Luke Gosling (Solomon, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I don't know how long the member for Forde is going to be in the chamber, but I wanted to point out to all honourable members that we are launching Parliamentary Friends of Australian Motorsports tomorrow morning, out front, with a barbecue-and-coffee breakfast. We'll see you there. There are going to be heaps of cars and motorbikes to have your photo taken with. But I digress!

I do rise to join members in recognising the really valuable role that sport plays in this place. The Parliament House Sports Club, under the stewardship of Andy Turnbull, helps to promote sport, and fosters international linkages and friendships as part of a worldwide movement, particularly when it comes to connectedness with like-minded democracies. Sport really unites.

We see this in the cricket team that will be visiting the United Kingdom from our parliament, and then our rugby team will visit France this year to, hopefully, knock the Kiwis off, who may or may not have cheated in the final in Japan four years ago! For the record, I've no evidence of that! But we very much look forward to it. It's going to be held in Paris, a week before the actual Rugby World Cup. Teams from Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Africa, the UK, Ireland, France, Georgia, the European Parliament and, hopefully, the Pacific will be represented. Participants should include a prime minister, a foreign secretary, trade and defence ministers and many more—hard-hitting people, whether it's on or off the rugby field. Parliamentary rugby is just one example, among many other codes, of the power of sports diplomacy.

The first Parliamentary Rugby World Cup took place in 1995 in Cape Town, in South Africa. The tournament included an economic conference to discuss the inbound investment South Africa needed at the time. These games occurred only one year after Nelson Mandela's release. It was such an important event that the New Zealanders delayed the opening of their parliament by one week to attend. That is a great example to all of us. Most of South Africa's cabinet attended each event, it was seen as that important. The functions were hosted by former presidents Mandela and Mbeki. It was so popular because, as Nelson Mandela later said, 'Sport has the power to change the world. It has the power to inspire. It has the power to unite people in a way that little else does.' From those games in 1995 alone, 200 parliaments forged friendships on the pitch and in the conference room.

This is a very significant competition, and it will be no different in Paris this year, alongside the member for Wright and the member for Moreton. Also, in Japan a few years ago, we had the member for Hinkler. But many other MPs and senators have felt as I did in Japan: very, very proud to wear the uniform of our parliament. It's an incredible feeling to represent your country, even if it's the parliament, and to represent it in such a noble sport. In a previous contribution in this place, I noted that rugby is indeed the game that they play in heaven. I know that all our parliamentarians who play netball, golf, touch football, cricket, tennis or that other football, soccer, feel the same. For all people, there are huge benefits, both physical and mental, of playing sports, particularly in the workplace. I'm proud of everything that our government is doing in terms of sports diplomacy. It is a truly bipartisan effort—sports diplomacy and the parliamentary sports club.

Finally, I acknowledge the work of the parliamentary sports club with the veterans in Invictus Australia.

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