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

Yesterday was a typical Wednesday in the parliament. The day began for the Parliamentary Owls netball team playing against the DeafACT team, outside on the parliamentary court. It was a terrific game and, untraditionally, we lost, being beaten by the community team. I'd like to thank them for the match and for giving us the opportunity to play as if we were deaf people to give us some understanding of other people's lives.

Last night, at the other end of the day, of course, the Australian Diamonds redeemed themselves against the Old Dart, and they did so in Newcastle, where 5,000 Novocastrians came to watch them play. I want to give a shout-out today to Lisa Alexander and the entire Australian Diamonds squad for a great performance to date. On Sunday they'll be playing at Hisense Arena against the Silver Ferns. I will be there, and I just want to say to everybody: if you can't make it to Hisense Arena, it'll be on Channel 9 or you can watch it on the live app. The Australian Diamonds will no doubt bring home the quad series when they defeat the Silver Ferns on Sunday afternoon. I'll be there with thousands of others. I encourage everyone in the parliament to get behind women's sport. Start playing, keep playing, start watching and keep watching.