Senate debates

Thursday, 16 August 2018

Questions without Notice

Sport

2:43 pm

Photo of Slade BrockmanSlade Brockman (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Sport, Senator McKenzie. I'm sure Senator Farrell will be very excited about this one. The coalition government has recently released Australia's first ever comprehensive sports plan, which will set Australian sport up for a vibrant and prosperous future. Can the minister update the government's plans for sport in Australia?

2:44 pm

Photo of Bridget McKenzieBridget McKenzie (Victoria, National Party, Minister for Regional Communications) Share this | | Hansard source

Thank you, Senator Brockman, for your question. As the Minister for Sport, teamwork makes the dream work. That means that federal, state and local governments and sporting organisations are all going to have to work together to achieve our dream to be the most active and healthy nation known internationally for our integrity and our sporting success.

Earlier this month, I released Sport 2030, which is a comprehensive strategy to increase participation across this nation in sport and physical activity, to refocus our high-performance effort across the country so that we ensure sporting excellence, strengthen our sports industry and safeguard our integrity in sport. What we want to see, as the Australian government, is more Australians more active more often, and not just because it's fun. The cost of inactivity across the country is $13 billion, and 80 per cent of young Australians are not getting enough physical activity for health benefits. It's good for your physical health, mental health and social cohesion. We've set an ambitious target to decrease physical inactivity by 15 per cent.

We're looking forward to receiving a business case from the AIS to redevelop and focus them as a 21st century high-performance institute meeting the needs of our elite athletes. We want to safeguard the integrity of sport, and we're considering the recommendations brought down by Justice Wood on sports integrity, wanting to minimise the disruption and the influence of organised crime and match fixing, not just at the elite but at the subelite level. He made 52 recommendations, which we're considering in detail. It's a comprehensive plan, and I look forward to working with the states to achieve it.

Photo of Scott RyanScott Ryan (President) Share this | | Hansard source

Senator Brockman, is there a supplementary question?

2:46 pm

Photo of Slade BrockmanSlade Brockman (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | | Hansard source

What is the government doing to support and develop grassroots sports in our community?

Photo of Bridget McKenzieBridget McKenzie (Victoria, National Party, Minister for Regional Communications) Share this | | Hansard source

Sport, as we all know, underpins our local communities. In regional Australia local clubs are more than just a sporting team—they are community leaders. In cities local sporting clubs provide that pivot point for developing networks and community in often busy and overcrowded suburbs. But our local clubs need facilities, not just for the future but right now. For example, as I've travelled around the country I've heard about the tsunami of increase of young women, in particular, on the back of our elite female athletes such as the Southern Stars, the Matildas, our AFLWs and Rugby Sevens. They are flooding into club-land, and we do not have the community infrastructure that those sporting clubs need to meet that increased demand from young women. That's why we've announced $30 million for local community sporting infrastructure, grants of up to half a million dollars for our local clubs to provide the essential infrastructure that they need to meet increasing demand.

Photo of Scott RyanScott Ryan (President) Share this | | Hansard source

Senator Brockman, is there a final supplementary question?

2:47 pm

Photo of Slade BrockmanSlade Brockman (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | | Hansard source

Can the minister outline the important role that sport plays for Australian jobs and the Australian economy?

Photo of Bridget McKenzieBridget McKenzie (Victoria, National Party, Minister for Regional Communications) Share this | | Hansard source

We're not just good at it on the court or in the pool; we're actually very good at sport right across the economy. We have a thriving sport and recreation industry which contributes $83 billion to our economy every year, employs over 220,000 Australians and adds three per cent to our GDP. We are also known worldwide for hosting high-quality sporting events so vital for tourism and business revenue. For every $1 we invest in sport in this country, we see a return of $7 to our local economy. Events such as the Australian Open contributed $280 million to the economy, with 80,000 people travelling from overseas to attend the event. But it is not just capital city and international events that benefit from sport tourism. The Blue Derby mountain bike trail in Tasmania added $15 million to their local economy. Enacting the Sports Plan will provide opportunities for jobs and growth right across the Australian economy.