --> 00:01:41,600
Speaker 2: I think it's a range of things, but will certainly

32
00:01:41,600 --> 00:01:45,039
Speaker 2: welcome anyone that wants to come down and you know,

33
00:01:45,280 --> 00:01:46,720
Speaker 2: get to be a part of our springs for a

34
00:01:46,760 --> 00:01:49,720
Speaker 2: week and hopefully they go home and tell their friends

35
00:01:49,760 --> 00:01:52,320
Speaker 2: and family what a wonderful place Ollur Springs is. Matt.

36
00:01:52,360 --> 00:01:55,120
Speaker 1: How many registrations have we had in previews years? Do

37
00:01:55,160 --> 00:01:57,440
Speaker 1: you know or do you know how far down those

38
00:01:57,520 --> 00:01:58,040
Speaker 1: numbers are?

39
00:01:59,080 --> 00:02:02,560
Speaker 2: So the last Masters Games we had thirty eight hundred,

40
00:02:04,040 --> 00:02:06,800
Speaker 2: which was pretty big in twenty eighteen. And then to

41
00:02:06,880 --> 00:02:09,600
Speaker 2: go back to the year two thousand Cadi, I mean,

42
00:02:09,960 --> 00:02:12,200
Speaker 2: our servant wasn't a master then, but I was involved

43
00:02:12,240 --> 00:02:16,000
Speaker 2: with score. There was six thousand registrations really molely.

44
00:02:17,520 --> 00:02:19,440
Speaker 1: Yeah, that is a good decrease.

45
00:02:20,040 --> 00:02:22,800
Speaker 2: Yeah, we're at eleven hundred or something now and a

46
00:02:22,800 --> 00:02:25,960
Speaker 2: few sports have extended, so people wanted to happen, but

47
00:02:26,800 --> 00:02:29,960
Speaker 2: you know, volunteers are less and that's why a lot

48
00:02:29,960 --> 00:02:34,520
Speaker 2: of sports aren't in because of volunteer capacity. So it

49
00:02:34,600 --> 00:02:35,360
Speaker 2: is a challenge.

50
00:02:35,560 --> 00:02:38,200
Speaker 1: You touched on it before. I mean the Alice Springs

51
00:02:38,240 --> 00:02:43,280
Speaker 1: reputation nationally, it has certainly taken a hit. How are

52
00:02:43,320 --> 00:02:46,440
Speaker 1: people in Alice Springs feeling at the moment as the

53
00:02:46,480 --> 00:02:49,440
Speaker 1: Alice Masters get underway. But also you know we saw

54
00:02:49,520 --> 00:02:54,880
Speaker 1: last weekend that there was quite a bit of crime still.

55
00:02:55,000 --> 00:02:58,359
Speaker 2: Yeah, and you know a feel of our facilities were damaged,

56
00:02:59,400 --> 00:03:02,480
Speaker 2: not last night, the night before, you know, going into Masters,

57
00:03:02,520 --> 00:03:06,799
Speaker 2: which is obviously difficult. You know, it's not perfect, it

58
00:03:06,880 --> 00:03:09,560
Speaker 2: never will be perfect. It's certainly getting a little bit better,

59
00:03:09,600 --> 00:03:12,760
Speaker 2: but you know it's still at a very high point.

60
00:03:12,880 --> 00:03:16,320
Speaker 2: The crime we had the obviously the CLC fifty years

61
00:03:17,280 --> 00:03:20,600
Speaker 2: which you know wasn't perfectly were expecting a bit of

62
00:03:20,639 --> 00:03:24,680
Speaker 2: a peak this week last weekend it wasn't as bad

63
00:03:24,720 --> 00:03:27,760
Speaker 2: as people expected that. You know, it certainly still wasn't fantastic.

64
00:03:28,639 --> 00:03:31,360
Speaker 1: Yeah, so you know, I mean you and I have

65
00:03:31,360 --> 00:03:34,639
Speaker 1: spoken on so many occasions about trying to rebuild, rebuild

66
00:03:34,680 --> 00:03:36,920
Speaker 1: the reputation of Alice. But what I do know is

67
00:03:36,920 --> 00:03:39,040
Speaker 1: that there does seem to be quite a bit happening

68
00:03:39,040 --> 00:03:41,960
Speaker 1: on the ground, like from a council perspective, even from

69
00:03:42,040 --> 00:03:45,600
Speaker 1: other people's perspective, in terms of really sort of forging

70
00:03:45,640 --> 00:03:47,960
Speaker 1: ahead and trying to keep the towel moving. I know that.

71
00:03:48,840 --> 00:03:51,320
Speaker 1: You know, in terms of sport, you have also or

72
00:03:51,360 --> 00:03:55,600
Speaker 1: the other springs, the Aller Springstown Council have certainly finished

73
00:03:55,600 --> 00:03:58,600
Speaker 1: the work on a critical piece of sporting infrastructure, the

74
00:03:58,680 --> 00:04:00,840
Speaker 1: Tennis Center. As I unders stated, how's.

75
00:04:00,640 --> 00:04:05,680
Speaker 2: That going, Yeah, it's fantastic. So they were officially open

76
00:04:05,800 --> 00:04:09,680
Speaker 2: last week. It's the only synthetic courts now in the

77
00:04:09,760 --> 00:04:11,560
Speaker 2: nt so I think that that's welcome and that was

78
00:04:11,760 --> 00:04:14,520
Speaker 2: with consultation with Tennis and T and Tennis Australia about

79
00:04:14,560 --> 00:04:19,800
Speaker 2: what they wanted. We've also recently redone the whole facility,

80
00:04:19,800 --> 00:04:22,560
Speaker 2: the outside netble courts, so they were in much need

81
00:04:22,560 --> 00:04:26,160
Speaker 2: of repair. We're just doing some smaller parks, but we've

82
00:04:26,160 --> 00:04:29,839
Speaker 2: also got our Adventure park opening up, the Aquatic Center

83
00:04:29,880 --> 00:04:32,479
Speaker 2: next week, oh sorry, in two weeks, which is a

84
00:04:32,480 --> 00:04:35,320
Speaker 2: two million dollar spend. So you know, we know that

85
00:04:35,760 --> 00:04:40,000
Speaker 2: whilst the reputation damage is affecting the rest of the country,

86
00:04:40,040 --> 00:04:43,520
Speaker 2: we also need to invest in two infrastructure in the

87
00:04:43,520 --> 00:04:46,240
Speaker 2: community for our residents that actually live here, and we've

88
00:04:46,279 --> 00:04:48,200
Speaker 2: been doing that as a council and we've had some

89
00:04:48,240 --> 00:04:51,160
Speaker 2: assistance from the federal government and hopefully we can get

90
00:04:51,160 --> 00:04:54,880
Speaker 2: some assistance from the new Anti government who I think

91
00:04:54,920 --> 00:04:58,280
Speaker 2: share that same increasing liveability piece that our council share.

92
00:04:58,520 --> 00:05:01,360
Speaker 1: Yeah. Mark, when it come I know that there's been

93
00:05:01,400 --> 00:05:04,279
Speaker 1: so much doing and throwing in Alice Springs when it

94
00:05:04,279 --> 00:05:08,760
Speaker 1: comes to the art gallery there. What's the latest. My

95
00:05:08,839 --> 00:05:12,359
Speaker 1: understanding is that the Chief Minister Leafanocchiaro had halted the

96
00:05:12,400 --> 00:05:15,680
Speaker 1: works on anzac Oval. Where are things that from, like

97
00:05:15,720 --> 00:05:17,280
Speaker 1: from your perspective.

98
00:05:18,440 --> 00:05:21,960
Speaker 2: Yeah, so obviously it's a Northern Churching government project that

99
00:05:22,040 --> 00:05:26,120
Speaker 2: they have halted works there and they've basically put the

100
00:05:26,120 --> 00:05:28,240
Speaker 2: goal post where they're putting the goalposts back up at

101
00:05:28,320 --> 00:05:31,839
Speaker 2: enzac Oval so it can turn back into a rugby field.

102
00:05:32,480 --> 00:05:35,040
Speaker 2: We obviously made some changes as for a temporary field

103
00:05:35,040 --> 00:05:39,240
Speaker 2: in the community. But my understanding is that ANZAC will

104
00:05:39,240 --> 00:05:42,000
Speaker 2: go back to being ANZAC and the rugby field and

105
00:05:42,040 --> 00:05:44,400
Speaker 2: where the new gallery gets built. I'm not sure if

106
00:05:44,400 --> 00:05:46,800
Speaker 2: it will be at the front of the Anzac or

107
00:05:46,839 --> 00:05:50,960
Speaker 2: the back. That's up to the government to decide that. Yeah,

108
00:05:51,040 --> 00:05:53,760
Speaker 2: you know, the difficulty is with it. It's another delay

109
00:05:53,760 --> 00:05:56,400
Speaker 2: and we need some tourist infrastructure here and we need

110
00:05:56,440 --> 00:05:59,960
Speaker 2: that new product. So hopefully it doesn't hold the proje

111
00:06:00,240 --> 00:06:00,640
Speaker 2: too much.

112
00:06:00,800 --> 00:06:03,279
Speaker 1: Yeah, what a local saying about it at the moment, like,

113
00:06:03,320 --> 00:06:05,760
Speaker 1: are they quite divided or are most people wanting a

114
00:06:05,760 --> 00:06:06,560
Speaker 1: different location.

115
00:06:08,800 --> 00:06:11,920
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's been pretty divisive from the start, and I

116
00:06:11,960 --> 00:06:14,640
Speaker 2: think that goes back to the lack of consultation that

117
00:06:14,800 --> 00:06:16,839
Speaker 2: was delivered on at the start. I mean it was

118
00:06:17,000 --> 00:06:20,200
Speaker 2: just sort of we're just getting told here, and the

119
00:06:20,240 --> 00:06:23,360
Speaker 2: messaging was never clear. So it is divided. There's a

120
00:06:23,400 --> 00:06:24,719
Speaker 2: lot of people now that just want to sort of

121
00:06:24,720 --> 00:06:27,159
Speaker 2: get on with it, and there's a lot of people

122
00:06:27,200 --> 00:06:30,440
Speaker 2: that don't. Yeah, I don't want to build where it

123
00:06:30,480 --> 00:06:33,719
Speaker 2: is for cultural reasons or just for reasons in general

124
00:06:33,760 --> 00:06:35,080
Speaker 2: that they just don't think it's a good idea.

125
00:06:35,240 --> 00:06:38,200
Speaker 1: Yeah. Well, Matt Patterson, always good to catch up with you, mate.

126
00:06:38,240 --> 00:06:41,159
Speaker 1: I really appreciate your time, and hopefully things go well

127
00:06:41,400 --> 00:06:44,719
Speaker 1: with the Masters Games when they get underway. I know that,

128
00:06:44,800 --> 00:06:47,560
Speaker 1: you know, over the years they've been such a huge event,

129
00:06:47,600 --> 00:06:49,360
Speaker 1: and I do hope that they're able to get back

130
00:06:49,400 --> 00:06:52,120
Speaker 1: to their former glory. You know, it's still good that

131
00:06:52,160 --> 00:06:55,719
Speaker 1: there's over a thousand people registered to take part, but

132
00:06:55,800 --> 00:06:58,479
Speaker 1: let's hope over the coming years we can amp it

133
00:06:58,520 --> 00:06:59,040
Speaker 1: back up.

134
00:07:00,320 --> 00:07:02,800
Speaker 2: Fingers crossed, fingers cross you'll you'll if it. If it

135
00:07:02,880 --> 00:07:04,600
Speaker 2: kicks off in twenty twenty six, KD, you'll have to

136
00:07:04,640 --> 00:07:05,560
Speaker 2: come down to a runt.

137
00:07:05,680 --> 00:07:06,640
Speaker 1: I'll have to go and run.

138
00:07:07,160 --> 00:07:08,799
Speaker 2: You're probably not old enough, are you, actually?

139
00:07:08,800 --> 00:07:14,400
Speaker 1: I definitely am. I definitely am now. Matt Pattison, good

140
00:07:14,400 --> 00:07:17,680
Speaker 1: to catch up with you, mate. I appreciate your time anytime.

141
00:07:17,720 --> 00:07:18,840
Speaker 2: Thanks Cam, Thank you.