Fiona Scott (Lindsay, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I would like to start today on this wonderful bipartisan motion we have here from the member for Lalor about what a wonderful opportunity it is to talk about netball and the Netball World Cup, which will be held in Sydney. I would also like to comment on all the wonderful scarves we see in the chamber today about 'go the Diamonds'.

A lot of people know about Western Sydney and they think it is the home of rugby league. But do you know what? There are more people playing netball. Netball is the number 1 sport in my region. In fact, rugby league comes in third.

The Netball World Cup is a wonderful competition. It is an opportunity to see the world's best netballers show their amazing feats of athleticism as they attempt to fight it out on the netball court for ultimate glory and to be the supreme netball team in the wold. This wonderful championship will be taking place at Sydney Olympic Park this month. The world cup occurs every four years, with the top 16 netball nations competing to be the best. Australia has a terrific record, having won 10 of the 13 world cup competitions.

Netball is a wonderful opportunity for so many women and young girls to learn all the wonderful things that teamwork is all about. I love hearing stories from my electorate about big, tough blokes like Mark Geyer being out there on a Saturday serving wedges of oranges to their daughters and cheering as hard for their daughters on a Saturday at the netball as they are for their boys that afternoon on the other field at Jamison Park. We have 32 asphalt courts at Jamison Park. It is a wonderful facility. We need only a few more, about four more, and we would have one of the bigger facilities in the state and continue to offer more championships.

It is wonderful to see the annual walk past and it is wonderful to see the participation of families from right across the district, getting into their local netball team. I am also proud to have delivered $90,000 to the Penrith District Netball Association to help upgrade their canteen facilities, and for shade, so that when families are off getting their food and refreshments for their long day at the netball they can do so in the shade and have good, clean facilities to get their food from.

The success of netball continues to grow in Western Sydney. It is wonderful to see that the Penrith Panthers are going to join the New South Wales Premier League. The New South Wales Premier League is made up of eight teams. The Penrith Panthers will be a team combining the Penrith, Blue Mountains and Hawkesbury netball associations to form one team. I would like to congratulate the Penrith Panthers rugby league team for their sponsorship of the netball team, to ensure that netball continues to be a wonderful success right through our region.

I also would like to congratulate new Panthers coach Lisa Beehag, Penrith Netball president Joy Gillett, Blue Mountains president Jenny Walker, Hawkesbury president Tracy Chalk, Ron and the Penrith Panthers for an exciting opportunity that will continue to help many young netballers in Lindsay achieve success on the court.

To add to the celebrations, Penrith local Paige Hadley will take the court in the world cup. Paige is a phenomenal young woman. Paige has overcome adversity from a severe knee injury to make it back to the national team. In speaking to Paige, she has said, 'I feel honoured and so privileged to be part of this once in a lifetime opportunity to play in my home town. I am proud to come from the west, in Penrith. Western Sydney has provided me with amazing sporting opportunities, and without these, and the support of my local community, I would not have been able to achieve these honours.'

Netball is Australia's leading female sport, and the Netball World Cup aids in helping to celebrate women in sport. For many women netball provides a fair, safe, inclusive, respectful and supportive environment, and I commend Netball Australia for promoting these positive attributes of the sport. They are also pivotal for developing and promoting positive women in sport, as well as good role models for future generations—a player like Paige, who, even in the darkest days of her injuries, was still out there supporting young players. I have just a few last comments to make: go Panthers, go the Swifts, go the Diamonds and go Paige Hadley.

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