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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
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SPORTING AND RECREATIONAL FACILITIES

Mr VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN (Stuart) (11:31): I move:

That this house recognises the significant positive contribution that sporting and recreational facilities make to communities over and above the direct benefits of participating in the sporting and recreational activities.

It is, of course, very well known to all present the benefits of participating in sporting and recreational pursuits, and I am thinking here of physically active ones. But that is not what this is actually about; this is about trying to ensure that the house is very well aware of and supports the benefits to communities that come from the investment in sporting and recreational facilities in those communities.

This motion is very much about our entire state; it is not just about regional South Australia, as many of my motions are. This motion is deliberately about the entire state—city, country, the outback, everything from rowing courses all the way through to outback horseracing tracks or bronco branding yards.

Sport was probably just about the most important thing to me for about the first half of my life. I was a bit taken aback last night, when I was thinking about these things, that, at the age of 48, I look back and realise that I was probably at my sporting peak at 24—so a long, long time ago. That was the last year I played in the National Basketball League. I did manage to play on a premiership-winning state basketball league team, with the mighty West Adelaide Bearcats, which was a great privilege and lots and lots of fun. I played with them for a few years after the NBL. But it is not about me, it is not about participation. It is about the commercial, economic, social and community benefits that these facilities bring.

It is not just about my own thoughts, either. I have had the great fortune to have Ms Alexandra Grigg from Adelaide University do a study into these matters for me. I asked her to look into the benefits in rural areas (that is what this particular study was on) of health facilities, transport facilities, recreation and sport facilities and education facilities over and above their primary purposes.

She did a lot of very good work and presented a fantastic report as part of her internship program, which was run by Clem Macintyre, with the universities and the South Australian Parliament. Alexandra Grigg is an economics student primarily because that is what I wanted. I wanted some hard data. I did not want some wishy-washy thoughts or inclinations or ideas or concepts of how it could be; I wanted something very significant to support this. I will take a couple of quotes out of Ms Grigg's report, and I will start with section 4.2—Sporting Facilities. It states:

Investment in regional sporting facilities in South Australia results in an increase of real median weekly household income for that district by $33.61, holding all else constant. This may be due to the multiplier effects of increased population, facilitating increases in local demand and therefore services, as a result of the community spirit generated in these sporting facilities.

A bit further on:

As per the effects of health facilities on regional communities' social welfare, the regressions in section 3.1 illustrate that sporting facilities have a positive influence on volunteer rates (as a percentage of town population), population and age spread in rural townships.

Sporting facilities in a community provide a diverse range of external benefits beyond their primary purpose. These facilities allow for the involvement and participation of residents of all ages in a community. Through this ongoing facilitation of civic engagement, town members feel directly connected to those around them, generating a greater sense of community spirit. Not only do sporting facilities directly influence the town's social welfare, these factors indirectly influence community strength through their ability to attract families to the district. Through the facilities' capacity to provide health benefits, engage the community and foster civic engagement through volunteerism, local sporting infrastructure attracts families, further generating a sense of community spirit.

This development of community spirit promotes the cultivation of diverse support networks, in turn, growing loyalty and trust, further improving on community strength. Like the indirect effects of health facilities in regional communities, sporting facilities' influences on social welfare are interrelated. The greater the development of these interrelations between the benefits provided by local sporting clubs, the larger the multiplier effect of investment in these facilities.

A lot of work has gone into this to actually show that this is econometrically defensible work, but these things that I have just been reading out which apply to rural communities are equally true of suburban metropolitan Adelaide, and that is why I wanted to bring this matter to the house. The benefits just grow and grow and grow. The more sporting facilities and recreational facilities we have, like bike paths and all sorts of non-team sports, is very important. I am not just focusing on the stock standards, like cricket, football etc. The non-structured, non-team, individual recreational pursuits are just as valid in this area.

I encourage the government and I encourage all future governments to think about this very hard. Mr Deputy Speaker, as a former minister for recreation and sport, I am sure that you know a lot about this and I hope you share my views on this very important topic. I am disappointed, of course, that the government has recently cut $3½ million out of the recreation and sport grants that are available to communities. I think that is a great shame because as the work of Ms Grigg shows, there are extraordinary multiplier effects. That $3½ million to South Australia has a very large multiplier effect that goes a long way towards enhancing the strength of communities.

I am also not shying away from raising Adelaide Oval in this issue as well. All sporting facilities, from the largest like Adelaide Oval all the way through to the smallest, that might be, as I said, a bronco branding yard at Marree, or another outback town, provide these benefits. I am firmly on the record here in this house and other places saying that the problem with the Adelaide Oval expansion is we actually just cannot afford it. So I am not suggesting for a second that these types of benefits do not accrue.

But the reality is with the budget situation—which we are all now very well aware of with nearly $14 billion of debt—spending over half a billion dollars on the upgrade of the Adelaide Oval, which will only get us an additional 12,000 seats over the 38,000 that already exist in the former Adelaide Oval, is an expenditure that unfortunately we cannot justify. However, I do not shy away from the fact that exactly the same benefits that I am talking about will accrue from that investment. I wish we could afford it.

I would also like to put on record my thanks and appreciation for the good work that is done by Sport SA—a very important South Australian organisation that promotes and advocates for sport in general. They do that in many ways, such as getting involved in supporting the Olympics, all the way through to small, tiny clubs, organisations and individual participants. They are very busy with clubs and leagues alike. In fact, they do some quite innovative work in this area, in terms of trying to expand and maximise the benefits that come from sport, like training sports administrators. They do that in-house. They train sports administrators so that they can contribute to the sport. These are people who may never take the court or the field, or whatever it happens to be, but they can contribute to and benefit from, and share in and expand, for the good of the whole community, the benefits that come from sport.

I will wrap up by saying that, just like there are far more benefits than just educational outcomes in investing in schools, just like there are far more benefits than the health outcomes to communities by investing in hospitals and other health facilities, and just like there are far more benefits than just the ability to transport that comes from investing in transport facilities, so it is with sporting and recreational facilities. Well beyond the benefits of participation, our communities throughout South Australia benefit enormously, both socially and economically, from both the state and commonwealth governments'—and also community and volunteer—investment in our sporting facilities.

That investment can be summarised in two ways: there is a very clear economic multiplier effect, which brings increased economic opportunities, additional local expenditure and increased local demand; and there is a very clear social welfare multiplier effect, which brings increased volunteer participation, increased local trust, increased local diversity and increased social interaction. I urge the house to support this motion and I urge this government and all future governments to take these issues into very serious consideration when they are weighing up their investment decisions.

Mr SIBBONS (Mitchell) (11:42): I rise to respond to the motion moved by the member for Stuart on behalf of the government. Naturally, the government supports this motion. Local sporting clubs not only provide a significant possible contribution to their members and the wider community but they also deliver programs for people of all ages and circumstances, which in turn benefits the health and wellbeing of those taking part.

Without doubt, sport makes an enormous contribution to our society beyond the boundaries of participation. Being active is an integral part of our culture and involves a broad range of organisations working together to support community needs. The state government knows that sport and recreation facilities provide places to play and participate, places to meet and share common interests, and places to support the development of community values. Sporting clubs have an important role to play in providing safe communities and healthy neighbourhoods, as well as providing leadership development opportunities for athletes, coaches and volunteers.

Through the Office for Recreation and Sport we have funded in excess of $59,600,000 of community sporting infrastructure developments since 2002. This funding does not even include major state sport infrastructure projects, such as the magnificent state Aquatic & Leisure Centre in my own electorate of Mitchell or the redevelopment of Adelaide Oval. The state government will continue to support the planning and delivery of facilities for sport and active recreation at fiscally responsible levels.

Over the past 12 years, the Mitchell electorate has benefited from this support to the tune of $1,055,445, $493,840 of which has been contributed through Active Club Program grants and $561,605 of which has been granted through the Community Recreation and Sport Facilities Program. Since I was elected in 2010, no fewer than 24 different clubs and organisations based in Mitchell have been the recipients of grants under these programs. I have had the pleasure of handing cheques over to them, the privilege of being present for the opening of new facilities, and the launch of new programs made possible by these grants.

The Glenelg Rebel Softball Club, the Sheidow Park Cricket Club, the South Adelaide Basketball Club, the South Australian Over 60s Cricket Association, Riding for the Disabled Association, Scouts SA, Reynella Smallbore and Air Rifle Club, Diving South Australia, the Fleurieu Swimming Club, Marion Bowling Club, Marion Croquet Club, Marion Swimming Club, South City Chiefs, American Football Club, Reynella Bowling Club (through the City of Onkaparinga), the Henley Water Polo Club, the Marion Cricket Club, the Masters Swimming SA, Southern Field Archers, Sturt Marion Women's Soccer Club, Sturt Pistol and Shooting Club, the Hub Netball Club, Reynella Cricket Club, Sturt Marion Thunder Soccer Club, and the Trott Park Fencing Club have all benefited from this support.

Some clubs have purchased basic sporting equipment, others have put on 'come and try' programs, while others have installed floodlights or upgraded playing facilities and services, and others have had coaches accredited or volunteers trained. Whether they have received a few thousand or $100,000, the money has been gratefully received and well spent.

Since I became member for Mitchell, I have made a point of writing to every sport and recreation club that I am aware of in my electorate to notify them about grants offered by the state government. This has definitely broadened awareness and generated an increase in funding. I am very proud that nearly half a million has been secured for sport and community clubs in Mitchell since 2010. It is important to note that, if an electorate does not apply for grant funding of its allocation each year, those funds are allocated elsewhere. This is why I always try to remind clubs to get in their applications.

Mitchell is not the only electorate to be home to clubs which have benefited from the state government's important investment in sporting and recreation facilities. For example, the electorate of Stuart, from which the mover of this motion comes, has received $2,940,237 for its sporting and recreation facilities over the past 12 years. One of my neighbours in the east, the electorate of Davenport (represented by the opposition spokesman for recreation and sport, Mr Evans) has received $1,117,668 for sporting and recreation clubs across the same period.

What this is all about is the state government's commitment to investment in sport and the benefits that flow from having an active, healthy community. Sport fosters a positive, productive and principled culture. Additionally, all team sports come with innate lessons in cooperation, discipline, focus, fitness and teamwork, as well as leadership.

Sport played a big part of my life growing up. It was big in my house—well, softball and speedway were, anyway. My sister, who was 11 years older than me, played softball for Seacombe and South Australia as a pitcher, and my father was a softball umpire and a mad speedway fan. We spent many hours at the softball fields at West Beach, and as a young fellow it was a great environment. Everyone knew each other, and I had so many surrogate aunties and uncles.

I guess it would not be too hard to work out what sport I took up. It was school baseball for Tonsley Park Primary School, and then on to Goodwood to the Goodwood Indians, and I also played cricket whilst I was at school. Sport kept me focused when my parents separated, and being in a team environment was so helpful for me.

Fast forward a couple of decades and, with three kids all actively involved in various sports, it continues to play a huge role in my life. As an adult, I have coached cricket, T-ball and soccer I have to say that soccer was a sport that was certainly totally foreign to me. However, it started new learning for me. At one school meeting where the kids had a team all ready to go but they did not have a coach, guess who put his hand up? I guess everyone in this chamber has been there and done that.

From those modest beginnings, I eventually became the secretary and webmaster of Southern Districts Junior Soccer Association and was honoured in 2010 to be awarded life membership. I love to watch almost every sport, and my wife can certainly vouch for that. I played indoor cricket for the same team for 20 years, until late 2010, when ill health intervened and I was diagnosed with an inner ear infection that brought on vertigo. If anybody knows a cure, let me know.

Ms Bedford: My big toe stops me playing sport!

Mr SIBBONS: The trouble is, I fall flat on my face if I start running. Speaking about sport in this place is a privilege. It is something I am so passionate about. It is not difficult to list the things that sporting clubs could back to our communities. Just let me run through a few things that spring to mind.

There are health benefits for us and our children. More than ever our health system faces the multiple challenges of an ageing population, ageing infrastructure and the increasing burden of chronic disease. Prevention is more important than ever before. As a nation we are becoming less active, often due to the work we do, and we have to look at ways of combating our sedentary lifestyles. Sport and recreation facilities help to reverse this trend by engaging groups of all ages, all fitness levels and all backgrounds.

In my view, every dollar invested in local sport and recreation is literally one less that will be required in health one day. There are also enormous social benefits that derive from having vibrant sport and recreation clubs at the heart of our community. That is why I am proud to be part of a state government that stands shoulder to shoulder with its sporting clubs and associations in supporting their commitment with its own.

Mr PEGLER (Mount Gambier) (11:52): I certainly support this motion. I do not think any of us appreciate how important our sporting clubs are, particularly in the regions. I will just use my local Kongorong sports club as an example. Every Saturday during the winter—or every second Saturday at home, of course—they play football and netball at all grades right through from the juniors to the seniors.

It is a great opportunity for families in a district to come together and, of course, those from the districts that we are playing against, so that people get to mix with each other and get to know each other. I think there are benefits, particularly when things are tough sometimes. The dairy industry in the last 12 to 18 months has been going through very dire times, yet those families can come along to the football and netball of a Saturday, forget all their woes, watch the game or play in the game, have a beer or two and a steak and just have a good yarn with each other and support each other.

It is not only the benefits of the sports itself, but the benefits to the community that far outweigh anything else that happens within our community, I feel. These clubs are also very much the hub of the community. Whenever there is a local disaster or somebody runs into trouble—losing a loved one or whatever—it is always those sporting clubs that come together to assist in those disasters or assist those families who have run into trouble. That is great thing.

The benefits for our young people in playing their sports is tremendous. They get together every Tuesday and Thursday night to train and then, of course, play on Saturdays. Many of our clubs have introduced programs on responsible alcohol drinking and responsible eating, etc., which has been a great benefit for our communities, so I certainly congratulate them on that.

I do not think that we will ever appreciate the help that it gives to people, particularly, with mental health problems. They can be feeling down all week, they go along on Saturday to the footy or the netball and get to have a yarn with a few of their mates and that alleviates a lot of their problems.

Sporting clubs also have a great benefit for new families that move into an area because they get to meet the locals and become part of the community very quickly, and they are certainly always welcome within those clubs. Those clubs bring many benefits to our communities.

I would also like to congratulate our governments and councils for the grants that they have made to these clubs over many years. I know within my own electorate just about every sports club has been the recipient of grants and, without those grants, they would never have had the facilities they have. You look at their clubrooms and their change rooms, which are magnificent. Their booths and food facilities are second to none and, of course, the ovals nowadays, with irrigation and responsible usage of water, are tremendous. I certainly congratulate our governments and councils on the facilities that they have made available for our people. I certainly commend this motion, particularly for the benefits it has to our communities.

Ms BEDFORD (Florey) (11:56): Sport definitely builds communities and relationships and keeps us healthy. We learn life skills through organising competitions and working as part of a team, sporting clubs have links with local communities and community groups and, most importantly, they provide a social outlet for people who might otherwise be lonely or isolated.

There are obvious environmental benefits, too, to looking after sport and recreational clubs and their facilities. The protection of green space in our communities that sporting clubs provide is increasingly and extremely important. In our own case in Modbury, we have a great sporting complex, the heart of which is the Waterworld swimming centre. Then they have the Modbury Sporting Club and, standing on that oval on a Saturday afternoon, you could be at any oval in Australia in the regional areas. It is surrounded by gum trees, with a great view of the hills. Many hundreds of families spend their time there. We also have a lawn bowling hub very close to that as well.

Another very important positive derived from sporting clubs is their impact on community safety. I believe there is absolutely no doubt that sport and recreation plays a role in reducing youth crime and property damage. When young people stay involved in sport through their teens, the disciplined team work and positive life skills learnt reduce their vulnerability to negative life choices such as drug, alcohol and antisocial or criminal behaviour.

So, with all these positive benefits, what are we doing to ensure we continue to see vibrant and functioning local sporting clubs across our communities here in South Australia? The state government has a strong commitment to sports and supports active recreation in clubs and sports programs that assist in improving our health and wellbeing. These funding mechanisms help to get more people involved in physical activity.

In Florey, for instance, we are home to many sports, and I actually like the obscure sports. Not only are we looking at things like cricket and AFL but we have also tennis and table tennis, all forms of football (rugby league, rugby union and grid iron). We have—

An honourable member: Lacrosse?

Ms BEDFORD: No lacrosse that I know of. We have hockey (a great hockey club), all forms of bowls and baseball. We have scouting groups involved in sport. We have a pitch and putt association. I would like to put on record the importance of women's participation in sports, at all sorts of levels. As the state and national patron of calisthenics, I stand here very proud of the work that the state government has done in supporting calisthenics. We have dozens of clubs all over the state and I urge all members to go and watch some calisthenics if they have not seen it. It is a really vibrant and interesting sport. We have great women's clubs for netball, of course—we cannot go past the local netball—and, of course, in premier league netball our girls are doing extremely well.

There are obviously though some challenges facing local sports and recreation clubs. Some of this is about financial resources and I am sure a large part of it is about finding enough volunteers to help share the load of running the clubs or the associations. From coaches to umpires, to scorers, first aid or canteen staff, along with people who look after the finances and the webpages, of course, or the playing surfaces and the clubrooms, keeping a sporting club going takes a lot of work and commitment.

I know that, in Florey, some of our grants have gone to that sort of administration around sport, and I want to encourage clubs to look at that aspect of the club grants. In Florey, I have only been able to make sure the clubs have got half a million dollars, according to this spreadsheet. It seems like a lot more work when we do it, but we can obviously be doing a lot more because, as the member for Mitchell said, if you do not apply for that money, it goes to other areas, so it is about us making sure we make these opportunities available for the clubs.

I know I have had several days where we have explained how to fill in the form, because the form is the most daunting part of the whole thing, but several clubs have made sure they have been able to achieve a grant many, many times, according to this spreadsheet, over the last 10 years. So, despite the challenges they face, I believe that, by working collaboratively and working smarter and utilising all the levels of government support—local, state and federal—sport and recreation clubs have a very bright future here in this state.

I would also like to point out that one of the things I tried to get off the ground in Florey recently, or have over the years, was a 'come and try sports' passport where you get your clubs to allot, say, half a day over the school holidays, get help through local community groups and make sure that there is something there for the kids to do at the school ovals, morning and afternoon, every day of the school holidays. It was a really exciting initiative. It is going to take a bit of organisation, but we are going to have a go at doing that over the school holidays in the not too distant future.

I urge all members to have a think about that because, if we can get something off the ground in our electorates, it actually provides an opportunity for kids to come and try some of the obscure sports like lacrosse, that we were talking about, and the Olympic sports like hockey. You could not help but be excited by Olympic hockey. You have got to start somewhere and getting fit by running up and down that sporting pitch is the way to do it. I commend the government for its work in this area and also commend the member for bringing this motion to the house.

The Hon. I.F. EVANS (Davenport) (12:01): Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker, a former minister for sport too, as am I. I congratulate the member for Stuart for bringing this motion about the importance of sport and recreation before the house. I just want to make some comments in regards to sport and recreation. I, like other members, think the importance of both competitive sport and active recreation is one of the foundation stones of our society, but I just want to take the opportunity to correct a few misconceptions from other speakers.

The member for Mitchell gets up and says, in effect, 'Isn't the government good? We have spent about $53 million over 11 years on recreation and sport.' What he fails to say, of course, is that, of that, they are required by legislation to spend around $40 million to $41 million because, under the Gaming Machines Act, there is $3.5 million a year put aside into the Sport and Recreation Fund, specifically for that purpose.

That is not a government decision, actually: that was a decision of the parliament about 15 years ago under previous regimes—it has been amended since. I remember Kevin Foley, the then treasurer, getting ambushed by the upper house on this particular issue and caving in under the pressure. The reality is the government has not been generous. What they have done is what the legislation has asked them to do.

We remember, of course, that, when this government first came into power, the first thing they did was cut the sport and recreation funding. Dorothy Kotz, as I recall, was the opposition spokesman at the time. There was a cut to sport and recreation funding under this particular government.

I remember that there was a figure of around $6 million or $7 million put into the forward estimates in regards to recreational trails for horseriders, for walkers and for bike riders. Of course, that money has now run out, and guess what? There is no money set aside for that style of trail in the Office for Recreation and Sport. They have a Trails Coordinating Committee without a budget. They have abandoned recreation in that sense.

So, the reality is, yes, the government has spent $40 million or $50 million. The reality is they cut the budget when they first came to power and they have simply maintained what has been required—the vast majority of it—by legislation. The member for Mitchell comments on my electorate. It is nice of him to raise that we have about $1 million into the humble seat of Davenport. What he forgets to mention, of course, is that a lot of that money has gone to the Women's Memorial Playing Fields, which is great—I support those clubs there—but that is a state facility. Because the government will not fund that facility out of the state facilities fund—

Ms Bedford interjecting:

The Hon. I.F. EVANS: Well, it has been full of rubbish. The reality is, that is a state facility and rather than that money being paid out of the state facilities fund, the individual clubs have to apply through the Active Club Grant and other mechanisms. In other words, the money has been diverted to a state facility via club grants. I support the concept of those clubs getting their facilities upgraded; I contest whether it should be out of the normal grant pool or out of the state facilities fund.

The reality is that the government will spend more on interest on Adelaide Oval than it will on all the recreation and sport put together. That is the fundamental basis of it. If you want to really understand the government's priority on recreation and sport, then go to the other fund, called the recreation and sport fund. The recreation and sport fund has been the subject of a dispute between the Treasury and the Office of Recreation and Sport for about six years. This gets money out of the old soccer pools. It increases its revenue every year by a few hundred thousand dollars.

I think my memory is right—I have a reasonable memory—that on the last evidence to the Economics and Finance Committee, the amount of money that had built up was about $1.6 million. So because the Office of Recreation and Sport cannot resolve a dispute with Treasury, there is $1.6 million sitting there in accounts which should be going to recreation and sport clubs, but the two groups are having a dispute—the two groups are having a dispute.

All the members opposite who have been or are on the Economics and Finance Committee know that is true. They were as surprised as the opposition was when this suddenly came out in evidence at the Economics and Finance Committee, I think three or four years ago. Three or four years down the track, the dispute is still going on, so I congratulate the member for Stuart for his motion about recreation and sport and its importance, but please, please until the government can sort out these really basic issues about how this money can sit there when recreation and sport clubs are desperate for it—how they can sit there and not solve this dispute—I find it hard to believe that the government is committed to recreation and sport other than what it is legislatively required to do.

This is a government which ran round telling everyone that its priorities were not going to be stadiums. When the Hindmarsh Stadium dispute occurred, and the then opposition played a lot of politics with it, they ran around saying their priority would not be stadiums. Their priority would not be stadiums. We all know their history since then. The members opposite are simply getting up and really what they are saying is, 'Although we got into government and cut funding, we've simply spent what is legislatively required of us, and aren't we big fellows?' Well, I have a different view.

The Hon. R.B. SUCH (Fisher) (12:08): I support this motion and commend the member for Stuart for bringing it to the house. One of the important things about sporting and recreational clubs and associated facilities is the contribution they make in terms of providing not just young people, but particularly young people, with some structure, discipline and commitment in their lives. I think it is fair to say, as a generalisation, that young people who are involved in sporting activities are less likely to engage in antisocial and, indeed, even criminal activity. I have interacted with coaches who have been involved for 40 or more years who attest to that claim.

It is not just for the benefit of the people who are in the clubs, in these organisations, there is a wider community benefit. That is why it is legitimate for governments, at all levels, to support sporting and recreational activities because there is a spin-off in a whole range of benefits, not just in terms of decreased and antisocial behaviour, but improvements in health and so on.

I think it is one of the key elements in our society that people can get rid of some of their energy or even some of their aggression by playing sport. If you take the game of cricket, it is more than just a game: there is a whole culture about cricket and doing the right thing and walking if you know you are out. We do not see everyone upholding that at the moment or, necessarily, in recent times. There is a culture with various sports and it is something that we should encourage and governments should actively support.

One of my concerns—and just taking this motion a little bit further—is what I see as a decline in organised sport and physical activity in schools. There are some schools that are still committed to it, but sadly, compared to a few years ago, there is less commitment to organised sport and physical activity in schools.

My first professional job was as a teacher. In those days, we used to change into a tracksuit (or the equivalent) and it was integrated into the curriculum so that there was physical activity throughout the day—and these were primary school children, year 7s and so on—and that was better for the students. It had a positive impact on their learning and it also helped with some of the children who had particular frustrations.

One lad I had, Freddie (I won't use his surname), had some learning issues, and every now and again he steamed up in the classroom, so I used to get him to run around the oval and he calmed down and he was fine. After a while, the deputy principal said, 'No, he can't do that, he has to stay in the classroom.' Within a few weeks, he was expelled from the school and then expelled from other schools as well.

The point is, I think what we need to have is a reinvigoration of sporting activities—physical activity—in schools. As I say, it is best if it is integrated into the timetable, the daily program, not as something that you would only do on a weekend, but something that you do each and every day. I think that is where you get the best outcome, and I would like to see an attempt to restore physical activity and organised sport to a high level in all schools, not just in some.

Within my electorate I have some fantastic sporting clubs, but I will not name them. I appreciate the work of the people who organise these clubs and the work they do. Matches do not happen easily—someone has to organise them. One of the down sides is that increasingly, for junior sport, there are significant costs involved. No-one expects a free lunch, but I think some of the costs which are now borne by parents of young children playing sport are quite significant.

The other thing which is very sad is that because some men, in particular, have done the wrong thing, what we are seeing is a reluctance by some men to be involved in junior sport. They do not want to be suspected of doing the wrong thing with children. I think that has been a very unfortunate consequence of the unacceptable behaviour, the evil behaviour, of a very small number of people. I think if men are honest, they will say they are very cautious now about being involved in any activities—sporting, or otherwise—with children, because they might be falsely accused or might get in a situation where there is some suggestion of acting improperly. I think that is sad and ultimately works against the interests of the children, as well as the adults.

I believe this motion is a worthy one, and I once again thank the member for Stuart for putting it to the house.

Mr GRIFFITHS (Goyder) (12:14): I have listened to the contributions made by others, and especially when it comes to the member for Mitchell, I listened very intently when he talked with great pride about not just the sporting groups that exist within his area and those that he has been involved with, but indeed, the level of funding that has come through from the state government. I was rather frustrated, though, because I did not hear from him a word about the local commitment to fundraising and the improvement of facilities. I recognise very strongly that government support is a key to an improvement opportunity, even though, frustratingly, it is in a small amount of dollars. But the stimulus for it comes from people who live in those communities and the effort they go to, often over generations, to develop those facilities, through a lot of voluntary work and hard work, fundraising and local debentures that are taken out. They do aspire to receive government grants, and it is important that they are available and come through. For me, that is a key thing. Unlike the member for Stuart, I have only ever been a bit of a hack sportsperson—

An honourable member interjecting:

Mr GRIFFITHS: A hack, but I have appreciated—

Mr van Holst Pellekaan: I don't believe it.

Members interjecting:

Mr GRIFFITHS: A previous life. But I have appreciated the way in which it has enabled me to develop as a person. It is that involvement in a sport, either in a team or as an individual, that allows you to become the person you do become. You are involved with others, they rely upon you and you rely upon them, and you learn a level of responsibility that impacts your personal and professional lives. So, it is very important.

I am particularly pleased that, whenever there is an opportunity for a community group to apply for a grant, they approach me or other members of parliament to support that. I do so on several bases. One is to get the money but, secondly, out of recognition, as I think the member for Mount Gambier reflected upon, of the opportunity it provides for not just the local people who live there and who might have grown up in that community but new people who come in to be involved in a sport and to be welcomed into a town, where they suddenly develop the friendships, which are really a key to our social feeling and how we get along in a town. I do that continually, for a lot of different reasons, and I hope that it continues to be available.

I also recognise the great pressure on all community groups to continue to maintain their sporting facilities. There is no doubt that locals do an enormous amount of fundraising; local government is required to contribute towards that. Luckily, a lot of councils these days have a grant funding program (sometimes equal to 1 per cent of their rate revenue), which is devoted to community projects. It gives those local clubs a great opportunity to get some money to assist in upgrades and maintenance works, and it is important that it is there.

Like every member here, I have one small community in my electorate (a community of only about 150 people), but they have built in the last three years a turf cricket pitch, for example. I cannot even begin to imagine how much work goes into the development of a turf cricket pitch, and it is for juniors—no adult cricket is played there. So, that is a commitment—

The Hon. R.B. Such interjecting:

Mr GRIFFITHS: No, they don't run sheep on it—and a tremendous effort. They have upgraded their basketball and netball facilities because they compete in a wider regional competition, basketball in particular, and they have done exceptionally well. They have built great clubrooms there. They got some money from the federal government and I think some dollars from the state government also. It is about how it is driven by people, and it is not just the current leadership group but, indeed, it is generational. That is the thing that has really shone through for me, that is, that it is a generational commitment to provide an opportunity for their community to grow, and for them it has always been the sporting opportunities, and I commend them on that. It comes back to the spirit they as individuals hold for themselves and for their community.

I am humbled when I go around the electorate and look at some of the old photos and I talk to the older people who were involved about the original development of a lot of our facilities, no matter what it is—it can be the popular sports or the ones that are not utilised by as many people. You see in photos, in particular, a vast change from what is currently there to what was originally there, and you have to try to consider the amount of work that has gone into that.

I remember that, as a young bloke growing up in Yorketown, I was told by the older chaps about the 1950s when the oval was levelled, where all of these trucks worked for a week to bring in soil to put in a new surface, and the rocks were taken away, and that is what a country sporting fields were about—rocks initially. There are also the bowling clubs and the golf clubs where they have improved facilities. They started off with just these tiny tin sheds, and now they have facilities there that they are exceptionally proud of. It shows the generational commitment that is there to sporting facilities.

To me, though, it is really important, no matter whether it is regional or metropolitan, that the sporting commitment exists because it allows young people to aspire to be either a good sportsman or a contributor to a sport. The member for Stuart talked about those who might not be players but who are involved in the administration of a sport, and that is equally important. But we cannot have the elite level of sport unless we have the grassroots level.

The fact that this is a motion that is based around community driven sporting facilities which provide that grassroots opportunity for young people to work their way through—to be mentored and, indeed, if they have got it in them through either skill or capacity for hard work and a commitment level to aspire for greatness—is what we should all be proud of, because Australian history is littered with it. It used to be, I am told, that every street corner had a tennis court, and that is when we had Ken Rosewall and John Newcombe. All those generations before and after were given that opportunity to be outstanding sports people because their local community provided that facility for them, so that is an absolute credit.

I am equally frustrated, indeed, that there has been a reduction in the recreation and sport funding, and I know there has been some media on this. It is going to impact across a wide variety of our community and it is just going to make it that much harder to actually get the dollars that all these towns and suburban areas need and I would like to see if there is an opportunity for that to be reviewed because it is such an important one.

For those of us who have been involved in coaching of young people—and I have found it to be one of the absolute pleasures of my life—it is a great chance to be involved in mentoring; to help grow a young person. I know when I did some junior cricket coaching for a couple of years there was one young fellow in my team who was not an outstanding player, but I knew as a coach that I could count on him to perform as a player. We lost the grand final in the second year of my coaching and then I had to do other things in life, but his parents came up to me and said, 'It is the fact that you believed in him that has made a difference to him.'

That story is replicated millions of times across Australia, not just now, but across all generations and it has given all these young people a chance to aspire to great things because someone has believed in them. If the facility was not there and the organisations were not there and the people prepared to be involved were not there, maybe that would not have happened for that young bloke, and maybe it would not have happened for a lot of young people across Australia, so it shows the importance of this motion. I am pleased indeed that the government has indicated its support for it. It is not a political one, it is just an opportunity for us to believe in our future.

Mr WHETSTONE (Chaffey) (12:21): I, too, rise to support the member for Stuart's motion, and I think sport is the heart and soul of the fabric of our community, both in regional South Australia and, just as importantly, in metro South Australia. I have had the good fortune to live in both country South Australia and down here in Adelaide, and sport is probably something that has the fondest memories for me; the opportunities that were given to myself as a young sportsperson.

Now I watch my children given the opportunities and I watch their friends and how they actually play together. It gives them values—not just on how to play sport, but on how to be a team, how to share and also how to achieve. Also, when you do achieve or when you have actually participated in a game or a competition, just what rewards you can get, whether it is about winning or whether it is about participation, whether it is about achieving a personal best or whether it is just about having fun.

For me, I have had the opportunity to do all of that. Obviously when I was a lad in Adelaide I was given the opportunity as a young fellow to play a variety of sports, and I think that that was really something that was a bit of a luxury, because in many cases a lot of the young, once upon a time, were given a sport to play in winter and a sport to play in summer. For me, I loved my football and hence I played down at Paringa Park and Somerton with great pride in my school colours. In doing that, I was given the opportunity to play down at Glenelg Football Club in the mini-league competition.

Members interjecting:

Mr WHETSTONE: They certainly did have mini-league. I can tell you that when I played down at Glenelg I played with the Kernahan family, and most of us can remember the Kernahan brothers—Gary, Stephen and David—

Mr van Holst Pellekaan: Gary lives in Port Augusta now.

Mr WHETSTONE: He does, indeed—and obviously their very proud father, Harry, used to follow them around with a football over and over, day in and day out, but there were many others who also achieved. Sadly, a knee injury put an end to my promising career in football, but along the way I got myself better—

Mr van Holst Pellekaan: Would have won a Brownlow otherwise!

Mr WHETSTONE: A potential Brownlow—and I moved into soccer. Again, that was another dynamic of sport and it gave me opportunities to move around the state, competing with country versus city. That was another way of meeting friends and experiencing a lifestyle that I had not been able to have with either living in the city and enjoying a country lifestyle or living in the country and enjoying a city lifestyle.

Over the years, sport has given me great pleasure, and I was lucky enough to be a Findon skid kid. One of the accolades there was that I was able to jump the wall of fire. I do not have any burns to prove it, but it really was another experience and another accolade. As I have said to some of my colleagues in this place, waterski racing was then a passion of mine. I was able to compete at all sorts of levels.

Over 25 years I was given the opportunity to participate and compete at both a state and national level, and I was lucky enough to be chosen in several Australian teams at an international level. That really did give me another dimension on competitive sport. At that level, it is about winning. In essence, it is not about competing; it is about having fun and enjoying what you do, but it is about winning. That is something that I am very proud of over my many years involved in that.

Coming into fatherhood, I put my aspirations of sport on hold and I chased my kids' sporting careers. Obviously, as many here have done, I filled in the void and took up coaching and mentoring roles. Whether you are an expert coach, a mentor for your kids or an expert orange cutter for your daughter's netball team, they are all the gaps that need to be filled along the way.

You might have a four-wheel drive car, and in most cases you have a four-wheel drive car so that you can fit the netball team or the soccer team in. We will not say that cars have been overloaded, but they are the sorts of things that you do to support sport. You might do a working bee at the motocross club to make sure that the track is ready for the next competition, or you might do a working bee at the footy oval or the tennis court. They are the sorts of things that can never be underestimated.

I will touch a little on some of the statistics in the region of Chaffey. Some of the stats show that in the Murray and Mallee 69 per cent compete or participate in sport, which is about 38,000 adults participating, and I think that is outstanding. Here in South Australia, more than 200,000 South Australians have been involved in coaching roles, umpiring or administrating, and the vast majority of these have been in a voluntary capacity.

This motion that the member for Stuart has put forward is also an opportunity for those volunteers—parents, friends and people who have given their time and dedication to supporting those sporting clubs—to be recognised. Also, their efforts in fundraising, essentially, are the heart and soul of our sporting clubs because, as the member for Goyder has said, sadly in this year's budget we have seen about $3.6 million removed from the sport and recreation budget, and it is a sad indictment on any government to be taking away something that is the fabric of a community, metropolitan or country.

It is the foundation of young participants in sport getting a grip on exactly what they are good at, what they can do to prevent boredom, for social behaviour. Sport is one of the best medications for mental health, sport is one of the best medications for social behaviour, and sport is a great experience for family unity, for friendship building. I think this is a good motion. We need to look deeper than just the facilities, we need to look at what competing is all about. It is about what it provides as a flow-on effect.

I will touch quickly on the Riverland and the Mallee and some of the sporting prowess and achievements of some of our higher achievers. We have a very rich and proud motorsport history. We have had participants (as I did) compete in the world famous Bridge to Bridge Water Ski Race in New South Wales. We brought home the trophy in 2000. Over 350 teams competed from right around the world, so we are very, very proud of that achievement. Last year, one of my constituents brought home the outright Finke Desert Race trophy, and that is another great achievement. Go-karting, speedway, boat racing and dinghy racing are some of the other motorsport events.

We have AFL greats—Tony Modra, Neil Kerley, Russell Ebert, Mark Ricciuto, just to name a few. We have great Olympians—Hayden Stoeckel and Sophie Edington—and we have great cricketers—the Darlings. We have a great dynamic of families and individuals who have represented not only the region, but also our state and nation. I think that we as a sporting state should be proud of what has been achieved. I commend the member for Stuart's motion.

Time expired.

Ms SANDERSON (Adelaide) (12:32): I also rise to speak in support of this motion, and I commend the member for Stuart for bringing the motion to the house. It is such an important issue. I do not think you could overestimate the importance of providing sporting and recreational facilities throughout South Australia.

My childhood was spent in Melbourne until the age of 14, and that was probably when I did the most sport ever. One of the differences that I noticed as a teenager was that within a 10-minute drive of my home in Victoria I could have swimming competitions on a Saturday morning in a 50-metre outdoor pool in Greensborough, I could have squad training at Briar Hill, and I could go to other training at Eltham, straight down the road from me; you could have private lessons. There were at least five swimming pools within a 10-minute drive of my home, so to be engaged in sport was far easier, given that there were so many facilities.

When I moved to Adelaide I swam for North Adelaide and I trained at the Aquatic Centre when it was an outdoor pool, which was quite cold, and then it was closed for a while and then when it reopened again. However, other than the Aquatic Centre there were not really any other pools nearby. When I went to university I used to search for swimming pools that I could train at, because if you wanted to train after working hours at the Aquatic Centre you would be faced with 10 people per lane, and it was just crazy busy and quite impossible to train properly. Certainly compared to Victoria, where I grew up, South Australia is quite lacking, particularly in swimming centres.

The other sport that I played a lot in Victoria was basketball. Again, there were several stadiums. I think there were two or three indoor basketball stadiums within probably a 10 to 15 minute drive of my home. In Adelaide, as a teenager I wandered the streets with my basketball trying to find a hoop or somewhere to play around the key, and I struggled to find anywhere. In fact, the Walkerville YMCA was the only indoor basketball facility that I could find that was open to the public, and that is where our university used to train.

In fact, the University of South Australia did not—and they still do not—even have their own basketball facilities, so we used to use the Adelaide university's basketball courts in North Adelaide, which have now been demolished, so none of the city universities actually have any basketball facilities. I do think there is actually a need to invest in more sporting facilities.

I think it is extremely important. Not only does it keep children active and motivated, but from working in the modelling industry where, for 18 years, I actually trained and taught many thousands of teenagers, it was quite obvious to me which teenagers had an interest outside of school. Whether that was acting or modelling or whether that was music or sport or calisthenics or dancing, it made a very big difference to the lives of those children.

You could see that they had goals, they had other outlets for making friends. They had other interests, so if they were not engaged at school, they could perhaps have that engagement with their sport or music or other activity, where they could perhaps find people to talk to or understand them. I have also noticed that most teenagers go through a difficult patch. In fact, I have recommended many of them to take up martial arts as a way of harnessing their aggression through their teenage years and having an outlet for putting that into a productive source.

I actually did participate in judo for several years at the Prospect Tiger Judo Club and represented South Australia at the nationals. I found that it was a particularly useful sport and a really good outlet for your teenage years to learn something important, Whether it is breathing, stretching or team bonding, there are many other benefits to doing sport.

One of the things that also used to happen in Victoria when I was in primary school was that every morning we would do two laps of the primary school and there would be 10 exercise stations, so we would be doing our sit-ups, chin-ups, push-ups and balance beams and all kinds of things.

It is great to see that in some of our Parklands there are some exercise stations now being set up, but I do not think we could overestimate at all the value and importance of children getting involved in sport from a young age. In fact, I think it really sets your body up for later on, in terms of not putting on weight as easily and enjoying sport and the coordination and interaction that it brings.

In my electorate of Adelaide there are actually over 250 local sporting and recreational groups and there are also many clubs from around the metropolitan area, including schools and university clubs, that use the Parklands that surround the area. Whilst the government is spending over $600 million on Adelaide Oval, which includes the $40 million footbridge, it is disappointing that they have taken away $3.5 million in funding for community groups.

I have had the great pleasure over the last three years of handing out some of the grant cheques to different community groups and finding out about some sports that I did not know existed in my electorate. I recently took a cheque to the Swords Club which includes fencing and sabre and I think there is another type of sword that they compete with. It was really good to see them at work and training and to see them all kitted out with their gear.

I have handed out cheques to walking groups, softball clubs, soccer clubs and football clubs and turned on lights at the Walkerville Oval, so there has been lots and lots of activity which is terrific, but it is disappointing that that will be reduced in the future because it is just so vitally important.

There have been many studies done over the years of the other benefits of participating in sport and these include increased social interaction and support, positive self-esteem and confidence, challenge and competition, a feeling of achievement and leadership, improved individual physical and mental health, and skills development. It can lead to employment in the industry and in associated industries. There are also economic benefits of sport and recreation in tourism and other special events that come to the state.

It also provides a safer community through reduced antisocial and criminal behaviour. The teenagers who are most likely to be graffitiing or setting fire to bins or binge drinking are usually not the ones who have to be up at seven in the morning to squad train with their team or be at the rowing club at six in the morning. If they were, they certainly would not be able to be out so late at night and participating in negative and criminal behaviours.

There is also a link to increased community pride and improved societal health and wellbeing, as well as a reduction in health care costs. If you keep people fit and healthy, sure, there are a few injuries here and there involved in sport but, in general, people are fitter and healthier and less likely to end up in hospital or have weight issues or diabetes, because they have a really good sporting ethic.

The member for Chaffey mentioned statistics so I would like to brag, really, about the statistics in my electorate. In eastern Adelaide, which includes Adelaide, Prospect and Walkerville, as well as other council areas, there is an 81 per cent participation rate compared to 78 per cent in South Australia as a whole. In fact, it is the highest rate in the state across all the regions.

The rate of participation in my electorate for males between the ages of 16 to 24 is 94 per cent. To contrast with that, 90 per cent of females between the ages of 35 and 54 are involved in sport. So, females get more involved in sport when they are older and males when they are a bit younger. Almost half of the adults, or 78,100, in my region participated in some organised sport or active recreation. It is terrific to see.

The sports that are most popular in my area are aerobics and fitness, cycling, running, swimming, tennis, and walking, at 74.5 per cent, so that is very popular. I think the Linear Park around the river is a terrific walking trail and there is a need for some more walking trails. Weight training is the other one. I commend the member for Stuart for bringing forward this important issue and I commend the motion to the house.

Mr PEDERICK (Hammond) (12:42): I commend the member for Stuart for bringing this motion. As people have said before, it is not just about participation: it is about all the support that is put in around teams and sporting activities in our electorates. In regard to football, I played a little bit of football in my time. I went through the junior colts ranks right through to the senior ranks at Border Downs football club at Coonalpyn. It is a few years ago now, but—

Mr van Holst Pellekaan: A couple of hips ago.

Mr PEDERICK: Yes, and a couple of injuries ago, too, I must say. It was a very exciting period. Playing in the River Murray Football League, we were always the underdogs out there in the Mallee. It always has horrified me the amount of money that has had to come into local sport. I know it is par for the course now and part of the action that happens so that teams can be competitive, but I have been dismayed that over the decades we have had to have paid players, especially in the football arena, to keep local clubs going.

In saying that, if that gives the ability to a local town to have a club so that we can keep functioning, perhaps that is the plus of it, but it is probably one of those evil necessities we need to keep our regional sports going. I am aware that paid players go down to Mount Gambier and, in our league, they go to Murrayville to play football.

I know a few people have related a few personal stories. I was very much a reserves ruckman and, on many weekends, we got used to seeing 20 or 25 goals being kicked over our heads but we still turned up every week and, when we had a win, it was celebrated, I can assure members.

Just on another personal note, one day, I was at footy training, it was near the end of my career, and the coach said, 'We've got you listed in the A grade.' I said, 'Come on; that's never happened before.' I think I was 29 years old. Someone came up to me and said, 'You are listed in the B grade as well.' I said, 'Thanks for that.' So, I played three quarters of reserves, went on the bench for a quarter, then went on the bench for a quarter of A grade and then played almost the full three quarters of A grade.

The Hon. R.B. Such: Collapsed.

Mr PEDERICK: Yes, I was dragged off because I was injured. I had been taken out by the other ruckman because I was beating him.

The Hon. J.M. Rankine: That's your story.

Mr PEDERICK: Absolutely, and I am going to stick to it every day.

The Hon. J.M. Rankine: And you call that a career?

Mr PEDERICK: That's alright, as I said. I know what happened on the day.

The Hon. J.M. Rankine: Even I could come up with a better story than that.

Mr PEDERICK: That's good, but I don't even have to make it up. What I am saying is it is about participation and getting out there. My boys are playing at Peake in the Mallee league and they are having a great run. Young Angus is only nine years old, and his mother was keen for him to wear a helmet. He has always been a fairly aggressive player, and he said, 'That will let me go in harder.' I do not know if that curbed Sally's anxiety about possible head injuries.

Mr Whetstone interjecting:

Mr PEDERICK: Yes, I will get onto that. Young Mackenzie, who is an onballer, is 12. He is in the under 13s and plays in the same team as Angus. He can play ruck-rover, up the field or centre. He is having a good run and he has some good little teammates around him.

The member for Chaffey has egged me on to talk about some of the genes in the family, and I will reflect on that. We were at the football the other day at Peake and someone said, 'Who's that young No. 16?' The person they were talking to said, 'That's Bruce Abernethy's nephew'—not Adrian Pederick's son, Bruce Abernethy's nephew. I thought, 'One thing about my boys: if they get the Abernethy skills and my build, they will go alright, but if it is the other way around, it might be a bit ordinary.' But they are going alright and it is good to see the kids around them having a good day out.

We talked about travelling to football. We have to go interstate to the MCG—the Murrayville Cricket Ground—to play. We always get the extra seats motivated in the car and take a mate and his son. It is quite a good day out to go over there and play footy with our Victorian friends.

It is about what the communities do around sport. I know, with the Peake sporting club there that we are involved in, it is about the netball, it is about the football and it is about that community interaction that happens on weekends. People have busier and busier lives and they perhaps do not get the opportunity to meet up with people at other times, but they do at these sporting events. A lot of business gets done during the afternoon and a lot of people find out what is going on and follow up afterwards. They sort out whatever business or other activities they are organising with friends and neighbours who they only get the opportunity to have a decent conversation with at the football.

This also relates to being at the cricket, the basketball or the hockey. There are so many sporting activities that people can take up. As many in this house know, I am a fairly keen lawn bowler. There are a lot of lawn bowlers in the community. Someone said it is the most dangerous game played in the world because there are more deaths on the field than in any other activity, but that might have something to do with the age of the participants at times. There are plenty of young bowlers playing bowls. It is a great sport and is great for social interaction.

Night bowls at Geranium got me into it. I know there a lot of night bowlers out there and a lot of clubs. We played at Melbourne earlier this year with the parliamentary bowling team and they have the barefoot bowls, so it gets a whole lot of other people involved in a sport that they otherwise may not have been involved in.

I just want to reflect on a few of the sporting stars who have come out of the Hammond electorate. We have got Marty Mattner, who was at the local footy last week. He recently retired from a successful career at the Sydney Swans. I did say, 'Is he going to play for Peake?' and they said, 'No, he can't be cleared this year because he is still contracted, even though he has retired.' His hips are no good. We have young Chad Wingard playing for the mighty Port Power. He is having a stellar season and he will have a stellar career. His father, Trevor, plays for Peake occasionally, and you can see where the football genes come through there.

We have people like young James McRae, an Australian rower who has won many awards—bronze at the recent Olympics. Rowing is one of those sports that a lot of people do not have a direct relationship with. One of my mates, Wally Seidel, his daughter Georgia recently went to Sydney in the nationals. It was interesting, evidently. I was not there, of course, but she was in the women's double sculls, and she and another girl won. The fascinating thing is, all the other rowers there had their individual coaches, and there was Georgie with her father, Wally. There is a story: if you are good at a sport, you can get there with ability and a bit of training. I know she is doing a bit of work now down at West Lakes as well as training at Murray Bridge. I commend her for what she is doing there.

Sport does bring communities together and I know we can never let that pass. There were a lot of challenges to get sport happening with the lack of water for facilities in the last few years preceding the breaking of the drought. A lot of bowling clubs put in artificial turf to get around that, but a lot of effort was made and a lot of fundraising done by other clubs to make sure that they could water their ovals and their playing grounds, just so that they could keep those sporting facilities going to keep the fabric of the community alive. In closing, I commend the member for Stuart for this motion. I cannot think of a better way to keep communities together than sporting activities.

Mr GARDNER (Morialta) (12:51): I will be fairly brief on this motion, but it is the perfect opportunity for me to acknowledge a group in my local area that deserves particular commendation to the house, and that is the Campbelltown City Soccer Club, which this year is celebrating its 50th anniversary. It is the perfect example of what the motion brought to us by the member for Stuart says: that sporting facilities do make a significant contribution to the community over and above the direct benefits of participating in sporting activities. Over 50 years, the Campbelltown soccer club has given so much to the community around Morialta, as those members who have had reason to come into contact with it would know.

The club is doing some spectacular things this year. Apart from anything else, the first team has turned around a few years of mid-table activity and is currently second in the Super League, which is terrific and a credit to the new coach, Joe Mullen. Last weekend I was very pleased to see he was able to help the club come to a nil-all draw against his old team, Adelaide United. Along with the assistant coach, Joe Lagana, and the captain, Vasilis Parhas, he is leading a great team this year. It is a really strong effort and I have every faith that they are going to have a year to be genuinely proud of.

I want to place on the record my thanks to the committee led by Don Leombruno, who is having a terrific year. He is a fairly new chairman of the club and he is doing a marvellous job. Julie Ciccocioppo has been the secretary for six years and Tony Centofanti has been the treasurer for 10 years, along with the support of the patron Aldo Perilli. The committee is going really well and organising a fantastic year for the club.

The 50th anniversary is particularly being helped by the chairmanship of Arturo DiFede, who is organising a group of events, including a family fun day that a number of members were able to come to earlier in the year. I was pleased to have the opportunity to speak there. There is a reunion of past players and a gala dinner coming up, which should raise a bit of money and also some profile.

This club has hundreds of players and probably 1,000 people directly involved with the club, including family members. The juniors go from under eights to under-16s. The sort of facilities involved are important. It is a real combination of all levels of government. I know that when John Howard was the prime minister, Christopher Pyne as the local federal member was instrumental in getting $1 million grant so that the junior clubrooms at the Campbelltown soccer club could be built.

Those clubrooms are really well utilised today. Over 20 teams use them, but also every Friday night it is one of the best places to get pizza anywhere in the Morialta electorate. For those of you who have had some pizza at the Campbelltown soccer club, or anywhere else in the Morialta electorate, I think you will agree.

The council supports it through the ownership, of course, of the land and the main building. It is also a facility that provides for the East Adelaide Table Tennis Club and the Athelstone Kindergym, which is all greatly appreciated. But I want to commend the Campbelltown soccer club for the great work that they do, continue to do, and have done for 50 years.

Mr PENGILLY (Finniss) (12:55): I rise to make a contribution to the motion by the member for Stuart. It is a good motion, and it is very worthy of debate in this house and members putting across their points of view. In essence, sport is particularly rural and regional South Australia. If you did not have sport on weekends—at this time of year, football and netball, particularly—quite frankly, a lot of those rural communities just would not continue to exist.

These days, in many respects—and I know the minister just looked at me—the reality is that on a Saturday, netball, in many areas now, is far bigger than football and the football really follows the netball around. It is a day out for the community and if these sporting clubs are run particularly well (which most of them are) they are a training ground for young people. They give young people the opportunity to learn some discipline in and around club rooms; the way clubs operate; and they learn discipline on the field, mostly. That is a really important part of this.

There are many good examples of that in my electorate. One, in particular, is Brendon Lade who used to play for Port Power. He comes from my home club, the Wisanger Football Club, on Kangaroo Island—Wisanger Sports Club, where briefly, a couple of years ago, the minister and the Speaker attended on the centenary. They couldn't find me, but I heard they were there. However, no greater advocate for sport has been Brendon's father and mother, Don and Marie; they have been fantastic and they have given many young people a good grounding in the basics of life through their involvement in both football and netball.

I know it is a broader spectrum; there is hockey played, and then you get into the summer sports—the list goes on and on. I am always keen to encourage sporting clubs to apply for grants and I know that the member for Stuart is incorporating the metropolitan area, but as rural members we are particularly reliant on that.

Tonight, I have the annual sponsors dinner for the Encounter Bay Football Club. There will probably be 150 to 200 people at that. Their A grade is having a stellar year; they have Scott Welsh and Ian Perry playing down there this year. It has been an enormous boost for them, and the club is going particularly well. It is a very, very well-managed club and they provide good facilities. In fact, they had a trial AFL game there last year between Fremantle and Port. I am a Crows supporter, but Fremantle got done over that day.

It is a terrific thing for the community to have great sports grounds. Only just then I was outside meeting briefly with the general manager and the development manager of Bowls SA, and I am tabling a petition from them later on this afternoon. Bowls is enormous in my electorate. It is enormous in other parts of the state and across Australia. We have hundreds of bowlers down in my electorate that play every day of the week, it seems to be—you're not a bowler, Don! They play every day of the week, and then they go north during the winter to play up in the warmer climes. So the list of sports is endless. Darts is considered a sport—I have active darts clubs; I have active all sorts of clubs.

The other thing that is rather important is that there is a great big push for an aquatic facility down on the south coast to encourage organised swimming, but also to encourage hydrotherapy pool activity for people who need it. There has been an announcement this week on that, but I do not think I will go near that. The reality is that if and when it does occur, it will also be of great benefit to the people of the south coast. So, it is with great pleasure that I support the member for Stuart's motion, and with those few words I will sit down.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: If the member for Stuart speaks, he closes the debate.

Mr VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN (Stuart) (12:59): Thank you very much, sir. I appreciate the contribution from all members here, including the government members. I also appreciated the member for Davenport being able to correct a few financial issues as well.

All communities benefit: whether it is Wilmington (where I live) or Port Augusta, or the Kilburn Football Club, where I recently met community members on a totally different topic and was very impressed with their young club president, Dale, whose last name I cannot actually remember. However, sporting facilities create healthier communities, more prosperous communities, more cohesive communities, more successful communities, regardless of where they are in the state, and I appreciate this house's support of the motion.

Motion carried.


[Sitting suspended from 13:00 to 14:00]


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