Brian Robins; 27/11/08; (2 Items)
The NSW Auditor-General has criticised the State Government for failing to compile rigorous and comprehensive budgets for big events after his report into World Youth Day found it had run $100 million over budget. The Auditor-General, Peter Achterstraat, said the Government should undertake a full review of the event, which was held in July when Morris Iemma was premier, so that the state could more accurately plan for large events in the future. The criticism was launched as the Government came under fire over its commitments to V8 supercar racing, with doubts that the $30 million budget would be adhered to. “The estimated final cost for World Youth Day is six times the original budget estimate,” Mr Achterstraat noted in his report, which was made public yesterday.
See: http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/youth-day-ran-100m-over-budget/2008/11/26/1227491636595.html
Who would true value seek
27/12/08
Recently Kristina Keneally, the NSW Government minister who oversaw World Youth Day, said: “The joy it brought to our city during the event had a positive effect on everyone, making the city all the more beautiful.” That beauty came at a cost to the taxpayer. Yesterday the Auditor-General reported the event, originally estimated at $20 million, had ended up costing six times that, $120 million. Even allowing for the normal optimism of event forecasting, this was quite a blow-out. The Auditor-General has recommended the Government undertake a post-implementation review of World Youth Day, which ran from July 15-20, to see what we got for our money. Expectations were high: the Government predicted an economic benefit of $152 million, while the Sydney Chamber of Commerce put it at $230 million. But it’s unlikely these figures were achieved, because the numbers of visitors fell well short of what had been expected.
See: http://www.smh.com.au/news/opinion/editorial/who-would-true-value-seek/2008/11/26/1227491636410.html
Tags: Australia, Christianity, WYD