Jacqui Lambie (Tasmania, Jacqui Lambie Network) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Australia is a sporting country. We are crazy about it. In fact, according to the ABS, 90 per cent of Australians have an interest in sport. Thirteen million adults and three million of our kids regularly compete on the sporting field. I, for one, loved sport as a kid. My mum and dad didn't have a lot of cash, so playing sport was an extra cost but one that they worked hard to cover. I am not sure if it was easier for parents to support kids in sport back then, but I do know that it's hard now. According to the Australian Sports Commission, Australian families spend at least $650 a year on kids' sports. Talking to the parents I know, I reckon that's lowballing the cost. If you're playing cricket or AFL in Tasmania, joining a club will set you back $200 per child per year. Then you have to buy the kit. Footy boots cost more than $100. The Tasmanian government will contribute $100 if you're a low-income family on benefits. So those low-income families have to find more than $500 a year on average.

In the big cities, it's even worse. Parents are paying thousands of dollars for their kids to play sport. A friend of mine here in the ACT got the bill for their soccer-playing child the other day. It's $750 for their child to play in the community league—fewer than 20 games a year and just two training sessions a week for an 11-year-old. That is disgusting. We're in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis, and we're creating a system of haves and have-nots. Those that have can keep their kids fit and engaged in sports. They can give their kids access to the benefits of playing sport. Those who have not are left out. They can't play sport, because they can't afford it—$750 is an enormous amount that most families can't afford. A great number of Australians will end up being have-nots. What if one of those kids is the next Sam Kerr, Ricky Ponting or Jack Riewoldt? Will they slip through the cracks? I reckon they will. It's not right, and the state governments along with the feds need to do something about the cost of sport for our kids right now because it is so unfair that they're not on those sporting fields.