Rob Mitchell (McEwen, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Supporting your child to pursue their sporting dreams is a major commitment. It is not only a commitment of love and time—especially being the taxi—but of finances. The Local Sporting Champions program is an Australian government initiative to provide financial assistance for young people aged between 12 and 18 towards the cost of travel, accommodation, uniforms or equipment when competing, coaching or officiating at an official national sporting organisation endorsed state, national or international sporting championships or a School Sport Australia state or national championship. These grants are designed to support young people and their families because we know how much goes toward the ongoing and significant costs of participating in sporting events, particularly for kids based in regional areas. This is a joint effort between the Australian Sports Commission and the Gillard Labor government, and I can tell you that it is a very rewarding part of the job to be there and to be part of the process.

Recently I had the pleasure of recognising the fantastic skills of four of our local sporting champions, and also acknowledging the dedication and commitment of their parents and families. Each of these kids have put in 110 per cent to their chosen sport, and already show leadership qualities that will put them in good stead throughout their adult lives. Further rounds of these grants have opened and I am encouraging kids to apply and to tell their team mates about it.

Firstly there was Matthew Goodyear, who last year was selected in the under-15 schoolboys Victoria Metropolitan side to play in the national championships in Canberra. Matt went through a rigorous selection process of two rounds of trial games. To help fund the cost he sold $600 worth of raffle tickets. He has won the league medal and multiple junior best and fairests at club level. Most importantly, his mum, Rachel, supports his passion for the game that he loves to play every week.

Through seven years of persistence and training Jack Spargo was selected to represent Victoria at the FFA Futsal National Championships—indoor football—in Canberra last summer. Such is Jack's dedication that even in the off season, rather than go out with his mates, and without a coach, he creates his own fitness and training regime. While the cost was significant, Jack says he is proud have paid it, and I am proud to have the opportunity to pass on a bit of the government's financial support to him.

Stephanie Cope also represented Victoria at the 2012 FFA Futsal National Championships in Canberra as part of the girls Youth Ranger team. While Stephanie was unsuccessful in her first attempt to make the state team, she was an emergency player at her second try and her dedication to weekly skills development to improve her technique and skills paid off last year with her being selected. You can be very proud of proving yourself, Stephanie, and achieving what you have worked so hard for.

Zachary Pain represented Victoria at the 2011 National Youth Touch Football Championship on the Sunshine Coast. Zac's motivation in putting his application in was to ease the financial costs for his parents, to have the chance to go to a national level and to use that experience to help others in Victoria. On top of playing three nights a week and training two nights a week, Zac coaches juniors and referees two nights a week. I think that is a full seven nights a week that he is out with his sport. Now that is dedication, definitely.

All of these young champions have been recognised for their unbelievable commitment and achievement in their chosen sport at such a young age. The $500 grant acknowledges that young people often find it difficult to meet the ongoing and significant costs associated with participation at sporting competitions, particularly, as I said, those from regional areas. Not only is this recognition about the dedication of the young stars in their sporting endeavours but it is a note of thanks to the parents who actively support their child's dreams and make the many sacrifices needed to help them reach their full potential.

Recently, I was very proud to join students from Peter Lalor College to haul fibre in the National Broadband Network. Large-scale works on the NBN have begun in Victoria, with a new type of ribbon fibre cable being laid in South Morang, the first site in the country to receive this new fibre. It is great to see the NBN being rolled out here in our community to our homes and to our businesses. The NBN is a significant investment by the Gillard government in the future communications infrastructure of Australia. It will be to the 21st century what the copper phone line network was to the 20th. NBN will mean affordable, high-speed broadband to all Australians, no matter where people live or work.

The Peter Lalor College students, as part of a career work placement program run by Transfield Services and RMIT's School of Engineering, gained a real-life insight into the telecommunications sector. The students were on site to learn about the laying of the new fibre, participate in a fibre-hauling demonstration and observe fibre being spliced. The rollout in South Morang has seen construction underway in an area passing 7,700 homes and businesses, with a further 8,600 in the area scheduled to see construction commence as part of the NBN's three-year plan. This means that people will start to see the benefits very soon, and the project is generating jobs in our local community as well. The NBN in South Morang is another Gillard Labor promise that has been delivered for my community, and we look forward to it going right across the seat of McEwen.