Natasha Griggs (Solomon, Country Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

It is always good to hear women's sport being discussed in this place, and it is particularly significant to see this motion on netball before the House tonight. A few weeks ago representatives from Netball Northern Territory met with me at my electorate office to talk about netball. The fantastic ladies in the Territory Storm, which is the Northern Territory's netball team, face some significant hurdles in engaging with the national competition. The team represents the entire Northern Territory, so some of the members live in Alice Springs, which is some 1,500 kilometres away from Darwin. In the 2013-14 financial year NT Netball received $30,000 in federal funding and $50,000 from the Northern Territory government. At first this may seem like a lot of money, but let us do some comparison work. The Territory Storm participates in a seven-week national competition every year. This means the team will have to travel to another capital city three or four times a year. In airfares alone the girls rack up around $50,000 annually—and this is before they have paid for their coaches, for the facilities, for match and training venues or for any of the thousands of expenses associated with a sports team, such as insurance or uniforms.

Compare this, if you like, to the Northern Territory Thunder. I am a big supporter of the Northern Territory Thunder—I need to say that from the outset—but let us compare the funding the Northern Territory Thunder boys get in comparison to the Territory Storm girls. The Territory Thunder get $800,000, compared to $80,000 for the females. It does not seem exactly right. I do not begrudge the Thunder's success; they are an awesome team of football players. They are a dedicated and professional group who work to the best of their ability and go up against some of the best in the country—but so do our Territory Storm. While the Thunder has attracted high-profile sponsorship and government funding, the Territory Storm are struggling to keep their heads above water.

I want to use this opportunity to congratulate everyone involved in the ANZ cup on their success. I also want to use this as my soapbox to press for proper funding for Northern Territory netball, for the Territory Storm and, more broadly, for women's sport. In many fields of life, including sports, academics and vocational training, we talk about creating pathways. A student who is struggling in school needs to be able to see a way forward. It keeps them motivated; it keeps them engaged. In sport it is the same. For the boys and girls playing sport in the Northern Territory, having an elite team to aim for will keep the kids involved. It will keep them healthy and active. It will teach them the skills of teamwork and self-discipline. The Territory Storm is the elite pathway for girls playing netball in the Northern Territory. Every dollar we invest in women's sport creates a dividend for society as a whole. My friend Shelley who has taken over as the executive officer for Netball NT deserves a medal. I want the netball players in the Territory to know that we will be taking up the case for the Territory Storm here in Canberra. I cannot guarantee that we will be able to get all the money but I can guarantee that people will start to hear about the Territory Storm and the need for extra funding for the Territory Storm.

I urge all members of this place to look at the participation rates for women and girls in sport and to look at the steep decline in those rates compared to those of men. Women's sports should no longer be the forgotten cousins of the men's leagues. Look at the Diamonds and the role models they have provided. I think they are fantastic ambassadors and that there are women from the Territory Storm who could one day be Diamonds.

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