Ms Catherine King (Ballarat, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Treasury) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Sport lies at the heart of the Australian community. Thankfully, up until now, all Australians have been able to share major sporting events such as the AFL grand final or the Australian Open on our free-to-air television. These are not just sporting events but are a part of our national identity and culture. We have only to look at the success of the world cup telecast earlier this year, where we all saw the unprecedented success of the Socceroos, and there was unprecedented interest in soccer by our entire nation. The whole nation shared the roller coaster ride because it was free to air. Young Australians were able to watch new heroes develop, and older Australians were able to see their dream of once again seeing Australia play in World Cup soccer.

Thanks to this government, the Australian public will not see the Socceroos qualifying games on free-to-air television in the lead-up to the next World Cup. Soccer has a large following in the electorate of Ballarat, which is growing with each season. Not surprisingly, I have been contacted by a number of constituents who are upset about this matter. We have 11 clubs in my electorate and the popularity of the game is growing, with the new Total Girls soccer tournament attracting over 100 young women under the age of 14 into playing this sport.

Games in qualifying rounds used to be protected from competition, with pay TV being used on an ad hoc basis. Despite the ongoing calls of the Australian Broadcasting Authority that they be properly protected by being placed on the antisiphoning list, that has not happened with this particular issue. The ABA has recommended to the government that each international soccer match involving the senior Australian representative team and the senior representative team of another country be protected. The government has continued to ignore the growing and unwavering public demand to see our Socceroos engage in international competition. The Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts was so dismissive of Australian soccer and so dismissive of Australians’ love for the game that she did not even bother to include the 2010 World Cup on the antisiphoning list until she was subject to intense pressure. Yet she has not included all of the qualifying matches on the anti-siphoning list. Any people who wish to watch the qualifying matches—and many people in my electorate do—will not be able to do so.

I call on the minister and the Howard government to explain to Australian soccer fans how they can consider so many Australians’ primary sporting interest to be so unimportant. I will be launching a petition in my electorate next week to get the minister to change her mind on this issue. If the minister does not deem international soccer matches to be of national and cultural importance, then people in my electorate will certainly signal to her that they do. I want to conclude with a quote from one of my constituents, who says:

... like most low-income students ... we can’t afford pay T.V and will be unavailable to watch all ... Australians make history in their key sporting events.

Shame, Minister! (Time expired)