Monday, 27 March 2006

Dunne queries Govt response to Games medal tally

United Future leader, Peter Dunne, says the Government's initial response to New Zealand's disappointing medal tally at the Melbourne Commonwealth Games seems to be back to front.

Sports Minister Trevor Mallard said this morning that sports that didn't do as well as predicted wouldn't have any guarantees for government funding for the Beijing Olympics.

"It seems to me," said Mr Dunne, "that this would be the exact way to ensure they under-perform even more.

"Punishing sportspeople because they didn't meet predictions made by sporting bureaucrats is hardly the recipe for greater success, in my humble opinion.

"I applaud the New Zealanders who competed, sometimes beyond their personal bests, and those who won medals, of whatever colour, and it would be mean-spirited and short-sighted to cut off their funding simply because not every medal glittered like gold," said Mr Dunne.

ENDS

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