Tony Zappia (Makin, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

When speaking on the appropriation legislation on 2 June 2008, I referred to the Harpers Field and Tilley Reserve sporting facilities in the Makin electorate. These two facilities were both promised funding by the Howard government in the lead-up to last year’s federal election but the money was never delivered and, with respect to the Harpers Field promise, neither was a funding agreement ever drawn up, even though several months had passed after the funding promise had been made by the then Prime Minister in a media stunt that was clearly aimed at bolstering the Liberal Party vote in Makin. It is now clear that similar promises had been made to hundreds of other community groups around Australia.

Understandably the local community in Makin had their hopes built up about getting much needed funding for their facilities. Last Thursday, my office presented a petition to the House Standing Committee on Petitions, signed by some 4,500 people, calling on the federal government to provide funding for the Tilley Reserve and Harpers Field facilities. Once the petition has been cleared by the petitions committee, I will formally present it to the House.

On 28 May, I was advised by the office of the Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government that both the Harpers Field and Tilley Reserve facilities had been included in a list of 86 projects from around the country that were granted until 31 July to finalise funding negotiations and therefore be considered for funding. As the minister quite properly points out, local communities should not become victims of the Howard government’s Regional Partnerships funding program mess which, not surprisingly, was criticised by the Auditor-General and which was inherited by the Rudd government.

In raising this matter, I also want to speak briefly about the important role community sporting clubs play in the overall wellbeing of local communities. Through my long association with many local sporting clubs I see firsthand the extraordinary level of commitment by volunteer committee members, coaches, officials and club members. Frankly, these clubs would not exist without those volunteers but they need the financial assistance of all three levels of government to fund their buildings. I believe every dollar expended on local sporting facilities by governments is money well spent.

In recent months we have seen much public debate relating to binge drinking, obesity and social problems surrounding young people. Participation in sport is a practical way of responding to those issues. By doing so, young people engage in a healthy activity, they become responsible, disciplined and committed. They learn to work with others and develop their social skills. Those who work hard are inevitably rewarded with a personal sense of achievement either through being selected to a higher level of competition or through achieving personal goals.

Local sports groups build communities, community pride and often individual careers, yet many of these clubs are struggling to survive because of inadequate facilities, the rising cost of living and the ever-increasing competition for the recreation dollars spent by families. I have seen many talented young sportspeople drop out of their sports because of the costs associated with their continued participation. It is an absolute shame that those young people are not able to achieve their full sporting potential and equally society is denied the enjoyment of watching them at their best. Australia prides itself as a great sporting nation, and rightly so. Our sports men and women inevitably begin at local grassroots clubs and that is where more of our government recreation dollars should be targeted.