Kate Lundy (ACT, Australian Labor Party, Minister Assisting for Industry and Innovation) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Thistlethwaite as I know he too is an avid lover of all sports and understands the power that it brings to strengthen our economic and trade ties with our Asian neighbours. The Gillard government's release of the Asian century white paper provides the opportunity to highlight the power of sport to bridge both language and cultural barriers and serve as a platform to serve our economic and trade relationships well.

Sport is a major contributor to the Australian economy, as I am sure most senators in this place are aware, and this will continue to grow, particularly as we move towards 2015 when Australia will host the Asian Football Cup and the Cricket World Cup. With a combined viewership of close to four billion people, the Asian Football Cup and Cricket World Cup will provide an amazing opportunity to showcase Australia. During the period of time when those events are on, it is expected that over 3,500 journalists will be here. They will travel to Australia, stay here for up to a month to cover these sports and produce many profiles of Australia and the cities that are hosting games across those two international events. I am sure they will give us great coverage in our region.

With seven out of our top 10 trading partners represented in the Asian Football Cup, this is a unique opportunity to make strong connections through sport and open doors to new markets, so there will be plenty of business going on during that event as well. Many sections of our economy stand to benefit from growing our sporting engagement with Asia and I am confident that these opportunities will help drive a new wave of growth, both in employment and prosperity, as we progress through the Asian century.