Rumblings over handout for Cup

By HELEN TUNNAH

A taxpayer handout to Team New Zealand has critics accusing the Government of snubbing poor sports while backing an elite group of professional yachtsmen.

Political parties and other sporting groups yesterday questioned why millions of dollars of public money had been awarded to the America's Cup team when other sports were struggling for money.

Team NZ, with a campaign budget of about $85 million, have yet to decide if they will challenge for the America's Cup, which they lost to Alinghi last weekend.

The Swiss team, peppered with former Team NZ crew who defected after the first defence in 2000, leave for Geneva with the Auld Mug today.

Team NZ yesterday picked up their first commercial sponsor if a new campaign is launched; their second-biggest funder, the Line 7 clothing company, is promising to back the syndicate again.

The team are guaranteed at least $5.6 million of public money, and possibly more, after America's Cup Minister Trevor Mallard said the Government believed the Team New Zealand brand, like the All Blacks brand, was a powerful trade and tourism tool overseas that should be preserved.

He said it was important that the team had some initial cash to rehire crew and ward off chequebook raids similar to those three years ago.

Both Mr Mallard and Team NZ skipper Dean Barker said they were convinced the young, rebuilt side had the potential to return the cup to New Zealand.

Mr Mallard said no other New Zealand team wanting to challenge for the America's Cup would be helped.

Yesterday, other sporting groups and Labour's political rivals questioned why the Government was backing a professional sport.

New Zealand Olympic Committee president John Davies said he was surprised Team NZ had not themselves budgeted to keep crew.

Yachtsman Chris Dickson, who set up and funded his own New Zealand challenge eight years ago, said he hoped Team NZ would be accountable for any public money they received.

The $5.6 million contribution matches the amount the Government injected into the team three years ago.

It also compares with the $15 million in direct Government funding available to Sport and Recreation New Zealand. About one-third of that money is spent on elite sport.

No direct Government funding is available for the Olympic Committee, or the All Blacks, who are also expected to be raided by overseas clubs after this year's Rugby World Cup.

Former Labour MP and All Black Chris Laidlaw said he felt "very uneasy" about the public grant.

"There are all sorts of demands on a government's resources.

"Payments to retain people at the top end of the sports market is not my idea of money well spent. It's messy. I don't like the precedent."

Mr Davies said all New Zealand sports should be treated equally because, overseas, all sport helped the country.

He thought the traditional black singlet with a silver fern worn by New Zealand athletes would be just as strong a brand as Team New Zealand. "There's no doubt they brought us a great deal of pleasure and made us enormously proud.

"But if you take [Olympic gold-medal rower] Rob Waddell, or the All Blacks or the Tall Blacks playing at the world championships ... they all bring a focus on New Zealand," he said.

Act and the Greens also questioned the taxpayer funding of an elite sport, but Peter Dunne, leader of the Government's coalition ally United Future said it was sensible to protect a powerful economic asset.

Barker said none of the leadership of Team NZ, including himself, had been recontracted.

A decision on whether the team would challenge for the cup, expected to be sailed in 2007, would be made after an internal review of their failed campaign.

Further reading: nzherald.co.nz/americascup