Julie Collins (Franklin, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I would like to talk about a soccer club in my electorate that is going to benefit from this year’s federal budget. It is in the Kingborough municipality, which is one of the fastest growing council areas in Tasmania. It is no surprise that the district has a number of diverse sporting clubs and groups—one of these is the Kingborough Lions United Soccer Club, which now enjoys support from all tiers of government. The club is based at Lightwood Park on land provided by the local council. It is near the site of the soon-to-be-built Kingston High School. In 1998 two groups merged to form this club: Kingborough United and one of the longest serving clubs in the Tasmanian state soccer league, the Caledonian Soccer Club.

For a local soccer club, the Kingborough Lions United Soccer Club has a mighty impressive membership level. Each season the club fields around 45 teams, ranging from the under-sixes to the men’s and women’s premier leagues. In addition to a large number of social members, the club also boasts over 600 registered members, and the club’s performance speaks for itself. The Kingborough Lions United Soccer Club’s men’s premier league finished second in both 2005 and 2006 and several club members are also regularly chosen to compete in teams at various levels of the competition.

During the federal election campaign, Labor pledged $10,000 to improve the soccer club’s training facilities. This was part of a $65,000 announcement which included $35,000 for the Huon Valley Council to build a gymnasium at Cygnet, $10,000 for two cricket nets at Rokeby Cricket Club and $10,000 to purchase equipment for ladies resistance training classes at the Port Huon Sports Centre. These government sport and recreation grants will provide funding to improve sporting facilities and infrastructure in my electorate. This funding is part of the Rudd government’s commitment to grassroots sports.

At Kingborough the money will go towards lighting and drainage for the club’s new training ground. Last weekend it was my pleasure to accompany my colleague the Minister for Health and Ageing, the member for Gellibrand, on a tour of the local soccer club, and we met some of the young players. We did not use our skills on the field but we did have the tour, which was hosted by the club’s president, Mr Brian Dale. It gave us the opportunity to see firsthand where this federal funding will be going. Both the minister and I were also the proud recipients of Kingborough Lions spray jackets bearing the soccer club’s logo.

I am really thrilled that federal Labor has been able to support this local success story. The Kingborough Lions United Soccer Club does worthwhile work in the community promoting an active and healthy lifestyle for its 600-odd members. The club’s strong focus on young players is commendable and it goes a long way towards meeting the challenges of ensuring local children are given the opportunity to keep active and participate in team sports. It is always rewarding to see the local council, the state government and the federal government support such deserving initiatives. (Time expired)