Southern University Games

Ms HILDYARD (Reynell) (15:30): I rise to speak today about the Southern University Games which will be launched this Sunday and will continue throughout next week across our beautiful South Australian metropolitan area until they close on the evening of 9 July. We can all be very proud that South Australia will host these games for the first time since 2003 and showcase how much our city and metropolitan area have positively changed over the past 12 years and how much we have to offer.

I am deeply honoured to be the patron of this year's games which will be cohosted by the University of South Australia and my university, the fabulous Flinders University of South Australia, located primarily in our beautiful southern suburbs. During my time there, I was a very proud and enthusiastic participant (and I stress the word 'participant' rather than 'competitor') in university sport—touch football, in particular.

Whilst my success on the ground may have been low and continues to be low in basketball and my other current sporting pursuits, I have many happy memories of competing—or rather, participating—with friends, including the member for Newland who led our university touch football team with skill, confidence, humour and vigour, and of course, making new friends through sport, particularly university sport.

Sport is a great way to bring a community together and to ensure people feel included, equal and valued. This was my experience as a child in the many sports in which I participated and it continues to be so. The Southern University Games bring our university and broader communities together in a way that promotes physical activity and health and creates a great sense of camaraderie and healthy competition. It gives our elite athletes a chance to compete in an environment where the competition is both fierce and friendly.

I am very proud to be the Southern University Games patron and look forward to welcoming student athletes to Adelaide and promoting this outstanding event. Over 1,500 athletes and more than 500 officials, spectators and supporters will join us in our beautiful state for the games, bringing an estimated economic impact of $1 million. These athletes will participate in a huge range of diverse sports including cheerleading, lawn and tenpin bowls, men's and women's Australian rules football, touch football, netball, basketball, futsal, ultimate frisbee and golf.

I am very much looking forward to welcoming athletes and helping to open the games from 6pm this Sunday at the Jeffrey Smart Building in the University of South Australia, and I am also looking forward to getting out and cheering for as many of these athletes as possible. The games are an excellent event for South Australia with so many people visiting and enjoying our very special state, our exemplary tourist destinations and our excellent sporting venues.

I am pleased that the games will utilise some of the best sporting venues South Australia has to offer, including ETSA Park, Flinders University, Immanuel College, Marion Fitness and Leisure, MARS Sporting Complex and Wayville Sports Centre. Our South Australian community can look forward to hosting these student athletes and supporters and to cheering on competitors.

I congratulate everyone involved in bringing this wonderful event to South Australia. Like all events of this scale, an enormous amount of work has been undertaken by various bodies, Australian University Games and Southern University Games administrators, administrators at local sporting venues, our South Australian Tourism Commission and an army of generous and dedicated volunteers. I thank and recognise each and every one of them for their work.

Since its inception, the Southern University Games have been renowned for providing both a friendly and competitive environment for student athletes from all over Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania. As well as the on-field competition, the event will also offer an action-packed social atmosphere featuring an exclusive four-night social program. Many a great friendship has been formed through university sport and I am sure that this event will bring many people together in a positive way.

I asked some of my younger university student friends about their participation in the games and it seems that even for those who do not compete in the sporting side of the games that they will voraciously support and participate in the social aspect. I am sure this will be the case for all involved and I look forward to helping close the event at the final social event being held in our city on 9 July. I hope all my parliamentary colleagues will get along to as much of the games as they can to cheer for our home side—I know I certainly will be. To every competitor, good luck in the games, and to every visitor, in advance, welcome to South Australia.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Member for Schubert, we were only talking about you this morning.