The Northern Territory Badminton Association will tomorrow submit the single largest petition in NT Parliament history.
The
petition, which calls on NT Government to “defer the eviction of badminton
from the Sports House facility and agree to allocate funds for and facilitate
construction of a new multi-purpose facility for badminton, table tennis and
judo at Marrara during the 2014-2015 financial year as detailed in the NT
Badminton Association New Venue Proposal September 2013”, has been signed
by more than 12 300 Territorians in the past five weeks.
The
petition will be presented to the Hon Gerry Wood MLA on the steps of Parliament
House at 9:30am for submission to Parliament later that day.
And to make
sure their plight is heard, a group of local badminton players have planned a
“Badminton Flashmob” at the handover.
“People we
meet are very surprised to hear that we’re being thrown out on to the street
and that the NT Government is not proposing a replacement facility - they say
that it’s very unfair,” NT Badminton volunteer Monica Beadman said.
“We have been absolutely overwhelmed with
support from the people of Darwin, Palmerston and Rural Areas,” volunteer
Helena Gibbons said.
“People have been incredibly sympathetic to our plight and we thank everyone for their fantastic support!”
The NTBA said
it calls on the NT Government to listen to overwhelming community opinion and
“give our sport a fair go and support our proposal for a replacement facility”.
For more information visit www.saveoursport.org.au or follow NT Badminton on www.facebook.com/SaveOurSportNT and twitter.com/SaveOurSportNT
