Perin Davey (NSW, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

From hearing the very end of Senator Green's commentary on the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority Amendment (Sport Integrity Australia) Bill 2019 I appreciate that the Labor Party agrees that action needs to be taken. It did take a very long time to get there, and we know definitely how she and her colleagues feel about other areas of sport. Certainly there are Senate committees looking into that, so I won't waste the Senate's time talking about that. I'm here to talk about the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority Amendment (Sport Integrity Australia) Bill 2019.

The introduction of this bill is an important signal that our government remains firmly committed to protecting Australia's sporting integrity. Sport plays a fundamental role in Australian life. Around the world we are known for our sporting success and for our commitment to fair play and integrity. Sport has shaped our culture and our identity as Australians. It reflects our broader values of sportsmanship and respect for the umpire. Safe, fair and inclusive sport is part of the Australian identity. Those values also underpin thriving communities.

From grassroots to the world's iconic grass courts and arenas, sport gives us our heroes. It allows us to collectively aspire to greatness while celebrating effort, hard work and perseverance. Sport keeps us fit and healthy. It is the social glue that binds us together. It creates communities and underpins much of community life. Particularly in regional areas such as mine, sport is integral to the social fabric of a region.

Sport is also an essential part of our economy, as highlighted by the Boston Consulting Group's Intergenerational review of Australian sport 2017. Each year around 14 million Australians participate in some form of sporting activity. Sport generates $35 billion to $47 billion of economic activity, which is about two to three per cent of GDP and is equivalent to the agriculture sector, which I'm also passionate about. In addition, each year the Australian government invests in sport. It invests more than $300 million to support our high-performance sports. The government is very proud of its record of encouraging greater participation at community and grassroots levels. We want to get more Australians active. Sport and physical activity teach much about life skills—teamwork, sportsmanship, community spirit and a fair go.

On 5 August 2017 the then Minister for Sport, Greg Hunt, announced a review of Australia's sports integrity arrangements to be led by the Hon. James Wood QC. The Wood review, released in August 2018, was part of the development of Australia's first comprehensive national sport plan called Sport 2030. On behalf of the government I'd like to thank the Hon. James Wood and his fellow panel members for their efforts in producing the most comprehensive review of Australia's sports integrity arrangements ever conducted.

The Wood review found that, amongst athletes at all levels, doping is more prevalent and widespread than ever. This is fuelled in large part by the increasing availability of highly sophisticated techniques that make it harder to detect. The Wood review also found serious and organised crime is involved in the supply of performance- and image-enhancing drugs. The current suite of protections and powers under the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority Act 2006 is not sufficient to facilitate ASADA's increasing emphasis on intelligence based investigations.

Under our nation's first-ever sports plan, Sport 2030, we now have a clear path to build a more active Australia that operates with integrity. We can achieve sporting excellence and back grassroots community sports at the same time, and we need to safeguard the integrity of sport. We need to strengthen and build a thriving Australian sport and recreation industry. The government's introduction of this bill is an important signal that the Liberals and Nationals remain firmly committed to protecting Australian sporting integrity. The Wood review provides a sobering assessment of the sports integrity environment and the consequences of inaction and outlines a detailed road map to provide the protection that Australian sport deserves. The Wood review seeks to protect that fair go element that is critical to the Australian image of ourselves.

A key recommendation of the review which was welcomed and accepted by government is that a new agency be established to draw together and develop existing sports integrity capabilities, knowledge and expertise. This bill will establish Sport Integrity Australia. So, from July 2020, Sport Integrity Australia will support sports stakeholders to manage the spectrum of sports integrity related issues. Sport Integrity Australia will bring together the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority, or ASADA, the National Integrity of Sport Unit and the sports integrity functions within Sport Australia. It will establish a single point of responsibility for the range of sports integrity functions currently performed by these separate agencies. Sport Integrity Australia will become a one-stop shop engaging with and supporting all sports integrity stakeholders to combat all modern threats to the integrity of sport. Its initial focus will be on regulation, monitoring and intelligence, from policy development to education and delivery.

Without integrity underpinning our sporting competitions and events, we risk losing the great benefits that our sports deliver. Doping remains a scourge for sport right across the world. Match fixing is a global concern. Just as technological advancement has increased access to live sport through live streaming, phones and the like, so too has technological advancement increased the opportunities for unscrupulous, well-organised criminals to try to influence sporting outcomes. This is far beyond a poorly executed paint job on a ring-in horse at a suburban track. This is complex. It's globalised criminal operators manipulating parts of matches, participants, teams and officials. Organised crime is not just exploiting and undermining elite sport; it has infiltrated domestic and suburban competitions. Criminal elements are corrupting officials and athletes and cheating sports fans. Sports integrity requires a nationally coordinated response. Bullying and harassment remain prevalent and a concern, and, sadly, there are those in sport who will also prey on children. So Australia is not immune from these problems. Sporadically, the back-page news becomes front-page headlines when major sports are rocked by scandal. While we are world leaders in the fight against sports integrity threats, more needs to be done.

So I'm proud to be part of a government that takes these matters very seriously and is doing more. Our response will protect our cherished Australian sports for generations to come and will have lasting effects on the lives of all sports-loving Australians. I would think there is a lot of bipartisan goodwill around making sure our sport here in Australia is clean, safe and fair. I'm sure those sitting opposite share that aspiration for integrity in sports. This bill will help safeguard Australian sport and combat current, emerging and future threats from doping, match fixing, illegal betting, organised crime and corruption. This bill is to address all of that. Our government is absolutely committed to ensuring Australia has the highest possible standards of sports integrity so that Australians can trust that competitions and athletes are competing on a level playing field. Our aim is to keep all athletes—from the elite athletes to the juniors, from those playing on the MCG to those playing on the Deniliquin Oval—safe and involved, knowing that the sports in which they participate are clean and fair.

Sporting organisations will have greater access to integrity education, right down to community levels. They will have access to clearer, faster, transparent and cost-effective resolution of disputes, resulting in administrative and financial savings. Enhanced match-fixing detection and response will reassure sports that their competitions are less likely to be manipulated. Parents and guardians of our junior athletes will know that their children are protected from sport integrity threats and that they can be confident that the sports in which they participate are clean, fair and safe. Law enforcement agencies will benefit from improved coordination and clear, cohesive national-level regulation and legislation for match fixing and related corruption. They will benefit from improved information and from the enhanced sport integrity criminal intelligence capability of the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission. Wagering providers will be involved in alerting authorities to suspicious activity within betting markets, enabling real-time action to be taken to ensure the integrity of competitions they are offering markets on.

This government's record on safeguarding sport is there for the world to see. Twelve months ago, then sports minister Senator Bridget McKenzie signed the Australian government on to the Macolin convention, alongside Gabriella Battaini-Dragoni, Deputy Secretary of the Council of Europe. The Macolin convention is the only multilateral treaty specifically aimed at combating match fixing and related corruption in sport. Australia was a key contributor to the drafting of the convention, and we are the first country outside Europe to sign up. This signing was a major step in protecting the safety, fairness and integrity of the sporting competitions we all enjoy so much.

By engaging formally with the parties to the Macolin convention, Australia is empowered to create a fully effective national platform to enhance detection of and coordinate responses to match fixing and related corruption in Australian sport and sports competitions. Membership of the Macolin community will enable Australia to obtain formal, ongoing access to international counterparts and meetings to work together and drive those measures to combat sport corruption at a global level. We can work to pass national match-fixing criminal legislation and support an effective global response to international sport integrity matters. Signing the Macolin convention supports national match-fixing criminal legislation, complements similar laws, where they already exist within our states and territories, and brings consistency to the national ability to protect sport from wagering related corruption.

This bill is integral to ensuring that sport in this nation remains fair, safe and balanced. I commend this bill to the chamber.