Writing a cheque to Apia

I just don't get this. We are a small country, with limited resources, and if you believe everything you read, we don't have a lot of money to throw around at things like elite athletes, at least at a level sufficient to compete with the big boys. Indeed, SPARC in their current Statement Of Intent tell us:

"It is evident that New Zealand cannot compete on the basis of size and funding, as we are unable to equal the seemingly endless resources of the larger major sporting countries. While the level of investment is important, we do not have the resources to simply outspend our rivals, so we have to outsmart them and be wise, innovative and strategic in how we invest"

Given this, I just about lost my lunch when I read (at the same time our athletes were "failing" at the Commonwealth Games) that the generosity of our current Government knows no bounds and we are spending $375,000 on a project to develop sport in Samoa. You can read about it at Scoop - it's worth a look. Especially the bit where the "aim is to exchange knowledge" - I look forward to reading about the nutritional benefits of taro in due course.

I'll admit my bias. Being involved with the NZ Orienteering Federation which receives a massive $18,000 p.a. from SPARC, seeing $375,000 of NZ taxpayers money flying offshore to help sport in another country just makes me want to puke.

I don't care that it is coming out of another bucket - the funds are coming from NZAID (an organisation designed to help eliminate poverty in other countries; using money to develop sport under the auspices of eliminating poverty is stretching credibility just a tad) - it is still money from the NZ taxpayer helping develop sport in another country when many sporting organisations in this country are running on the smell of an oily rag and apparently we don't have the resources to develop high performance sport in this country to a level we desire.

I suppose I shouldn't expect logical and consistent thinking from politicians. I hope the Samoa project is so successful that in 10 years time their rugby team is beating the All Blacks at the Rugby World Cup or a Samoan boxer is knocking a Kiwi (probably of Samoan heritage) out of the ropes in a gold medal bout at the Commonwealth Games. I'm sure in such a scenario the NZ public will be thrilled to know that their taxes have gone to help produce such champions in another country.

Once we have helped Samoa, no doubt we'll turn our attention to Niue, the Cook Islands, Tokelau and a handful of other Pacific Island nations while the minor sports in this country continue their struggle to survive. Fucking marvellous.