Jane Hume (Victoria, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Sport, Senator McKenzie, who is from my home state, the great state of Victoria and Australia's sporting capital. Minister, what are the benefits of the Liberal-National government's investment in sport from grassroots participation right through to high performance?

Bridget McKenzie (Victoria, National Party, Minister for Regional Services) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you, Senator Hume, for your question and your strong support of sport in our home state. Around the world, we are known for our sporting success but also for our commitment to fair play and integrity. Sport has shaped our culture and identity as Australians, and it reflects our broader values of sportsmanship and respect for the umpire. Under our nation's first ever sport plan, Sport 2030, we now have a clear path on what we need to ensure that we build a more active Australia. We need more Australians to be more active more often. We can achieve sporting excellence and back grassroots community sports at the same time. We also need to safeguard the integrity of sport, and we need to strengthen and build a thriving Australian sport and recreation industry.

In the last budget, we committed over $230 million to sport, including a number of grants not only for grassroots sporting organisations around participation and infrastructure—and we'll be making announcements about those shortly—but also for high-performance sport. Significantly, we've invested in grassroots sports because they're developing the pathway for the next generation of elite athletes. It's incredibly important to invest in our elite athletes, as they inspire and motivate us all. That's why we have assisted our elite para-athletes and elite able-bodied athletes with an additional $50 million to assist them with their push to Tokyo over the next two years, where I know they'll all do us proud. This builds on our previous investment in high-performance sport to the tune of $100 million. That means a lot of tradies, teachers and coppers—who we've been able to increase the number of due to our strong economic management—are paying hard-earned taxes to ensure that the next generation of elite athletes will go on and do us proud. The strong economic position that our government has been able to deliver through more jobs and growth, has meant more investment in elite sport.

Scott Ryan (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Hume, a supplementary question?

Jane Hume (Victoria, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Can the minister explain how women are benefitting from the government's strong investment in sport?

Bridget McKenzie (Victoria, National Party, Minister for Regional Services) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Yes, I can. It's a great era for women's sport at the moment, but what a fantastic week we had last week. The Southern Stars won the T20 World Cup, Steph Gilmore won her seventh world surfing championship and Lizzy Watson from the Melbourne Vixens won the Liz Ellis netballer of the year. But it's not just about elite athletes. Last week, I was very proud to announce the Women Leaders in Sport 2019 recipients, where our government is backing women in sport not just at the elite level but also who are umpires, coaches and administrators to grow their skills and build their leadership capacity. To go from coaching the under 13s at Leongatha, like Lisa Alexander did, to becoming the Australian Diamonds coach. From being president of the Yarrawonga Pigeons to becoming president of the West Coast Eagles. We need more women leaders in sport, and our government's backing them.

Scott Ryan (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Hume, a final supplementary question?

Jane Hume (Victoria, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Minister, how is the government's strong economic and fiscal management enabling the economic benefits of our investment in sport to be realised? What role do these benefits play in helping the government to deliver essential services without raising taxes?

Bridget McKenzie (Victoria, National Party, Minister for Regional Services) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On this side, we want Australians to be healthier, happier and more connected, and sport delivers in spades. It makes not only a significant cultural contribution to our society but also, increasingly, an economic contribution: $83 billion worth of benefits—for every $1 invested, we get a $7 return. Importantly, there are 220,000 Australians employed in the sports industry, and that's more than in our mining industry. The flow-on benefits are absolutely undeniable. If you just think economically, the Australian Open summer of tennis in our home state—coming up again—contributed more than $280 million to the economy last year, with the 2017 final watched by over 900 million people around the world, which has a significant impact in flow-on tourism benefits. By backing increased participation and increased performance, our government's increased economic potential of sport is realised. I say get out to the cricket if you can— (Time expired)