Kelly O'Dwyer (Higgins, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to table a petition that clearly resonates deeply within the Australian community. This is evidenced by the number of signatures that we received—over 37,374—with thousands more still coming in, which will be presented next year. Lawn bowls plays a vital role in the community, especially in our rural communities. It allows people of all ages to remain active in both a social and competitive environment. A healthy body and mind lead to a healthy life.

It should be noted that lawn bowls does not appeal just to senior members of our community. A Sunday afternoon at the local lawn bowls club is fast becoming a social and cultural norm for generation X and Y. Since the advent of the Active After-school Communities program under the coalition government and sports minister Senator the Hon. Rod Kemp, the passion for lawn bowls has also been ignited in many schoolchildren.

Lawn bowls is not only one of the highest participation sports in the country, with over 800,000 people participating each year, but also one of the most viewed sports. The Moama International Tri Series on 28 May 2011 was viewed by around 500,000 people nationally. More than 200,000 people view bowls each week on the ABC. These viewer numbers do not warrant its cancellation after 30 years of very solid results. In my view the ABC's decision to cancel bowls runs contrary to its obligations under the charter.

Two months ago, as a director of Bowls Australia, I helped launch this important petition to get bowls back on the ABC at my local club, the Malvern Bowling Club, with my friend and colleague the Hon. Bronwyn Bishop, shadow minister for seniors, and also with the Chairman of Bowls Australia, Joe Aarons OAM, and CEO Neil Dalrymple. We were joined by Commonwealth bronze medal champion Barrie Lester, who, at age 29, recounted to us the story of how his interest in the sport of lawn bowls was born out of watching it on the ABC. This is just further evidence of the importance of broadcasting lawn bowls on free-to-air TV if we want to encourage the next generation of champions in this country.

Before I hand over to my colleague Bronwyn Bishop to speak about the importance of the ABC charter, I present these 37,374 signatures in this petition to the House.

The petition read as follows—

To the Honourable The Speaker and Members of the House of Representatives

This petition of Australian citizens draws the attention of the House to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's decision to cancel its broadcasting of lawn bowls on free-to-air television.

We ask that the House support the immediate reinstatement of lawn bowls on the ABC.

from 37,374 citizens

Petition received.

Mrs Bronwyn Bishop (Mackellar, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Seniors) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Higgins and I are sharing this five-minute spot because we engaged in this joint venture to present these 37,000 signatures, and they are just for starters as they are still coming in. There are another 5,000 signatures for the next time we bring a bunch along. In my own electorate there are 1,200 that came in, and that number is growing.

The point is that the ABC has a voluntary charter. Section 6 of the act says that the ABC should broadcast:

… programs that contribute to a sense of national identity and inform and entertain, and reflect the cultural diversity of, the Australian community …

Getting rid of bowls off the ABC will mean that the ABC will not be fulfilling its charter. This is a very serious issue, because it is obliged under the charter to pay attention to the fact that there is no other channel broadcasting lawn bowls, yet 800,000 people are participants in this sport. It is one of the largest participating sports in Australia.

When I looked at the charter of the ABC, of course, I looked at it in the sense that it is not binding on the ABC. It is not something they have to comply with; it is something that they are meant to be guided by. I think this begs the question: are we moving to a time when the ABC needs to have a binding charter, where it must honour its obligations to let all sections of the community have exposure in the sense that their sport or their cultural activity is something that otherwise would not share in that broadcasting medium?

We heard the story of the young player who was a bronze medal winner, who told us that he had become interested in lawn bowls because he had watched it on the ABC. I subsequently found this was not an uncommon story. There is enjoyment for young people and we now have after-school programs where young people are engaging in bowls and enjoying the sport. They may grow up to become participating and competing members, which means it is one of those sports where everybody can compete. Young and old together can be part of the same team or they can be competing against each other. It is one of those sports that truly unite people in a common activity.

For that reason we simply say to the ABC, 'You must put lawn bowls back on the television.' It has been there for 30 years. At the end of that to get a letter to say, 'By the way, we think we've had enough of you; we're not going to have you anymore,' just will not do. It was a curt and discourteous letter and the attitude to lawn bowls is also discourteous. More particularly, it is a breach of that charter and we must see lawn bowls come back to the screen.