Sid Sidebottom (Braddon, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

With the end of winter, and a magnificent spring in the air, I am reminded of all the sports that were going on in my electorate during the winter. I mention in particular soccer, netball and basketball—and I am still an administrator of my basketball club. There are also Aussie rules football leagues and associations, hockey and all the myriad school sports. I want to thank all those that have been involved in the administration of these sports. I want to thank the sponsors, without whom a lot of these could not take place, as well as the parents and families of those that participated. I thank them for their support. There are also a huge number of volunteers and officials who help put these sports on the road and who help to contribute to a much healthier society.

I now look forward to the summer and particularly, in my beautiful region of Tassie, surf-lifesaving, swimming, athletics, equestrian events, cricket and softball, just to name a few. We look forward to this summer sporting period. As part of that, I would like to congratulate this government, which is soon to introduce the local sporting champions program, which is designed to help young people get to nationally recognised events and will help with their health and recreation future. (Time expired)