Madonna Jarrett (Brisbane, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Sport is a powerful tool for building community, reducing loneliness and enabling social cohesion. It creates a sense of belonging and helps foster relationships across different social, cultural and age groups. Sport promotes core values, such as fair play, teamwork, respect and tolerance. Through sport we learn confidence, strength, leadership and, importantly, resilience.

I was an avid sportsperson growing up; in fact, I still am—I have the proof of that at the moment. The pool, the police club, the park and the school, with its athletics and swimming sessions, were my hangout places. As a swimmer and a lifesaver who trained five days a week, I slept in sandy beach beds and rejoiced at states and nationals—boy, did I learn a lot!

In less than a decade, Brisbane will host the biggest sporting event in the world: the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Queensland has a really proud sporting history. We've produced the King, Madam Butterfly and Cathy, the Golden Girl—three greats from my era. But the games are more than a sporting contest. They will provide many opportunities to enrich and strengthen our community.

As are other electorates around the country, Brisbane, luckily, is home to many amazing sports clubs, such as the Valley District Cricket Club in Ashgrove. Valley District Cricket Club was established in 1897 and is one of Queensland's oldest clubs and one of the largest cricket clubs in Australia, boasting 1,600 players. Alongside Senator Chisholm, it was great to make an announcement last year committing $2.7 million towards the indoor facilities as the club looks to cater to more young players, men and women, across Brisbane. I recently had the pleasure of joining Dan and Carl from the club onsite for a tour of the grounds and a look at the proposed plans. I really do acknowledge the great work the club does for the community and its players, and I look forward to seeing how the project progresses.

Brisbane City Football Club in Newmarket is one of the fastest growing soccer clubs in Brisbane. With Amelia, Joe and Michael at the helm and with a very impressive academy development program—not to mention a great pizza oven!—Brisbane City Football Club is not only producing champions but is a natural place for locals to come together and enjoy the community. Labor recently committed funding for a female change facility at this large local Brisbane football club. Finally, the girls will have the same facilities as the boys. This is more than just a building; it's recognition that women in sports matter, and sports matter for women. The 50 or so players that joined me the morning that we made the announcement were so excited. They told me that this means more girls will join their community and it will grow. You never know, there might be a future Matilda or two in the making.

Then there's Norths hockey club at Dorrington Park in Ashgrove. I recently joined local state member Jonty Bush there for the 2026 sign-on day. Alongside Adam and the team, we worked the barbecue, cooking the snags and preparing the sausage sangers. It's a social, inclusive and family oriented club that has teams for boys, girls, women and men of all ages, skill levels and experience. If you're looking for a sport to maybe help you keep fit or make friends for life, this could be one.

There's Gibson Park in Stafford. Gibson Park is under the steady leadership of Steve and Tony. They host Stafford District Cricket Club and Brothers Leagues Club, alongside other teams across Brisbane. These grounds are important because they provide a safe space to play and for players to meet up with their mates. During the election I committed $350,000 for the installation of new lights, which will improve the conditions for players and other participants, as well as improving safety while training and for competition. It will enable a wider variety of sports to be played on the field, opening up the facilities to potentially more activities and to a much more diverse group of participants. This commitment will also support the park's water infrastructure. It will double its capacity, reducing operating costs and saving water, which is very important to our environment, as well as helping to improve the playing surface.

Everyone needs their group—their peeps, people they can count on, people who inspire them and people they can learn from. Sport provides one avenue for this. Our government is proud to support sporting clubs across the Brisbane electorate. When we invest in sport not only do we inspire the next generation of leaders, teammates and champions but we strengthen the social fabric that holds our community together.

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