Anthony Byrne (Holt, Australian Labor Party, Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you. One of the core elements that binds our community, and especially so in my electorate of Holt, is sport—unless of course you are a Collingwood supporter! A number of young families, particularly in my region, are involved in sport. It is not just important from a health point of view, and it is not only important because so many derive such great enjoyment from it; it is important because of the long-term bonds sport creates within families, throughout neighbourhoods, across suburbs and indeed across our country.

My electorate sometimes gets some pretty bad press about young people, particularly people like Corey Worthington, for example, and the parties he organises. But what a lot of the local media do not talk about is the great number of young people in our community that contribute not only in a community sense but also in a sporting sense. A number of young future sporting champions live in my electorate, people I am confident will become Olympians, Para-Olympians, tennis stars, football stars and netball professionals—it runs the whole gamut. Sport, particularly in the outer suburban areas, is a very important part of the local community.

I believe that the Rudd government has recognised how important sport is for our health and wellbeing and the bonds it creates within our communities. It is why as a government we have allocated over $3 million in the 2010-11 budget for the Local Sporting Champions program and are passionate about its success. The program gives young kids across Australia, including in my electorate of Holt, funding to pursue their sporting dreams. Funding for travel and accommodation costs so that they can go to an event they might not otherwise have been able to and for things like uniforms and sporting equipment is not something to take lightly in light of recent difficult economic circumstances.

One such young outstanding individual, Tara Cecil from Cranbourne, received some funding through this program recently, which enabled her to travel in New South Wales to represent Victoria at the schoolgirls netball championships. Not only was it an exciting experience; it gave her the opportunity to meet new people, make new friends and experience netball at its highest level. Having met Tara recently, I think her career trajectory is going to be a pretty strong one. The local sporting grant certainly helped that.

It is simple opportunities like that across the country and in my area that help bring us closer together and improve our health and wellbeing. This does not happen in a complex way but through the whole concept of sport, with parents gathered around the barbecue on a Saturday afternoon or protecting themselves from the cold winter breeze at their kids’ soccer matches, with families at the local footy club’s trivia nights and dinners and on the joint family holidays that inevitably flow from the friendships that these sorts of scenarios create. This is a great program, and I am glad that it is being continued into the next year. (Time expired)

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