Graham Perrett (Moreton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Early Childhood Education, Childcare and Youth and the Minister for Sport. Will the minister update the House on the progress of Australia’s bid to host the FIFA World Cup?

Kate Ellis (Adelaide, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Early Childhood Education, Childcare and Youth) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I take this opportunity to thank the member for Moreton for his question. I also note that the member for Moreton’s five-year-old son, Stan, has just started playing soccer, and we certainly hope that, if all goes to plan, little Stan might have the chance to play in the big league on home soil in days to come.

I am really pleased to advise the House that we now find ourselves at crunch time in terms of Australia’s efforts to host the 2018 or 2022 FIFA World Cup, with our bid being formalised this week. On Friday in Zurich, Australia will not only lodge the official World Cup bid book but also have the opportunity to provide our first presentation to the FIFA executive committee on the case for why Australia is the best place in the world to host this enormous sporting event.

I can inform the House of another milestone in the bidding process, where just recently we have seen the successful completion of a memorandum of understanding between the Australian government, the AFL, Cricket Australia, the ARU, the NRL and the FFA in respect of this bid. This agreement covers a number of areas and includes costs associated with any code displacement, a guarantee for seasons continuity and an agreement to minimise the disruption to any other of our Australian codes.

It has previously been noted internationally that one of the real strengths of the Australian bid has been the bipartisan political support and the support at the level of the Australian government as well as from our state and territory governments. But, on top of this, the completion of the MOU in the past week is a clear indication that this bid is also supported by a united sporting community. I would like to acknowledge the efforts and contributions of all those who were involved in the negotiations and thank the leaders of Australian sport for getting behind this important bid.

Whilst now the very hard work begins, this is a pivotal time in the bid process, and it shows that a huge amount has already been achieved. The bid has been finalised, our pitch has been prepared, negotiations have been conducted between the state and territory governments, understandings have been reached with the major Australian sports and the case has been finalised for bringing the World Cup to Australia. I have noted the opposition’s support, and I note the Leader of the Opposition once more in stating that we are very clearly saying to the international community that both sides of Australian politics are very much behind that.

All this would not have been achieved if it were not for the hard work and determination of Frank Lowy and the FFA, the cooperation of other sports, commitments from our state and territory governments and also the dedicated efforts of people like Jeff Dixon and Ron Harvey, who have been assisting in negotiations. I take this opportunity to thank our tireless World Cup task force led by Richard Eccles, all of whom I commend to the House, because now we get to the business end of this: the lobbying and convincing the world that there is no better place than right here in Australia. We are absolutely in this to win it, and that is the message that Australia will send very clearly both when we present in Zurich on Friday and also constantly until the decision is made in December.

Whilst on the topic of the bid, I would like to very quickly congratulate the boys who were named earlier today in the Socceroos team to play in South Africa in just a few weeks time. This, of course, is an enormous honour, and I know that we all wish them all very best for a strong preparation. I would like to reiterate to all sports lovers in Australia and the international football movement that Australia is very, very serious in this endeavour. We are in it to win it. We know that there is no better place on the planet to host major sporting events, and we will absolutely be going all out to convince the rest of the world of that.

Steven Ciobo (Moncrieff, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Youth and Sport) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, on indulgence: I associate the opposition with the remarks of the Minister for Sport. We are certainly supportive of the hard work done by Richard Eccles, Frank Lowy and the FFA for the 2018 and 2022 bids, and we wish them all the very best.