Jane Prentice (Ryan, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise today to recognise and pay tribute to all the aspiring young sporting stars in my electorate of Ryan and to highlight the ways our government is encouraging participation in sport and assisting these young athletes to meet their goals. Involvement in sport has always been a way of life in Australia, but with the rise in technology we are seeing a decline in young Australians' physical activity.

There are a number of ways our government is encouraging active living and participation in sport as well as encouraging assistance for young people to ensure that they can achieve their goals. The Australian government, through its annual $3.14 million Local Sporting Champions program, allocates grants of $500 to successful applicants. These grants can be put towards the cost of travel, accommodation, uniforms or equipment.

The most recent local sporting champion to my electorate include Austen Callahan and Ethan Zeelie for cricket; Callum McCarthy, Carly Hess and Jayden Lilley for athletics; Connor Adcock and Cailan Burchmann for hockey, Lachlan Donchak for rowing; Ryan Woodrow for baseball, Connor Leggett for skiing and Dominic Fielden for swimming. Congratulations to these athletes. They are to be commended for such dedication and commitment.

Another Ryan local achieving her sporting dreams is Charlotte van Gerwen, who is with us in the chamber today. Charlotte's chosen sport is diving, and she recently moved to the ACT from my electorate for her father's job, but I am told she will be back to represent Ryan and Queensland next year. Charlotte represented the ACT at the Pacific School Games in Adelaide in November 2015 and was also selected to represent the ACT at the national schools competition. Charlotte's long-term goal is the Tokyo Olympics in 2020, and I wish her the best of luck. We will all be cheering for her.

We have some excellent sporting and aspiring athletes, and the federal government is committed to continuing Australia's reputation as a great sporting nation. We are doing this with two initiatives. The Girls Make Your Move campaign encourages young Australian women to exercise and be physically active, and the Sporting Schools program, which is part of the coalition government's preventive health initiative, aims to get more students involved in physical activity. Many schools in my electorate of Ryan are taking part, and I am sure we will see the development of many more up-and-coming young athletes like the ones I have mentioned.

While we are on the subject of aspiring sports stars, I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate some of the members of the Ryan electorate who have qualified for the 2016 Australian Olympic swimming team: Madi Wilson, Jake Packard, Bronte Barratt and Cate and Bronte Campbell. I wish them all the best for success in Rio.

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