Joanne Ryan (Lalor, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That this House:

(1) places on record that the:

(a) recently completed 2015 ANZ Championship has taken on new importance on the Australian sporting calendar;

(b) ANZ Championship cross Tasman competition has been significant in increasing the profile of the sport through live television coverage and internet streaming; and

(c) Netball World Cup is happening in Sydney throughout August, involving 16 international teams in 64 matches over 10 days at Sydney Olympic Park; and

(2) congratulates:

(a) the Australian Diamond players, coaching and medical staff on their preparation and performance in this tournament;

(b) the Trans Tasman Netball League for the innovations they have delivered to netball;

(c) the International Netball Federation; and

(d) Netball Australia for its impact in boosting the profile of women in sport, providing its members with valuable leadership skills and supporting world class athletes.

I rise tonight to speak to this Private Member's Business motion to support and to celebrate the fact that the world championships in netball are happening in Australia, as I stand in the chamber this evening. The International Netball Federation and Netball Australia are hosting the international championships, the world cup of netball, in Sydney. This has been running since 1963. It is an absolute celebration for those of us who love the sport of netball and for those of us who grew up playing the sport of netball. The level of competition that we are watching at home on our television screens or at the stadium in Sydney is absolutely exemplary. A lot of that goes to the ANZ championships that have been run trans-Tasman by Australia and New Zealand over the last few years. The standard of netball has improved exponentially. The professionalism of the elite athletes that we are seeing on display is extraordinary. I want to mark this and mark it in a very special way.

As a young girl who played netball, it was not within my purview to watch even a state team play a game of netball. I grew up with my brothers watching their heroes every week on our television screen, playing football or cricket. For me, maybe a small segment of the Herald Sun wouldcover the state championships or the national championships. I look at the young girls I coach today and hear, as I did last Saturday morning, the excitement in their voices that they can see their heroes, those girls, on court, on national television. It is extraordinary.

I also want to comment on what was an incredible welcome to country at the opening ceremony. What an opening ceremony! The welcome to country was performed Marcia Ella-Duncan—someone I remember seeing play and someone I admired as a player. There was such poise, such grace, such integrity in that fine welcome to country, which was then followed by some dancing. For me, the most important event of the evening at the opening was the song Who run the world? Girls. That was the highlight for me, and I am sure it was the highlight for many young girls around the country.

It would be negligent of me not to congratulate the women who lead the administration of netball internationally. It would be negligent of me not to acknowledge the women and men who umpire, coach and play netball. I see the member for Moreton in the chamber, and we know what a great netballer he is.

I would also like to make some personal points about the game of netball. It is a unique game. It takes a whole team to move the ball down the court. It takes a whole team to deliver on the strategy. But, most of all, it is musical. It is rhythmic. It is brutal at times but it is beautiful. It is like jazz music—each player forming a riff as they move for the take and the pass of the ball, and the next player adding to that music and taking their own pitch to it. It is a delight to watch netball on Saturday morning at the Rex Centre in Werribee. It is an absolute delight to watch the international competition that is occurring on our shores at the moment.

I would encourage all in this parliament and all across the country to get behind the world cup of netball and to get behind the ANZ Championship. Get tweeting NWC2015. That is your hashtag. Get tweeting and support our girls. With the member for Rankin in front of me—particularly the member for Rankin—members around me and other members who are also wearing scarves as they come into the chamber, it would be remiss of me not to mention the fabulous, the glorious, the wonderful Laura Geitz, Captain of the Queensland Firebirds, obviously, but, more importantly, Captain of the Australian Diamonds. This woman is an absolute role model to young girls across this country in the way in which she leads that team and in the way in which she plays that game. No-one shirks a ball in the Australian netball team—and Laura Geitz leads them in that. There is not a contest that she does not go to. She sees the ball early, she commits her mind and her body, and she goes after it. Go Diamonds!

Ian Goodenough (Moore, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Is the motion seconded?

John Alexander (Bennelong, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I second the motion. I would like to thank the member for Lalor for moving this motion and for the scarf. The 2015 ANZ Championship final held on Sunday, 21 June at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre was one of the great sporting events in our nation's history. The record shows the Queensland Firebirds defeated New South Wales Swifts 57-56. The packed house saw a game where the Swifts led for the entire match, except for the final minute. This was a level of drama unrivalled in professional sport.

Over the past eight years, the ANZ Championship has grown into a world-class competition, drawing large crowds and television audience numbers and showing off the sublime skills and athleticism of the world's best netballers. Over 14 home and away rounds between March and July, five Australian and five New Zealand teams battle out for the ultimate prize in the world's best netball league.

The ANZ Championship is the first professional netball competition in Australasia, and hearty congratulations deserve to be given to Netball Australia and Netball New Zealand for uniting and running this most impressive tournament. Our two nations have dominated the international history of netball, winning every world championship title since 1963. All going to script, this record should continue in the Netball World Cup, which is taking place right now in Sydney. In front of a world record 16,223 fans yesterday, the Silver Ferns ended Australia's 21 match winning streak. Whilst disappointing, these are just the pool games, and I am sure all of us will send our support to the Diamonds to win when it really counts in the final on Sunday.

As I have often spoken in this place, my passion for sport is first and foremost for the encouragement of participation and healthy activity of people of all ages. Our elite sports men and women inspire us to achieve greater goals, which provide untold benefits to society and the economy. This is clearly evident in the sport of netball, which has the third-highest participation rate of any sport in Australia, boasting 371,000 participants on 2011-12 ABS figures. This exceeds football sports, basketball, cricket and even my former profession.

In Bennelong I regularly see the extraordinary participation with the amazing local organisation ERNA, the Eastwood Ryde Netball Association, under the strong, effective, tireless and loving leadership or Anne Doring. ERNA provides access to sport for people ranging in ages from six to 60—and there are a few who are lying about their age. The regular season runs from April to September and there is a mixed night competition from September through to December. ERNA is growing at pace. This year ERNA boasted 431 teams with 4,500 members—a 20 per cent increase in the past five years. These teams play on 27 hard courts at Meadowbank Park—a number that Anne Doring will regularly remind me is not enough—with 150 games per week totalling a massive 2,100 matches over the course of the season. Brush Farm Park has four hard courts and 12 grass courts that host 50 games per week. In the state league, ERNA were runners-up this year in division 1 Waratah Cup, following seven grand final appearances in the past eight years. ERNA also came third in division 2, won division 3 and were runners-up in division 5.

Next year the new premier league will replace the Waratah Cup as the highest level of competition in New South Wales featuring the best players in the state who are at the forefront of selection for the ANZ Championship. ERNA was one of only eight clubs selected by the Netball NSW Premier League. As Anne Doring wrote to me with excitement, 'Go Eastwood Ryde.' ERNA's success, both on and off the court, has led to a very long list of participants going on to play at the highest levels, representing their state and the nation. This list includes current Diamond, Firebird and 2015 ANZ champion all-star, Kimberley Ravaillion.

This is a most extraordinary club that continues to reinvest into the local community. As an example, ERNA is running a NetSetGo beginners program in August-September, with a plan to attract 50 more kids between the ages of five and eight. ERNA recently advertised in local schools and has already received 100 children's applications. ERNA's engagement with the local community and the positive social and health benefits that flow from that are second to none in Bennelong. I wish to take this opportunity, through this motion, to congratulate ERNA for its great contribution and successes.

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

I rise to enthusiastically support the motion put forward by the member for Lalor and commend her contribution and also the member for Bennelong's. I would particularly like to acknowledge the great victory by the Firebirds, as acknowledged by the earlier speakers.

I grew up in country Queensland, in a town called St George—a typical Queensland country town where the boys played footy and cricket and the girls played netball and softball. When I saw my sisters Debbie, Kerry and Megan play netball—sometimes on ant bed courts and dusty courts—not everyone wore shoes where I grew up, but people always played competitively. My sisters have the same imposing height that I have, so they were all centres. That would shock the member for Lalor, I am sure.

Jim Chalmers (Rankin, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I hope they were fast!

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

They were pretty fast. I did not play netball out in St George. It was much later, in 1992 when I was living in Brisbane, that I actually joined a netball team called the Sacred Cows. I have to admit that I only joined this indoor netball team for one reason—that is, to meet girls. That is where I met my wife.

Cathy McGowan (Indi, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

A netball romance!

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

Yes, a netball romance. In fact, we have been married 20 years next month, so netball has been of great service to my family that is for sure! Netball has come a long way since the dusty courts of St George and is now the territory of elite athletes like Laura Geitz, that girl from Allora who is leading the Diamonds and the Firebirds and who trains 20 hours a week and delivers body-crushing hits in a non-contact sport out on the netball court. The athletes like Laura are stronger, faster, fitter and, obviously, a hell of a lot taller than my sisters.

Netball Queensland, which is based in Moorooka where I live, tells me that there are around 52,000 participants in Queensland alone, and that number is growing. Around 300,000 people are involved in putting those netballers out on the court—the volunteers, officials, administrators, fans, parents and that growing Queensland Firebirds membership. Netball is a significant vehicle for the engagement of women and girls—as touched on by the member for Lalor in her speech—in sport as well as social, health, economic and workforce agendas. I would like to particularly acknowledge Bill Shorten, the opposition leader, and his great contribution to that when he was with the Australian Workers' Union. In this way, netball offers outstanding benefits for engagement, delivery and celebration around women's issues and achievements.

This year has been a great success on and off the court for netball in Queensland. The Queensland Firebirds became the most successful team in ANZ Championship history. They won the 2015 ANZ Championship grand final with that incredible comeback against the New South Wales Swifts. The Queensland under 17 state team were crowned national champions following an undefeated run through the tournament, and the Queensland under 21 state team claimed bronze at the national championships. I am sure they will improve on that in years to come.

I am proud to have the mighty Firebirds based in my electorate of Moreton. The ANZ Championship has done much for women and netball in both Australia and New Zealand. I should also acknowledge the Commonwealth Bank for the great work that they did in the years before that. Now with netball as a semi-professional sport in both countries, with increased television coverage and increased rates of pay for these very professional players, athletes at this level must commit to a high performance training and competition program, despite studying full time or working part time and in some cases also raising families. Netball is a semi-professional sport now, with a salary cap that is just a fraction of what is available in the male sporting codes. I would like to see that changed. I know Netball Queensland is a determined advocate of securing elite female athletes the same opportunities as their male counterparts to pursue a professional sporting career.

I am proud to say that the Queensland Labor government, under Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk—not a bad netballer herself in her time—has announced a new $30 million 'home of netball' in Moreton. This centre, to be made up of eight indoor courts, will be created at the Queensland Sport and Athletics Centre, or the old QE2, at Nathan and it will do well. It will become the Firebird's first permanent training base. Up until now they have relied on using the facilities of schools around Brisbane. What an extraordinary position for such an elite state sports team, to have to go from school to school begging for training grounds. So, thank you to Annastacia Palaszczuk for getting this state-of-the-art facility. The centre will also be used for junior player training and for Queensland and Australian netball carnivals, because Queensland, a very decentralised state, will be reaching out to people from Torres Strait right down to Coolangatta, Carnarvon, Cunnamulla and everything in between. Well done Annastacia Palaszczuk, and go the Australian Diamonds.

Fiona Scott (Lindsay, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I would like to start today on this wonderful bipartisan motion we have here from the member for Lalor about what a wonderful opportunity it is to talk about netball and the Netball World Cup, which will be held in Sydney. I would also like to comment on all the wonderful scarves we see in the chamber today about 'go the Diamonds'.

A lot of people know about Western Sydney and they think it is the home of rugby league. But do you know what? There are more people playing netball. Netball is the number 1 sport in my region. In fact, rugby league comes in third.

The Netball World Cup is a wonderful competition. It is an opportunity to see the world's best netballers show their amazing feats of athleticism as they attempt to fight it out on the netball court for ultimate glory and to be the supreme netball team in the wold. This wonderful championship will be taking place at Sydney Olympic Park this month. The world cup occurs every four years, with the top 16 netball nations competing to be the best. Australia has a terrific record, having won 10 of the 13 world cup competitions.

Netball is a wonderful opportunity for so many women and young girls to learn all the wonderful things that teamwork is all about. I love hearing stories from my electorate about big, tough blokes like Mark Geyer being out there on a Saturday serving wedges of oranges to their daughters and cheering as hard for their daughters on a Saturday at the netball as they are for their boys that afternoon on the other field at Jamison Park. We have 32 asphalt courts at Jamison Park. It is a wonderful facility. We need only a few more, about four more, and we would have one of the bigger facilities in the state and continue to offer more championships.

It is wonderful to see the annual walk past and it is wonderful to see the participation of families from right across the district, getting into their local netball team. I am also proud to have delivered $90,000 to the Penrith District Netball Association to help upgrade their canteen facilities, and for shade, so that when families are off getting their food and refreshments for their long day at the netball they can do so in the shade and have good, clean facilities to get their food from.

The success of netball continues to grow in Western Sydney. It is wonderful to see that the Penrith Panthers are going to join the New South Wales Premier League. The New South Wales Premier League is made up of eight teams. The Penrith Panthers will be a team combining the Penrith, Blue Mountains and Hawkesbury netball associations to form one team. I would like to congratulate the Penrith Panthers rugby league team for their sponsorship of the netball team, to ensure that netball continues to be a wonderful success right through our region.

I also would like to congratulate new Panthers coach Lisa Beehag, Penrith Netball president Joy Gillett, Blue Mountains president Jenny Walker, Hawkesbury president Tracy Chalk, Ron and the Penrith Panthers for an exciting opportunity that will continue to help many young netballers in Lindsay achieve success on the court.

To add to the celebrations, Penrith local Paige Hadley will take the court in the world cup. Paige is a phenomenal young woman. Paige has overcome adversity from a severe knee injury to make it back to the national team. In speaking to Paige, she has said, 'I feel honoured and so privileged to be part of this once in a lifetime opportunity to play in my home town. I am proud to come from the west, in Penrith. Western Sydney has provided me with amazing sporting opportunities, and without these, and the support of my local community, I would not have been able to achieve these honours.'

Netball is Australia's leading female sport, and the Netball World Cup aids in helping to celebrate women in sport. For many women netball provides a fair, safe, inclusive, respectful and supportive environment, and I commend Netball Australia for promoting these positive attributes of the sport. They are also pivotal for developing and promoting positive women in sport, as well as good role models for future generations—a player like Paige, who, even in the darkest days of her injuries, was still out there supporting young players. I have just a few last comments to make: go Panthers, go the Swifts, go the Diamonds and go Paige Hadley.

Sharon Claydon (Newcastle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise this evening to proudly support the motion brought forward by the member for Lalor, and I welcome the contributions to the debate so far from members from both sides of the House and the crossbenches.

It is important that we do take time to recognise and congratulate the important role that netball plays in our national status and psyche. Water-cooler discussion often lends itself to what is happening in the world of sport, and, almost exclusively, it ends up focusing on what is happening in men's sport. Because of blanket media coverage, we all know that the Australian men's cricket team just lost the Ashes to England, but few would know that the women's team is currently leading England 4-2 in their respective series. We also know that Australian cricket captain Michael Clarke will retire from international cricket at the end of the Ashes series. But, again, few would know his female compatriot's name let alone her status as Wisden's inaugural Leading Woman Cricketer in the World. For the record, our current women's captain and best player in the world is 23 year old Meg Lanning.

So I am most definitely pleased that we have a woman's sport, team and league that is getting much-deserved recognition and attention—on television, in the papers, at water coolers, in this parliament and everywhere. I am pleased to note that in recent days even the Prime Minister has been tweeting about the Aussie Diamonds and the World Cup. While I welcome the Prime Minister's support for the Diamonds on social media, I remind government members opposite that media coverage of women's sport in Australia has suffered greatly as a result of the $250 million in cuts to the ABC, forcing the national broadcaster to abandon their coverage of women's soccer, basketball and other sports. At a time when just 8.7 per cent of TV sports news coverage is devoted to women's sport, this cut was particularly telling. Elite women athletes provide strong role models for women of all ages and from all walks of life. A reduction in media coverage, which is already grossly unequal to the coverage of men's sport in Australia, has further removed such positive role models from the public eye. The television broadcasting of women's sport is an integral part of the ongoing development of women's sport in Australia. While I am not suggesting that maintaining or improving media coverage of women's sports will be a panacea for all inequalities that exist, reducing it is certainly not the answer. On this point, I acknowledge both Network Ten and Fox Sports for their coverage and support of the women's Netball World Cup and also their support of a number of other women's sports.

Netball is the nation's leading participation sport for women in Australia and has over 1.2 million participants nation-wide. The local competition in my electorate of Newcastle, which I have had the honour of opening on a number of occasions, has more than 4,000 players, with hundreds more supporters, family members and volunteers joining players at the courts every weekend during the netball season. It is women like Dell Saunders, who has given more than 60 years of service to the Newcastle Netball Association, who keep these local competitions thriving in our communities across generations. Newcastle is home to a strong and active netball community, and the Newcastle netball community was particularly chuffed this week when our city had the honour of hosting Australia's netball team, the Diamonds, for their final pre-tournament preparations. They spent four days finetuning tactics and teamwork in our city before heading to Sydney for the world cup, which commenced over the weekend. Vice-captain of the team Kimberlee Green told the local press that four days in Newcastle had been the ideal preparation for the 'rigours of the world cup'.

This Friday I will join the member for Lalor, along with some of our other parliamentary colleagues, in Sydney to play in the parliamentary netball world cup, so I am hoping that a little of my hometown spirit rubs off, ensuring that we are all indeed prepared for the rigours of the parliamentary world cup. I look forward to joining my colleagues from the Australian, New South Wales and New Zealand parliaments to promote and encourage participation in sport for people of all abilities with a view to improving fitness, health and enjoyment. I wish Australia and the teams taking part in the women's Netball World Cup all the best for the remainder of the tournament, and hope that everyone in this place wishes my teammates and me the best of luck for our matches on Friday. I thank the member for Lalor, who is such a strong advocate for netball, for moving this motion in the parliament today, and pass on my congratulations to all parties involved in the sport of netball in Australia. Go the Diamonds!

Natasha Griggs (Solomon, Country Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is always good to hear women's sport being discussed in this place, and it is particularly significant to see this motion on netball before the House tonight. A few weeks ago representatives from Netball Northern Territory met with me at my electorate office to talk about netball. The fantastic ladies in the Territory Storm, which is the Northern Territory's netball team, face some significant hurdles in engaging with the national competition. The team represents the entire Northern Territory, so some of the members live in Alice Springs, which is some 1,500 kilometres away from Darwin. In the 2013-14 financial year NT Netball received $30,000 in federal funding and $50,000 from the Northern Territory government. At first this may seem like a lot of money, but let us do some comparison work. The Territory Storm participates in a seven-week national competition every year. This means the team will have to travel to another capital city three or four times a year. In airfares alone the girls rack up around $50,000 annually—and this is before they have paid for their coaches, for the facilities, for match and training venues or for any of the thousands of expenses associated with a sports team, such as insurance or uniforms.

Compare this, if you like, to the Northern Territory Thunder. I am a big supporter of the Northern Territory Thunder—I need to say that from the outset—but let us compare the funding the Northern Territory Thunder boys get in comparison to the Territory Storm girls. The Territory Thunder get $800,000, compared to $80,000 for the females. It does not seem exactly right. I do not begrudge the Thunder's success; they are an awesome team of football players. They are a dedicated and professional group who work to the best of their ability and go up against some of the best in the country—but so do our Territory Storm. While the Thunder has attracted high-profile sponsorship and government funding, the Territory Storm are struggling to keep their heads above water.

I want to use this opportunity to congratulate everyone involved in the ANZ cup on their success. I also want to use this as my soapbox to press for proper funding for Northern Territory netball, for the Territory Storm and, more broadly, for women's sport. In many fields of life, including sports, academics and vocational training, we talk about creating pathways. A student who is struggling in school needs to be able to see a way forward. It keeps them motivated; it keeps them engaged. In sport it is the same. For the boys and girls playing sport in the Northern Territory, having an elite team to aim for will keep the kids involved. It will keep them healthy and active. It will teach them the skills of teamwork and self-discipline. The Territory Storm is the elite pathway for girls playing netball in the Northern Territory. Every dollar we invest in women's sport creates a dividend for society as a whole. My friend Shelley who has taken over as the executive officer for Netball NT deserves a medal. I want the netball players in the Territory to know that we will be taking up the case for the Territory Storm here in Canberra. I cannot guarantee that we will be able to get all the money but I can guarantee that people will start to hear about the Territory Storm and the need for extra funding for the Territory Storm.

I urge all members of this place to look at the participation rates for women and girls in sport and to look at the steep decline in those rates compared to those of men. Women's sports should no longer be the forgotten cousins of the men's leagues. Look at the Diamonds and the role models they have provided. I think they are fantastic ambassadors and that there are women from the Territory Storm who could one day be Diamonds.

Ian Goodenough (Moore, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The time allotted for this debate has expired. The debate is adjourned and the resumption of the debate will be made an order of the day for the next sitting.