Lisa Chesters (Bendigo, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

One of the joys of this job for all local MPs is to recognise our local sporting champions with Local Sporting Champions scholarships and grants that come from the federal government. It has existed for quite a number of years now to support young people in their pursuit of sport. In my electorate, being a regional electorate, people can receive a grant of between $600 and $950, depending on how far they have to travel and where they are travelling to.

Like many regional electorates, Bendigo is blessed with many successful young people in a variety of sports. I'm pleased to stand here today to say that at our most recent award ceremony we recognised seven successful recipients from round 1 of the 2025-26 sports grants. Some of them have previously been acknowledged as well. As I said at the event, rarely are our young sporting champs brilliant once; quite often they are brilliant over and over again. At the ceremony I also acknowledged the dedication and commitment from family—quite often mum and dad driving them down the Calder to do the training required for them to compete.

I'd like to give a special mention to young superstars like Harriet Caldwell, who is doing great things in wheelchair basketball. Not only is she achieving at that elite level but she is also a para sports star. Congratulations, Harriet, on what you are doing not just for your sport, for your community, but for young people with disability. You are an inspiration.

I also wish to give a special shout-out to our swimming sports stars and champions, Matthew Skewes and Zarah Reynolds. To be good at swimming in an electorate like Bendigo is phenomenal. It's cold for huge chunks of the year in our electorate—it was snowing in Maldon on Monday, just to demonstrate how cold it can get—so to have that commitment to get up on those cold mornings and to do your swim training is phenomenal. Matthew is actually from one of the newest parts of the electorate that came in at the last redistribution, Pyalong. Again, he's overcoming the tyranny of distance just to get to training. Congratulations to Matthew and Zarah.

The opportunity to participate in local sport is big in regional electorates. Whether it be football, netball, some of the more engaged sports like basketball or dancesport or lawn bowls, there are a myriad of opportunities for young people to engage. It's great for mental health, it's great for better community, it's great for sportsmanship and it's great for giving young people opportunities. Congratulations to everyone who has been successful, and to those who will be successful in the future.

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