Sharon Claydon (Newcastle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise today to speak in support of the Major Sporting Events (Indicia and Images) Protection Bill 2014. In essence, this bill is intended to protect major sporting event sponsorship and licensing revenue from being undermined by unauthorised commercial use of event indicia and images associated with the following events: the Asian Football Confederation Asian Cup 2015, the International Cricket Council Cricket World Cup 2015 and the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games.

It is worth noting at the outset that this bill is indeed consistent with the approach taken by previous governments when they legislated to protect the indicia and images of the 2000 Sydney Olympics and 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games through the Sydney 2000 Games (Indicia and Images) Protection Act 1996, 'the Sydney games act', and the Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games (Indicia and Images) Protection Act 2005, respectively.

The most significant difference between the 2014 bill and the previous legislation is in the drafting style. The 2014 bill before us is designed as a generic piece of legislation, which can be amended to apply to future sporting events by the insertion of new schedules. Each of the three new schedules in the 2014 bill have limited dates of application—they will cease to have effect within one year of the relevant sporting event. The legislation itself will not need to be repealed. This approach makes good sense.

Australia has a well-earned reputation for hosting major sporting events and I am sure our hosting of the Asian Football Confederation Asian Cup, the International Cricket Council Cricket World Cup and Gold Coast Commonwealth Games will only enhance that reputation. We have proudly hosted two Olympic Games, one Paralympic Games and four Commonwealth Games. We have also hosted the Rugby League World Cup four times, the Rugby World Cup twice and the Cricket World Cup once. We have an excellent reputation for hosting the very big sporting events. Who can forget the words of the then IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch at the closing ceremony of the Sydney Olympics in 2000 when he said:

I am proud and happy to proclaim that you have presented to the world the best Olympic Games ever.

My own electorate of Newcastle has also proudly hosted major sporting events in the past and is very keen to host a number of games in the 2015 AFC Asian Cup in January next year. Newcastle will host two qualifying-round matches, a semi-final and the third/fourth play-off match of the Asian Cup with some of the most supportive and passionate sporting fans in the country filling our fantastic Hunter Stadium, which is now capable of hosting international events like these—thanks to $10 million of funding from the former Labor government, I might add.

Novocastrians will warmly welcome the players and supporters of Japan, Oman, Kuwait and other nations as they make their way to Newcastle. It is no surprise that Newcastle was selected to host these fixtures as our sporting tradition and history of hosting successful large sporting events is as strong as the broader nation's.

We are proudly home to some of Australia's greatest sporting legends: the internationally renowned surfer Mark Richards; wheelchair athletes Kurt Fearnley and Christie Dawes; rugby league immortal Andrew Johns; and Liverpool Football Club's Craig Johnston to name just a few. We are also home to some of our next generation of sporting champions like Australian Junior Futsal representative Riley Parker, who is set to play on the international stage in coming months. I wish him and his Australian team well and look forward to following their matches abroad.

As previously mentioned, Newcastle's history of hosting successful major sporting events is rock solid. Most recently, in December last year, Newcastle hosted the Special Olympics Asia Pacific Games. This was the first time this event had been held in Australia and Newcastle excelled itself. Some 2,000 competitors from 30 nations, as well as 600 officials and coaches, called Newcastle home for a week of competition. The game's opening ceremony was attended by almost 15,000 people and the week-long competition was supported by more than 5,000 local volunteers, all of whom ensured the smooth running of the games. Everyone was made welcome in Newcastle and the capacity of sport to bring people together in the spirit of goodwill and healthy competition was demonstrated for all to see.

Newcastle has also successfully hosted the Australian Transplant Games, the Australian University Games, the Indigenous Rugby League Festival, rugby league and union international test matches and a visit from a major international soccer team, the LA Galaxy, in recent times. The success of each of these events is built from government and corporate sector funding and support. These events could not happen without funding and support from commercial partners, so it is right that these partners are protected from ambush marketers and counterfeiters. The protections offered through this bill not only support the commercial funding for the events but also help to build their lasting legacy.

Our memories of the Sydney Olympic Games are entrenched with the outstanding performances of athletes like Cathy Freeman, Susie O'Neill, Michael Diamond, Ian Thorpe and my Labor colleague Senator Nova Peris. But the games are also remembered, by children in particular, for Syd the platypus, Millie the echidna and Olly the kookaburra. Without the protections that were legislated for the games, we might have had all sorts of counterfeit and copy mascots being sold through association with the games, diluting our memories and putting at risk future commercial investment in major sporting events.

Labor supports the sensible protections in the bill provided by the commercial benefit test that applies to the use of material. Restrictions will apply to unlicensed commercial use of the protected indicia and images. The aim of this test is to prevent an unauthorised user from applying the protected indicia and images to suggest a formal association with the events. Labor also supports the exceptions in the bill that will, for example, recognise existing commercial arrangements, allow the use of indicia and images for the purpose of criticism and review, and allow an athlete to make factual statements about their own achievements.

As touched on earlier, major sporting events also rely on significant government funding and support to take place. It is not just funding for specific events, it is grassroots funding for young athletes, coaching programs and elite athlete pathways. It is government funding for stadiums, venues and governing bodies. Labor has a proud history of supporting sport through various funding arrangements and other mechanisms. Federal Labor supported the redevelopment of Hunter Stadium with a $10 million investment. Without that investment, coupled with the strategic investments of the then NSW Labor government, Newcastle would not be able to host events like the AFC Asian Cup.

While you could argue until you are blue in the face about where and how governments should fund sport, it is vital that sport is supported by government in a coordinated fashion. Last night's budget cut nearly $23 million from the Australian Sports Commission, which will no doubt have an impact on the programs they offer. The Sports Commission, established under the Hawke Labor government in 1985, is recognised as a world leader in the development of high-performance sport and sports participation. Their services are broad and include high-performance coaching, sport science, facility management, education and resource provision, as well as sports participation development and delivery of funding programs to national sporting organisations.

One of the most important community programs the Australian Sports Commission runs is the Active After-school Communities program, which provides primary school children with access to free sport and other structured physical activity programs in the after-school timeslot. I know this is a very well-loved and well-supported program in my community in Newcastle. The program has previously been provided with $39.4 million from the Labor government. It is a program that helps kids stay active, it comes at no direct cost to parents and it helps to support families that are now under siege from this government's budget.

Junior sport is not cheap at the participation or elite level and cuts to programs like the Active After-school Communities program could force children into a more sedentary and unhealthy lifestyle. A recent Newcastle Herald article said that the cost of junior sport in Newcastle for a 12-year-old is up to $800 every year. Riley Parker, the young Futsal player I mentioned earlier, competes at the elite level and is having to find nearly $3,500 to travel with the national team.

I would hope that all governments would see the value of supporting, rather than hindering, families with kids competing in junior sport. Families sacrifice a lot to enable their children to compete on the national and international stage. They deserve our support.

Last night's cuts come on top of the reversal of more than $17 million in funding for the sporting communities initiative in the MYEFO, which was to support the upgrade of facilities at local sporting clubs. It was a program with a huge impact on local communities. Interestingly, one line item of sport funding for a facility upgrade that has not been scrapped is the $10 million dedicated for an upgrade to Brookvale Oval. Brookvale Oval is the home of the National Rugby League's Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles, but it also just happens to be the Prime Minister's team and in his electorate.

Notwithstanding these cuts to sport, there is bipartisan support for this bill and a bipartisan recognition of the significance of major sporting events both socially and economically to the Australian people, so I commend this bill to the House.

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