Jamie Briggs (Mayo, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I welcome you, too. Please ignore what happens in question time.

I rise to speak this morning on two examples of the value of sport at different levels in my electorate and, I think, throughout the country. The first is the Active After-School Communities program, which is run by the federal government. It is a fantastic program which is very well run in my electorate by Indra and his crew. They do a fabulous job with young school children, introducing them to all sorts of different activities and sports, including recently at Norton Summit Primary School, where again I proved I do not have the balance to be a skateboarder.

The other aspect of sport in my electorate is local football. Of course, September in the southern states is a well-celebrated time with football finals. On Saturday we had our first grand final of the Hills league for the country division. We saw Torrens Valley play Kersbrook. It was a fabulous, very high quality game. Kersbrook were fortunate enough to win their second grand final in a row, which is a great achievement for that club. Kersbrook is small town in my electorate which is famous for apples, pears and cherries. Torrens Valley had only lost one game for the year, so, of course, they were inevitably disappointed with the result. However, they have had a fabulous year.

I wanted in particular to mention the contribution of the James brothers to the Kersbrook footy club. Members will remember Roger and Brett played quite a significant amount of AFL football for Port Adelaide and Adelaide, respectively. Roger played in the 2004 successful grand final with Port Adelaide; and Brett played in, I think, both the 1997 and 1998 grand finals for Adelaide. It is fantastic that they are willing to go back to local footy and contribute at the local level to this great country football league. What football is all about is represented there. Their games on Saturday were high-quality. It was a pleasure to watch from ground level two such superstars of the game display their wares even at an older age than when they may have been at their peak in the past. Their genuine excitement at the end of the game was a reflection of the contribution they are making. I congratulate both of them—and their brother Paul, who played quite a bit of league footy it South Australia as well. I congratulate the Kersbrook Football Club for winning the grand final.

I look forward to this Saturday, when we have the grand final of the Central Division of the Hills Football League. We have Uraidla, in my electorate—they are great people—versus those evildoers from Blackwood, represented by Dr Southcott in this place. Uraidla, I suspect, will pull through and be victorious. I will be there to watch that and hand out the shield. There is also a grand final in the Great Southern footy league, which is my area, where Strathalbyn will take on Amanda Rishworth’s Willunga. Again, Strathalbyn will, I am sure, come home with the goods. We look forward to celebrating country footy again this weekend.

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