Steve Irons (Swan, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Last week marked the conclusion of this season’s local community football competition in my electorate of Swan and I want to take the opportunity tonight to publicly congratulate all of the teams, players, umpires, coaches and supporters who helped make the season a success in the Demons District.

Last week in the Demons District Grand Finals, Queens Park and Victoria Park competed in the under-13s age bracket, South Perth and Thornlie battled it out in the under-14s, Lynwood-Ferndale competed against South Perth in the under-15s, and South Perth and Victoria Park played out the showpiece under-17s match.

We must recognise the umpires, who never have an easy time and get it wrong 50 per cent of the time, depending on which team you are supporting. I was pleased to sponsor the umpire of the year, Jeff Bassett, who umpired the blue-ribbon under-17s final magnificently with the 21-year-old association president, Daniel Gibbons. I also congratulate Chris Winters and Alex Freemantle, who umpired the under-14s final; Mark Cook and BJ Stalenhoef, who took control of the under-13s; and Alex Mafrici and Shaun Gilbert, who were chosen to umpire the Demons Youth League Grand Final. Without the umpires, we would not have a game. Well, maybe we would have a game but it would be more like TV ringside. I think we must give them a bit of credit and the recognition that they deserve.

Perth Football Club’s Lathlain Oval hosted the finals and provided an excellent playing surface and big crowds for the youngsters. The club is proud to host the finals, and the state MLA for South Perth, John McGrath, was heard to remark that there were more crowds at the junior finals than there are at normal WAFL games—a slight exaggeration but a comment designed to recognise all the families and friends who attended the junior finals. I also note that the member for Canning, who is in the chamber, was at the games over the weekend supporting his son and the South Perth team.

Perth Football Club is, of course, one of the oldest of the nine member clubs of the West Australian Football League. I played for East Perth in the 1980s. The club was formed in 1899 with the sole purpose of fielding a team in the Perth junior competition. The club has maintained this ethos and focus on junior sport for 100 years, and I have been pleased to continue this tradition in my role as the Director of Junior Development for Perth Football Club. While I am speaking about the finals, I would like to mention Luke Mann, who was from the South Perth under-17s club. Unfortunately, he got left out of the team last year and was very emotional about it, so this year he was picked in the team to play in the under-17s grand final and played in a winning premiership side. I congratulate him for that. I also want to mention Terry Murray, who was the district manager for the Perth Demons District junior competition for the last five years. He has been working tremendously for the district but has now finished his final year and he is retiring. I would like to recognise Terry Murray for the work he has done.

It is often tempting for governments to invest in the top end of sport, and there is a time and a place for doing so—for example, I have called for a rectangular stadium in Burswood for our 2018-22 FIFA World Cup bid. This stadium would be paid for from the economic boost that comes with holding the world’s biggest event and would have to be built only in the event of a successful bid. It would be a good investment in WA and in my electorate; however, most of the time investment in junior sport gets the best results. That is why I campaigned for the replacement of floodlights at the ground in 2007 before the last election.

Better facilities encourage more youngsters to play sport, building strong, healthy communities and ultimately creating state and national champions. I will continue to campaign for such investment in junior sport development in Swan and would love to see a centre of excellence at the Lathlain Oval, also known as EFTel oval, to provide support to all sports within the district, with a particular focus on youth.

Perth’s youth focus over the years has led to a number of club players being recognised at the highest levels of the game. Champion ruckman Merv McIntosh and master rover Barry Cable are both members of the AFL Hall of Fame. In 2004 they were also named as inaugural members of the WA Football Hall of Fame.

I briefly mentioned earlier the lights that I campaigned for in 2007, and I would like to take this opportunity to say that that was the first time I met Brendan Nelson, who was then minister for Defence. During that time, we presented some medals that he had re-minted to a gentleman called Fred Harper, whom I have spoken about in this place before. He was 100 years old and had his medals stolen from him. Brendan and I presented those medals to him at a very emotional ceremony. That was the first time I met Brendan and I found him to be a fantastic bloke. We then went on to the football club and announced some funding for lighting for the football club, which was badly needed and has since been installed. I am happy to say that the government of today has continued the commitment. I would like to congratulate Brendan on a great career.