Sports Vouchers

Ms COOK (Fisher) (15:07): Supplementary, sir: would the minister please be able to describe for us how the school sporting vouchers have assisted with this participation at—

Ms REDMOND: Point of order, Mr Speaker.

The SPEAKER: Point of order?

Ms REDMOND: Speaker Lewis ruled that the use of 'please' was out of order.

The SPEAKER: Could the member for Fisher, in order to maintain the right tone between the backbench and the ministry, reformulate her question?

Ms COOK: I humbly apologise for that. Would the minister explain to the house how the school sporting vouchers have supported this community participation?

The Hon. L.W.K. BIGNELL (Mawson—Minister for Agriculture, Food and Fisheries, Minister for Forests, Minister for Tourism, Minister for Recreation and Sport, Minister for Racing) (15:07): I thank the member for her question. I know that in the lead-up to the last election, Premier Weatherill and I went out and announced a $50 sports voucher for every primary school student in South Australia. It was something that was greeted with great enthusiasm by parents right throughout the state, because what we know is that, in a tightening economy when things in the home budget get tight and money gets scarce, sometimes the first thing to go is the spending on sport and in particular children's sport.

There is no greater time to get kids involved than at a very young age. Those primary school years are very important. What we did was we came up with a scheme where the clubs actually register with the government and then we have all their details on file, and then as junior members—

Dr McFetridge interjecting:

The Hon. L.W.K. BIGNELL: —join their sporting club, they fill in the form—excuse me, Mr Speaker, this gentleman over here keeps interrupting. I just seek your protection from the member; there is some noise out there.

The SPEAKER: The member for Morphett has already been called to order.

The Hon. L.W.K. BIGNELL: Thank you, sir. We have had all these sporting clubs who have registered, and I think we announced that during the by-election in Fisher at the Happy Valley Cricket Club. It went down very well with the students we met there and, of course, their parents. By having people in clubs, particularly at that young age, not only are they learning great skills around sport (they are improving their coordination) but they are also learning leadership skills. They are learning how to deal with success and to deal with failure as well. We see it as an important part of the sporting world.

We have made the promise that every primary school student—it does not matter what your income or what school you go to—in South Australia is eligible and we have been handing out thousands of these vouchers. What we are seeing is that, in many cases, it is directing people to join a club, and that is terrific as well because there is that sense of community that people get from going to a club. The kids join up to play basketball, football, netball, tennis, or whatever sport it is. That drags the parents along as well, then the parents find that they have somewhere to go and mix with other people in their community. It really is about strengthening communities.

I guess that happens more often than not in regional South Australia but in many of our suburban places I think sometimes we lose that sense of community. While this is about getting kids active and helping their parents ease the burden on their finances with this $50 one-off voucher per year, there are many more benefits that go well above just that simple act of going out and having a game of footy or netball or joining a local swimming team. I thank the member for Fisher again for her question and congratulate her on her great advocacy for sporting clubs in her electorate.