Tony Zappia (Makin, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Manufacturing) Share this | Hansard source

In response to the minister's interjection, the bill is about the support that the government gives to sporting events by way of this legislation. If we are talking about sporting events, then I believe it is totally appropriate to talk about the support we give to sportsmen and sportswomen of this country through other measures that this government has responsibility for.

As I was saying, prior to the 2013 election, the previous Labor government had committed some $17 million by way of sporting communities funding to sporting communities around the country. This supported local clubs, particularly by upgrading their facilities, many of which are owned by local councils. My view is that it is important, if we are going to support and host events of the type that are referred to in this legislation, that we go the whole way and that we in fact support our sportsmen and sportswomen from when they are juniors right through to when they become athletes on the world stage. I am disappointed to think that not only did the budget cut $22.8 million from the Australian Sports Commission last night, but that was in addition to the $17 million that they cut from the Sporting Communities initiative.

Only on Saturday night I attended an AGM and a presentation night of the Salisbury Athletic Club in my electorate of Makin. The issue of funding and fundraising and finances of the club was an important issue to that club, just as it is to every other club that I visit on a fairly regular basis throughout my electorate. Raising funds and having good facilities for them is not easy, and they depend very much on the support that this federal government provides through the budget and on what their state and local governments also provide. But what is indeed interesting, with respect to the cuts made under the Sporting Communities initiative of the previous government—the $17 million I referred to earlier—is that they cut in some places but not in all. It was interesting that, for example, they did not cut and in fact kept the $10 million for the upgrade of the Brookvale Oval. And guess where that is? It is in the Prime Minister's electorate. They also, from recollection, did not cut the $7 million plus upgrade of the recreation centre in the electorate of the member for Sturt, the leader of government business in this place and the Minister for Education. So they were very selective where they made those cuts.

As I have said from the outset, the government supports this legislation because it is important legislation with respect to Australia's ability to bid for sporting events in this country. Our obligations to support sporting events in this country go beyond this legislation and embrace a whole range of responsibilities that I believe the government has. I have said in the past, and I will say it again, that my view is that we ought to do more for the sporting people in this country. We ought to do more for the clubs that support the athletes throughout the country, most of whom are volunteers. This being National Volunteer Week, it is a tremendous opportunity to support and acknowledge all of the tireless work that volunteers around this country do towards shaping these athletes so that they can go on to represent us in these international events. I support the direction of money into our grassroots sports to a much larger extent then we have done in the past. We will not have elite athletes if we do not get them started on the right footing from when they are young. That is why we should be committing even more money to funding our grassroots sports communities and why I deplore the cuts that have been made by this government to sporting organisations around the country.

With those comments, as I have said from the outset, Labor will support this legislation because it is good legislation. Whilst I am on my feet, I wish well not only to the organisers of the events that I referred to earlier on—the Asian Cup, the Cricket World Cup and the Commonwealth Games—that are coming up in the years ahead but also to all of the athletes who are in training for those events right now. If they are fortunate enough and good enough to compete in them, I wish them well with the events at the time.

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