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House of Assembly - Fifty-Third Parliament, Second Session (53-2)
2015-06-04 Daily Xml
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Motions

Community Sport and Recreation

Mr WHETSTONE (Chaffey) (11:30): I move:

That this house—

(a) recognises the benefits of grassroots community sport and recreation to South Australia; and

(b) urges the state government to reverse its decision to reduce funding to the Community Recreation and Sport Facilities Program by $3.5 million per annum from 2015-16.

I rise to introduce a motion that I think is very important to every member in this chamber and to every aspiring sportsperson in South Australia. The motion recognises the importance of grassroots community sport in South Australia and also urges the state government to reverse its decision to reduce annual funding to the Community Recreation and Sport Facilities Program by $3½ million.

Grassroots sport in South Australia is one of the key components to healthy living, to growing up and to building a great society. What we are seeing at the moment—and it has been condemned by all sporting clubs, all sporting codes, Sport SA and even the government's own Office for Recreation and Sport—is that a reduction in this funding is going to have a significant impact on the grassroots level of sport. Let's remember that grassroots sport is a pathway to elite sport. So, let's not kid ourselves about the fact that, while we spend many, many dollars on the glossy Adelaide Oval and the conduits to Adelaide Oval—we all think that is a great stadium—all sporting venues right across this great state, whether they be metropolitan or regional facilities, will be impacted by this reduction in funding.

This funding obviously creates vibrancy around local sporting clubs, but it also expedites projects for facilities or equipment or a number of projects, which could range from between $3,000 and $2½ million. In my role as shadow minister for recreation and sport, I visit many sporting clubs right across the state in both metropolitan and regional areas, and what I am seeing is a growing trend of ageing facilities. I see change rooms that are outdated and toilet facilities that need an upgrade.

The number one area of concern is the kitchens because today we live in a much more regulated world where occupational health and safety standards need to be overseen on a regular basis, and that puts pressure on those sporting clubs to have to invest in those facilities. They are always looking at fundraising, they are always seeking volunteers and sponsors, but they are also looking at that conduit of government support and government funding to expedite the sporting club programs which our children and, in some cases, our grandchildren attend and which are part of the fabric of our communities.

At the outset, I mentioned grassroots community sport, and we cannot forget that the grassroots level is the fabric of all our community sports clubs. It is the initiation of our juniors entering sport. Every junior we know who plays sport or competes in sport wants to strive for something better.

They are always looking to better themselves, always looking for personal bests, always looking to outscore the other team, but to be able to do that and to be able to have the facilities that are of a standard to be able to compete, we do need these funding programs so that we can have good sporting facilities and great role models. I was recently down at the Fleurieu with the member for Finniss and was a guest speaker with a couple of sporting greats. They talked about the grassroots experience.

Gavin Wanganeen—we all know Wangers, as he is fondly known, an AFL great—talked about coming from the Salisbury footy club, but he came up through the ranks, through that grassroots level. There were pathways there to the elite level. We also talked to Travis Head, another speaker at the event, he too coming from the northern suburbs. He attended Trinity College, but as a young South Australian sportsman he has memories of those grassroots pathways. He is a 21-year-old South Australian, a great example of what every junior cricketer in South Australia would want to achieve. He has done it all: he has done limited overs cricket in India and played county cricket in the UK. He is now captaining the Redbacks here in South Australia, but his fond memories are of his club sport and what it presented to him and what it presents to every one of the young cricketers in South Australia.

I have touched on the footy and the cricket. Over time, we will see the reduction in funding impacting on every sporting club. It is quite ironic that, while the state government is handing out $50 sports vouchers to families, it is cutting grassroots sports funds. Potentially, that will drive up membership fees and put more pressure on the sponsors, on the parents and volunteers who support those clubs.

My challenge to everyone in this place, both sides, in government and in opposition, is to come in here and make a contribution to what their sports clubs mean to their electorates. As politicians, we regularly visit our sporting clubs and we all know that they come to their local member looking for better facilities, looking for more government support, so that they can have a better sporting club and provide a better experience for their juniors and seniors.

In 2013, when this was announced, there were media campaigns run through both The Advertiser and Messenger community newspapers. There was a 'Fund our club' campaign, and there was outrage when the minister made the announcement. He was a sportsman back then, as he is now—a little bit less now, but I am sure he supports his children's sports—and he knows that they rely on that funding to make their sporting clubs, that grassroots sports experience, much better.

Along the way, there was a lot of criticism, but there was constructive criticism and it was all about the government retaining that funding and keeping that program in place. Some of the sporting clubs said:

We were happy to put our hands in our pockets, but without the funding it would not be possible. For that amount of money, without government grant funding, it would take us something like 15 years to achieve what this grant fund would to upgrade our sporting facility. Clubs are looking for something to get our kids off the streets and out there playing sport, because we can only do so much with the resources that we have. Having spent so much money on the Adelaide Oval the government should be spending much more money on grassroots sport.

Again, I reflect on Adelaide Oval, a great facility, one of the great stadiums in this country, but for those elite sportspeople to be able to play on that oval they have to start at the grassroots. Grassroots is the start of a pathway from that entry level of sport to the elite level. The member for Stuart was lucky enough to be able to play elite sport. He would know first-hand what sporting clubs need, the resources they need to have. We have other local members on both sides of this chamber, and in this place I think the older we get, the better we were.

Let's make no mistake about this. This funding program is very important to South Australians and the grassroots sporting clubs. It is great for our society. What we are going to see with this cut in funding is an impact and we cannot say that the $50 voucher is going to be the saviour because it is not. I am sure that every MP would say that one of the great parts of their job is going out and handing out the Active Club grants cheques, making that presentation to them and understanding what that money will do and how it is going to make the club a better place. When you go back to visit the club to see what that money has achieved, you see the benefit to the participation rate and how those juniors, in particular—and we know there are some seniors. I am looking at a few seniors on this side over here who would enjoy that upgrade to grassroots clubs.

An honourable member interjecting:

Mr WHETSTONE: No. I want to touch on an FOI that showed how even the government's own Office for Recreation and Sport had said that this cut in funding will have a serious impact on sports programs here in South Australia. The sports minister requested cuts. The overwhelming majority of sport and recreation facilities were built before the 1980s and they are now coming to that age where they need this funding support. The government's responsibility is to make sure that those sporting facilities are up to scratch, that they are there for the betterment of our sport and they are there for creating that pathway.

More than a million South Australians were active in sport and recreation in 2013-14. That multiplier means that there are more than 13,000 people who are making an economic contribution and that adds about $1 billion to the state's economy. There are 225,000 South Australians who volunteer their time, and I think these are the understated people in South Australia, they are unrecognised, unpaid. For them to be proud of a sports club, a sports facility, makes it such a great story to tell.

South Australia has a very proud sporting history. Remember that every elite sportsperson started somewhere and normally at club level, coming in and excelling, always trying to achieve a personal best or always trying to achieve a team win. Without having a facility, a competitive sports ground, without good club rooms, change rooms and toilets, it is a disincentive. People will turn the other way and look for something else to do.

An honourable member: Chess.

Mr WHETSTONE: Well, we talk about chess. I do not know whether there would be too many of us in here who would be looking for a chess—

Members interjecting:

Mr WHETSTONE: I didn't say that, I said not too many. As a sports lover, the older I get the better I was, but today I am a bit more of a couch potato. What I do is I support my kids, I support their friends, taking kids to sports clubs, and we are proud to turn up at a sporting ground that has a good pitch, in some cases that has lights, that has a good change room, a good kitchen and a good vibe about it. I think that giving this funding to a lot of these grassroots sports clubs is what it is all about. It is about creating sustainable sport here in South Australia. It is about making sport a great destination. Every child who trains during the week, every child who competes on a week night or a weekend, they strive and they get up in the morning looking forward to playing sport. I am sure that every child will frown upon the government taking away a pathway for financial support to their club.

What I am calling for today is that the Minister for Sport make an announcement that he is prepared to overturn that funding cut and uphold this great sporting program. Again, the $50 voucher is not the saviour, but we see that upgrading sports facilities and giving them grassroots support is. It is a great opportunity and I wish that this government would see the importance of grassroots sport to South Australia.

The Hon. T.R. KENYON (Newland) (11:45): I move to amend the motion as follows:

Leave out all words after (b) and replace with:

supports the many clubs and organisations which have received funding from the Community Recreation and Sport Facilities Program.

The new motion would read:

That this house—

(a) recognises the benefits of grassroots community sport and recreation to South Australia; and

(b) supports the many clubs and organisations which have received funding from the Community Recreation and Sport Facilities Program.

There has been a significant investment in club sports over a very long period of time by both sides of politics in this state and, in fact, when we came to power we eventually increased the amount of money that was—

Members interjecting:

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order! Continue, member for Newland.

The Hon. T.R. KENYON: The government, in fact, increased the amount of money that was spent through the Community Rec and Sport Facilities Program which had not gone up for quite some time. We have the Community Rec and Sport Facilities Program, the Active Club Program, and the state facilities fund. To date, in 2014, they have been awarded roughly $7.7 million, rounding to one decimal figure, which is 46 per cent of the grant's budget which has been approved towards 104 facility-related projects.

The state government has provided grassroots funding to the community of $7 million which has been invested in 46 facilities and facility plans throughout the Community Rec and Sport Facilities Program. The total grants budget of the Department of Planning, Transport and Infrastructure, the Office for Recreation and Sport, for 2014-15 is $16.8 million, with $7.5 million (44 per cent of the grant's budget) available for facilities and related projects through the Community Rec and Sport Facilities Program and the state facilities fund.

While it is well known that there was a reduction in the amount of money, it continues. It has not been completely cut and it is being put to very good use, and it has been for a long time by both sides of parliament. I do not think anyone here would find that a regrettable thing because, as the member for Chaffey has said and as I think we all agree in this house, the local community clubs do an enormous amount of work for our community. They provide a great good, and what the state government seeks to do with these grant programs is to assist them to do that good.

It is not the state government that runs their clubs. It is not the state government that turns up every Saturday morning to mark the lines or be the umpires, team managers or coaches. It is the community themselves—parents, friends and supporters of the club—that come and do that. The clubs would not exist without those facilities, so what the state government can help to do is provide facilities and some support to those clubs which, by their very existence, provide a great service to our community. The community would be so much the poorer for it were they not to exist. I think with the general decline in religion across our community—

Mr Tarzia interjecting:

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order, the member for Hartley!

The Hon. T.R. KENYON: I said 'general decline' across the community—what I think we have seen in some ways is that sports clubs have become more important in their community. Whereas religion may have provided some of those community building facilities, as that has declined sport has taken on more of those roles. That is a great community building asset for the communities and it certainly should be supported.

All of us do on this side, and we are very proud to turn up often in support of our clubs. All of us will regularly write on behalf of clubs in our electorates seeking to support them in their applications for funding. As the member for Chaffey pointed out, we are all very happy to turn up with the cheques when they arrive. Sometimes, in my experience, the only time people are really happy to see me as a member of parliament is when I have a cheque in my hand for their sports club or a rum bottle in my hand at the ANZAC Day service after breakfast, when I put a little bit of rum in each of their coffees. They seem to have a big smile for me then and are not so smiley generally at other times. I am always a fan of turning up at a sports club with a cheque in my hand, just if I can get a few more smiles from my constituency.

As members would know, the facility programs are generally dollar-for-dollar programs; the Active Club grants are not: people apply for up to $5,000 for programs and equipment grants or up to $20,000—

Mr GARDNER: Point of order.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: We have a point of order from the member for Morialta.

Mr GARDNER: I just seek to have the amendment that has been tabled struck out by you as the Chair, ma'am, because the substance of the amendment does in fact abolish the entire substantive part of the original motion.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Well, I have not seen a copy yet. You can take that up with the table, just while the member finishes his contribution.

The Hon. T.R. KENYON: As I said, these facility programs and the Active Club, as well as the program and equipment grants, are very useful programs for clubs. What I find often is that we need to run around and make sure that all our clubs do apply because regularly clubs think that they are not entitled to apply or that they would not be successful. One of the roles I found as a local member, and I know my colleagues are the same, is that running around talking to your clubs regularly and encouraging them to apply is very useful. With those words, I encourage all members to support the amendment, and I look forward to debate in this place.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Before we continue, as probably the member for Morialta knows, he will have its opportunity to speak on this and to vote against the amendment if he is not happy with it. Member for Stuart.

Mr VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN (Stuart) (11:51): I rise to support the member for Chaffey in his original motion. It is a very good, positive motion, and I do not believe that in their hearts members opposite would actually disagree with it, to be honest. I think it is churlish and obstructive to move the motion the government has to amend the motion.

Members interjecting:

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order!

Mr VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: If you just look through it quickly, Deputy Speaker, it recognises the benefits of grassroots community sport and recreation. Of course we would all do that. There would not be a member in the house who does not do that. Even those members who are not particularly sport inclined or whose lives and interests have not taken them that way would all accept and understand how important sport is, particularly for people early in their lives.

Of course, the benefits do not disappear with regard to health and fitness and teamwork and ambition, and even in solo-type sports you are still a member of a club, so you benefit from those sorts of things. You benefit from taking on challenges, facing difficult situations, working through them and training so that you can achieve. There are many things that are very important there.

Paragraph (b) urges the government to reinstate the $3.5 million for the recreation and sports facilities program. What member of parliament, Liberal, Labor or anybody else, would not want that to happen? Who would not want that to happen? I bet if every single member opposite were visiting one of their sports clubs and said to them, 'Do you think it would be good if the $3.5 million was reinstated?' they would all say, 'Yes, I think it would be good if that were to happen.' So, to try to cut that out of the member for Chaffey's motion is dreadful.

He is trying to replace it with 'supports the many clubs and organisations which have received funding', but what about the ones that have not received funding? The government supports the clubs that have had a handout, but they do not support the clubs that have had a handout? That is ridiculous, and I refuse to believe that the member for Newland, the former minister for recreation and sport, actually believes that. I do not know where that has come from, who has told him to come down here and make that change. I would challenge any member opposite to tell me that they only support the ones that the government has already given money to and do not support the ones that the government has not yet given money to; it is crazy.

Part (c) of the member for Chaffey's motion calls on the state government to ensure that all community and sport and recreation grants are indexed. That makes good sense. If you want to keep giving the same sort of support, you need to index it with inflation, Deputy Speaker. It makes great sense. Now, Deputy Speaker—

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Are you talking about a (c) that we do not have? We are doing our best to keep up with you, member for Stuart.

Mr VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: I apologise, Deputy Speaker.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: We are doing our best.

Mr VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: It would be good if it was there.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: So you are actually pre-empting the member for Chaffey and reading his mind.

Mr VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: The member for Chaffey is a very sensible bloke. He takes things in bite size chunks at a time, and he will be back, I have absolutely no doubt, he will back!

The overall recreation and sport grants are fantastic things with three main components: active clubs, facilities and major infrastructure developments—absolutely outstanding. I cannot understand why the government would be wanting to withdraw money from those in any one of those areas. It is actually very short-sighted. Sport and recreation investment actually saves the government and the taxpayer money in the long run with regard to reduced health expenditure and reduced crime.

People who participate actively throughout their lives in any sort of positive community club, and particularly sport, tend to stay on the straight and narrow far more than others. There is a significant multiplier effect of this money as well. The member for Chaffey talked about volunteering. Any money that goes to a sporting club to invest specifically in the facilities upgrade of that club is going to be partnered by other funds from other sources—typically fundraising from that club—but perhaps more importantly, it is going to be partnered with time and effort and skill and capacity that comes from volunteers in those clubs. There is a very genuine and serious multiplier effect of that money. This is not the place for the government to be removing contributions to the public.

I accept that rural areas benefit more than other areas. The reality is that there is less access to other activities, and sport is very strong in rural areas, even if that access is limited just by distance and travel to get to other towns or to Adelaide. In rural areas, sport and recreation is incredibly important, but it is equally true in the city. All the people who participate in grassroots sport in the city, all the way through to an elite level, all benefit.

I would like to put very clearly on the record that, since the government has made it very clear that it disagrees with paragraph (b) of the member for Chaffey's motion and wants to turn it upside down and just support clubs that have already got money, I put the challenge to the government to come out and tell us what it will do with the money that is earmarked to go to sport from the Adelaide Oval, starting out at $200,000 and working its way up to $1 million per year to come out of the Stadium Management Agreement and the overall management of the Adelaide Oval.

The government will eventually receive $1 million a year directly from the Adelaide Oval and the government at the moment is trying to take back $3.5 million. At the very least, it could say that when it receives the extra $1 million it will put it straight back into the facilities program of the recreation and sport grants. I am very passionate about this and I of course have a very strong sporting background, but this is something that is actually about communities. It is not about me because I love sport and when I was growing up that was my thing. It does not matter if sport was not your thing; it is indisputable the positive benefit that this program has to our community—whether it is ongoing health, whether it is keeping kids off the streets and productively engaged in other areas, it is very important.

I think it is dreadful that the government is taking money out of it and I think it is even more dreadful that it has an amendment to the motion that says that it supports the clubs that have already received money and ignores the clubs that have not received any money.

Mr PEDERICK (Hammond) (11:58): I rise to support this excellent motion by the member for Chaffey which reads:

That this house—

(a) recognises the benefits of grassroots community sport and recreation to South Australia; and

(b) urges the state government to reverse its decision to reduce funding to the Community Recreation and Sport Facilities Program by $3.5 million per annum from 2015-16.

This is vital money that should be going into communities. I see with my own children that they are so keen on their electronic equipment, but also they are keen on their local sport. I think anything to get the masses of kids these days out on a sporting field, whether it is a netball court, footy oval, soccer field, basketball court, whatever sport they can get into, is a great thing, not just for their health but for the future health of the whole state, so that people can start from an early age leading healthy lives and getting fit. It is certainly a pleasure to follow a couple of elite sportsmen: an elite water-skier and an elite basketballer. I must admit, I am still trying to be an elite bowler after about 20 years, but I am certainly proud to be the president of the South Australian Parliamentary Bowling Club.

Ms Vlahos: Hear, hear!

Mr PEDERICK: Absolutely.

Mr Pengilly: You've got strange aims.

Mr PEDERICK: Hey, look, it is a good sport. Some people say in regard to bowling that they are not old enough to join it yet. Well, they need to have a look around and see how many young people are taking up the sport, such as the member for Taylor, a very young bowler, who is an excellent bowler, and I hope to see her on the next bowling trip.

This money is vital right across the board, whether it is for lights for facilities or resurfacing courts of any kind—tennis courts or netball courts. In the Mallee league, we play at the Murrayville Cricket Ground (the MCG). We were only there last weekend, and they have just (over the border, I must say it is, but it is in our league) resurfaced their netball courts, and they look magnificent.

Mr van Holst Pellekaan: The home of Rachael Sporn.

Mr PEDERICK: Yes, the home of Rachael Sporn, absolutely. You talk about coming from the grassroots—there are many Sporns, Willersdorfs and Cranes and a whole range of names that come out of that area who have been significant sportspeople, not just in Victoria but throughout South Australia, and they come from grassroots.

This year our own footy club actually accessed a council grant to put in a pop-up irrigation system on the oval. The beauty of how that worked was, yes, the grant was there to pay for the infrastructure, and then it was up to the club to provide the volunteers to dig out the slots and the lanes for the pipes. I think the only true expense that was not voluntary work was the guy with the rock saw, because there is plenty of rock in the Mallee.

I certainly had a good day on the holiday Monday of a long weekend, just before the season, with a group of kids and a couple of other blokes filling it in with sand to get it into place. Yes, that was a council grant, but that was just one thing that I have been personally involved in along with the other people at Peake to make water use more sustainable. There should be more commitment to those sorts of things across the state to assist clubs of any kind to support grassroots sport.

Look at what has happened recently with Adelaide Lightning Basketball, and we think of teams in netball, the Thunderbirds—and I know of local young ladies who are playing in the junior teams at the Thunderbirds. In fact, I have a few nieces who do that as well. The sporting elite have to come from somewhere, and I know that certainly through the country football leagues. I know our league in the Mallee is paired with West Adelaide and their elite junior sporting program. It is great to see the boys go along to that. I would just like to acknowledge Abby Ballard: she is one of the best young footballers at Peake, and she can certainly show a few blokes how to play football, I can assure you.

Mr van Holst Pellekaan interjecting:

Mr PEDERICK: She's up there. She was only just below in the best player awards last year, but she will be right this year. In winding up, the elite sportspeople have to come from somewhere and they can come from anywhere in the bush. I acknowledge the player from East Murray, whose name escapes me, who got an AFL contract.

Mr Whetstone: Maynard?

Mr PEDERICK: No. To show that you can come from anywhere and compete at an elite level, East Murray, sadly, does not even have a football club any more. You can come from anywhere and you have to come from the grassroots to get there.

I certainly commend the motion by the member for Chaffey and push for its speedy progress through the house. I think the government's amendment is just not genuine. It would be easy for the government to reinject that $3½ million of funds, considering that in the forward estimates they will get at least $1 billion in unbudgeted GST revenue. I commend the motion.

Mr GOLDSWORTHY (Kavel) (12:05): I want to spend a few minutes speaking in support of the motion brought to the house by the member for Chaffey and, obviously, speak against the amendment which, I understand, the government member has moved.

I have spoken at length in this house over a number of years concerning the continual need for the provision of a satisfactory level of infrastructure services, particularly in the growing area of the townships of Mount Barker, Littlehampton and Nairne where, over the past 15 or 20 years, we have seen a significant increase in residential development as a consequence of fairly large tracts of land being rezoned from farming and other uses to residential use.

Notwithstanding that the tri-town district of Littlehampton, Mount Barker and Nairne continually requires an ever-increasing level of provision of infrastructure services, particularly sporting and recreational facilities, my electorate is no different from anybody else's in relation to the provision of sporting and recreational facilities. When I talk to my colleagues and people in the community, there is a significant issue of the lack of funding and the lack of support this government has provided over a long period of time for sport and recreational facilities.

This issue is obviously not just confined to districts that are experiencing significant residential development: it is right across the state and, as has been outlined by a number of members, particularly on this side of the house, the government is failing in relation to the provision of a satisfactory level of funding for sporting and recreational facilities at a grassroots level.

I do want to turn specifically to my meeting just recently in Mount Barker with Mr Scott Filmer and Mr David Tonks, who are representatives of a body called the Mount Barker Arts, Recreation and Sports Community (MARSC). They met with me on 20 May and highlighted the critical need for every level of government to turn its mind to the provision of arts, recreation and sporting facilities and resources in that Mount Barker, Littlehampton and Nairne district.

As we all know, and I have spoken at length about this previously in the house, the government made a decision to rubberstamp the rezoning of 3,000 acres of land in one fell swoop, without any real consideration of the concerns of the community and local government at the time. They rezoned 3,000 acres of land for residential development without what we call a structure plan. They poured all that responsibility back onto the council at a significant cost.

The local Mount Barker council had to spend several hundreds of thousands of dollars to prepare a structure plan, which covered roads, sporting facilities and different siting for a whole range of requirements, as a consequence of that unilateral decision the government made a number of years ago. We are finding ourselves in a position where the sporting facilities are under critical pressure as a consequence of this residential development and obviously increase in population, with families, children, teenagers and adults across the whole demographic of society needing sport and recreational facilities.

A gentleman came to see me the other week, and we discussed the critical need for those facilities and resources to be applied to particularly the Mount Barker township. Some land has been purchased, and the government had provided some assistance to purchase what is locally known as the Stephenson land, on the corner of Bald Hills Road and Springs Road, heading out towards where the new freeway interchange is to be constructed.

A master plan is being developed for that land for a shovel-ready project, so I will be making some representation to the government and to the relevant ministers in relation to that in the very short term. I know we want to keep our comments as brief as we can, so with those remarks I wanted to highlight the issue that the Mount Barker Arts, Recreation and Sports Community (MARSC) representatives have come to see me about. There will certainly be more representation and more said about that as we move forward.

Mr TARZIA (Hartley) (12:11): I also recognise the benefits of grassroots community sport and recreation to South Australia, and I also urge the state government to reverse its decision to reduce funding to the Community Recreation and Sport Facilities Program by $3.5 million per annum from 2015-16. I also call on the state government to ensure that all community sport and recreation grants are indexed by CPI.

If the government helped, and if the government kept the $3.5 million figure I spoke about, projects in my electorate would be more likely to happen. I just want to point out some of these because I want to support these local clubs in my community. We all know that sport is fundamental and fantastic for our young people. It teaches them how to win, it teaches them about losing, it teaches them about discipline and it teaches them about sportsmanship, hard work and teamwork.

Azzurri Sports Club would love to have some of that $3.5 million to upgrade their ground. Burnside Rugby Union Football Club, as the member for Newland knows, would love a new kitchen. They would love a new clubroom but, under the government's measures, they will not have access to the $3.5 million. Campbelltown City Soccer & Social Club would love an upgrade to their pitches. East Torrens District Cricket Club would also love an upgrade to their clubrooms. Hectorville Sports and Community Club are in dire need of new lighting. They will not be able to tap into the $3.5 million under the government's proposals.

Payneham Bowling Club have grand plans to upgrade their facility. Payneham Norwood Union Football Club is my old football club, where I won two premierships and learnt how to win. They, believe it or not, have to carry people with disabilities upstairs at the moment because they do not have a lift. It is an absolute shame. This government wants to cut funding from these sorts of clubs—that is disastrous; that cannot happen.

Tranmere Bowling and Tennis Club would also like to upgrade their facilities. They will not be able to tap into funding if the government cuts it. East Torrens and Kensington Gardens Hardcourt Tennis Club also need money for their court upgrades. East Torrens Payneham Baseball Club and East Torrens Payneham Lacrosse Club will also not have access to the $3.5 million if the government cuts it. Another organisation in dire need of an upgrade to their facilities is 1st Magill Scout Group; if the government cuts funding, that is going to be hard to do.

Kensington Gardens Bowling and Tennis Club is another one, as is the Payneham Swimming Club. The Payneham pool, as we know, benefits many families in the area. Pools are where young children, especially, learn how to swim. It is a fundamental asset in our area but, again, if the government cuts this sort of funding it is going to be much harder for these sorts of clubs to tap into this funding.

I commend the member for Chaffey for raising this motion, and I really do feel very strongly about this area. Sporting clubs and community clubs in our area are the backbone of our community, and it is incumbent on us, as local members of parliament, to do all that we can, and the government is certainly not doing that. I commend the motion to the house.

Mr WINGARD (Mitchell) (12:15): I rise today to support the motion put forward by the member for Chaffey, which:

(a) recognises the benefits of grassroots community sport and recreation to South Australia; and

(b) urges the state government to reverse it's decision to reduce the funding to the Community Recreation and Sport Facilities Program by $3.5 million per annum from the 2015-16.

I have a long history of involvement in community sport, and I am proud to say that a lot of the life lessons that I learnt from being involved with community sport has helped shaped me into the person I am today. My playing days are long behind me. I now coach and give back in that way and have done so for more than a decade. I also support my wife who coaches my daughter's netball team. I am the official drinks carrier and do no more in that role, as much as I would like to.

We must do all we can to promote community sport because it is vital to help develop healthy, happy and good citizens in our community. As I said, I have been lucky enough to be involved more recently with the Brighton footy club over the last decade or so coaching a lot of young people through there, and I hope that I have a positive influence on their lives and help shape them into good citizens as well.

One of the great jobs, as was pointed out by a few members before, on both sides of the chamber, and, in fact, one of the great parts of this job is that we get to go to a lot of community clubs, and I have met a lot of wonderful people that I would like to acknowledge for the work they do, and I am sure they would support this motion to keep the Community Recreation and Sport Facilities Program and its $3.5 million per annum funding.

Some of those clubs include Club Reynella in the south of my electorate which is a really well-organised club. Dave Denyer has done a wonderful job there. They have a footy club and a cricket club. The cricket club, of course, won the A2 premiership this year, as well as the LOD premiers. Daniel Rabbeter was the senior cricketer of the year. David Green does a great job down there. Brett Julien also has been heavily involved, and Brett Thompson was the club person of the year. This is a great club that really gives back to its community as well.

There is also the Small Bore Air Rifle Club, which does a great job and which has a couple of potential Olympians in its midst. Also the bowling club down there does wonderful work in that community and really gives back and is a key part of the community. Also, Keith Noble heads up the Cove Club and runs its operation. They have got a footy club. Craig Harwood, a good mate of mine, is involved with that footy club. They do a marvellous job again with the juniors and the seniors.

They have a cricket club as well as the soccer club. Andy Fry and his lovely wife do a great job running the soccer club, and the development that they have brought on through their junior program is outstanding. I actually studied junior coaching at university and to see what they are doing with their soccer program, I can tell members, is absolutely first class.

Also, the BMX club is there. Trevor Wigg does a superb job marshalling the troops and keeping the BMX club running. He has got some great vision for that club in the future. The Fleurieu Swimming Club does a great job. Liesl Moundfield has done a lot of work for that club, and I really commend her for the great work she does in the community and giving back to both juniors and seniors, and to see the kids involved with that club and the benefits they get out of the work that they put in is absolutely outstanding.

I mention the Marion Club, and Craig Virgo does a great job running the club side of things. They have got a cricket club which is superb and which has a number of teams. James Burden is involved there, along with David Evans. They do an outstanding job, along with the Marion Football Club where Min Adams has been working tirelessly as president for that club for as long as I can remember. Min does a marvellous job with the Rams, together with Wayne Slattery as the head A grade coach.

In fact, Mitch Powell, the young trainee in my office, plays a bit of A grade and B grade football down there, and he is a very passionate Ram. He just cannot speak highly enough of what that club does in our local community. Even though it does sit just outside my electorate, it really does encompass a lot of the community that I support.

With respect to the Marion Swimming Club, Anthony Slade is the President. I played a bit of footy back in the day and he was a very, very good footballer, but now he is just giving back through his kids and to the community by being president of that swimming club. A lot of great names have come through that swim club too. Keep an eye out for Kyle Chalmers; he will be an absolute beauty in the years to come, if not at the Rio Olympics he will be beyond that, that is for sure.

I mentioned the Reynella Community Bowling Club, the cricket club and the footy club as well. Riding for the Disabled is also in my electorate, and John Dicker and Lynne Hargreaves do a great job with that facility on Majors Road. The people who go through there get a great kick out of what happens at Riding for the Disabled. I had a good tour of that facility and it is coming along very nicely. We hope to get a few more things done for them.

It was remiss of me not to mention the Reynella Tennis Club. They have a great group of people there who give back to the community. Graeme Green is the person I have a bit to do with there and he is absolutely outstanding. Also, the Hub Netball Club on the same premises do a marvellous job. We know how the Aquatic Centre services the community, and Adam Luscombe does a marvellous job there.

I have been fortunate enough to go up and see the Southern Field Archers as well and present them with one of those community grants that are now fading away under this current government. They were very appreciative of their community grant. They do a marvellous job up there on O'Halloran Hill. They have one of the greatest venues to do their archery, with great views of the city. I know Mr Shuttleworth does a fantastic job with that group as well.

The Sheidow Park Cricket Club, a smaller club again based in my electorate at the Sheidow Park Primary School, also really appreciates these grants when they come along. I know they will be extremely disappointed if they disappear. Equally, the South Adelaide Basketball Club, another club that falls just out of my electorate, and the work they do in giving back to the community, I must say, is absolutely outstanding. The number of kids that go through that facility is absolutely superb.

The Sturt Pistol Club and John Robb, the secretary, do a marvellous job. I commend John. I have some personal family friends who are involved with that club at O'Halloran Hill. It is absolutely outstanding. The Trott Park Fencing Club is a new one. Jenny Cassidy is the head coach there. It is great to see a more alternative sport getting involved and establishing themselves in my electorate. I am very happy to keep supporting them. Again, I know that they will be disappointed that the grant funding is being removed by this government.

The Warradale Park Tennis Club is another one. Mark Flynn does a great job. They recently received one of these grants and I know they were very appreciative. I know they would be looking for more to try to continue to develop their tennis club because they do a marvellous job in our community. They are just a few clubs in my electorate and I am very lucky to have them all. It is great to support and help them wherever I can.

As I say, my experience of being involved in community sport began on Kangaroo Island with the Wisanger Football Club, a great football club. It did a lot to help me as a young person and all the way through. What young people get out of community sport is outstanding, and it is a way of realising and learning how you can give back to the community when you get older, as I am now, be it through coaching or as a team manager. I had some great team managers and people who helped out with my football team and it was really appreciated. It is a great way to give back to our community. I am very disappointed to see this funding go and I fully support the motion put forward by the member for Chaffey and commend it to the house.

Mr SPEIRS (Bright) (12:22): I too rise this morning to speak in support of the original motion put forward by the member for Chaffey and against the amendment, which I think, and as the member for Stuart said, is quite a disgraceful amendment and detracts from some very good conversation we can have in this place today about the need for community sport and for government support of community sport.

Community sport is a great equaliser in our community and it is a great community development opportunity, bringing communities closer together and giving people opportunities to know each other and get out and about and keep fit and healthy as well, which is a great benefit of sport.

To follow on from the member for Mitchell's discussions today, many of the clubs that the member for Mitchell went through are significant organisations that serve my electorate as well, because the member for Mitchell's electorate and the communities that he represents have a strong affinity to the areas that I represent as well, and vice versa. Often we find that some sporting organisations are located in one electorate but many of those who serve them and play in them live just across the boundary in another electorate.

There are two main sporting precincts in the electorate of Bright, which sit right on the boundary (pretty much) of Bright and Mitchell and serve both electorates very well. They are the sporting precincts at Hallett Cove and Brighton. It would be remiss of me to stand up and talk about community sport in this place and not make reference to the disgraceful broken promise that came to light in May 2014 when it was revealed that the previous member for Bright, Chloe Fox, had written to members of my electorate making a promise, which of course she did not run past the bean counters within the ALP.

The former member for Bright made a public written statement that if re-elected, and she did not say if she were re-elected, she said that if re-elected the Labor government would supply $1 million worth of funding to enable the Brighton rugby club to pursue an upgrade. That money probably would have acted as a catalyst for a broader upgrade of the Brighton parklands sporting precinct, which is a vision of several groups down there: the rugby club, the football club, the lacrosse club, the croquet club and the cricket club, which all meet on site at the Brighton parklands area. There has been a vision developed over recent years to upgrade the very downtrodden and significantly outdated facilities there. So, $1 million was put on the table for just a few hours on Friday 14 March 2014.

Dr McFetridge interjecting:

Mr SPEIRS: To be snatched away, as the member for Morphett says. Many constituents of the member for Morphett would also have benefited from the $1 million but, of course, it was snatched away. It was a thought bubble, a pipedream of the former member for Bright, and it smashed the dreams of the rugby club at Brighton. When we asked the Minister for Sport when this money would be forthcoming he looked shocked, surprised, and revealed that he knew nothing of it. Then, I was able to stand here, holding up the letter, the written promise, and reveal that the former member for Bright had made that false promise. It was a complete fairytale, complete Disneyland, and, unfortunately, the Brighton rugby club does not get its $1 million.

I will continue to fight for the Brighton rugby club and work with the City of Holdfast Bay to try to get the funding to see that project go forward. There is no doubt that the facilities there, as the member for Mitchell would know, the football change rooms, the toilets, are a complete joke. They would not meet any occupational health and safety standards. I think the football players who go there put up with it, just, and no more. I have heard stories that people go home for showers, they hold on and they go home for the toilet because the toilets do not even flush on game day. That $1 million would have been a vital catalyst for making that project go ahead. It is an absolute disgrace that the government has withdrawn that money and will not honour it.

Mr GRIFFITHS (Goyder) (12:28): I also rise to support the motion. For some level of balance to exist I put on the record my appreciation for two significant grants that have been received in the Goyder community: the Wallaroo Sailing Club received over $200,000 and the Cougars football club, based in Maitland, received over $200,000, also from the state government. Those funds being available made an enormous difference to the capacity of those clubs, which had saved and worked hard for years to carry out extensions and, in the case of the football club, to build new rooms, which were opened only about a month ago. For those of us old enough to remember, Rick Davies, a great Sturt footballer, and one season at Hawthorn, I believe, who came from Port Victoria, had the honour of opening it. He was a little bit colourful in his language but it was a great evening.

There are many things that regional members of parliament are contacted about, but the one clear thing that shines through for me is sporting facilities. It is a constant stream that comes in seeking assistance with kitchen upgrades, bowling green replacements, lighting upgrades and support for junior sport that occurs in the area, so it is such a retrograde step to remove $3.5 million that it has to be seen as penny pinching in the extreme because the return to the community is enormous. By involving people in sport it provides that social opportunity, that health opportunity, it brings communities together, it binds them, it gives them a common cause and it works out to be such a positive that it has to be supported.

An amount of $3.5 million in the scope of a $16 billion budget is not a lot, but it is a significant amount of money, and I respect that. However, it has to be returned to ensure that regional communities, metropolitan communities and suburban communities have access to a funding stream that they know will be there. They know that in many cases it is not an automatic right to the grant; indeed, they know that in many cases it will take two or maybe three years of dedicated effort in writing the application, making sure they have accurate quotes, working hard to raise money locally, getting support from local government in the area and also trying to get some federal government money. However, the collaborative effort returns many times to the community, and I hope that the government supports this.

I am disappointed by the member for Newland's amendment; I believe it is a retrograde step because it gives no hope to those who have not received any funding yet. However, the funds being there is a positive step and the member for Chaffey has done the right thing by bringing it to the community's attention.

Mr DULUK (Davenport) (12:30): I also rise to speak very briefly—30 seconds—on this debate.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Thirty seconds? Okay.

Mr DULUK: Well, the member for Chaffey told me that is all I have. Sporting clubs and community groups are definitely the backbone of many of our local communities, and in my electorate of Davenport I have two fantastic sporting clubs of note: the Flagstaff Hill Football Club and the Blackwood Football Club. They really are the centre of their communities and really do bind the communities together.

Support for our communities is most important, and it does more than just bring communities together. It brings out the best of volunteering in our communities and it gives someone like my good self, who has never been the best sportsman but who is a really strong enthusiast, the ability to get involved in sporting clubs. For many years, up until last year, I was heavily involved with the Adelaide University Football Club as a team manager and a great support staff. Whilst I did play a few games for the Blacks I was never knocking on the door of the first 18 in division I, but it gave someone like me a great sense of community, pride and place.

That is what local communities do, and it is the same with the footy clubs in my area, Flaggies and Blackwood. They rely on volunteers and they provide many options to the community. Of course, they double up with many other sports and sporting hubs as well. The Flagstaff Hill Rotary Club meets at the Flagstaff footy club, as well as the netball club and the tennis club; they all meet at that same complex.

Funding our local communities is extremely important, and it is really a shame that over the last couple of years local clubs have had their funding reduced. It is in supporting local communities that we ultimately get a better society.

Mr WHETSTONE (Chaffey) (12:32): I would like to thank all those members who have made a contribution and who have highlighted the importance of sport. I am very disappointed that government members—bar the member for Newland—have not spoken. This is a really good news story, that every member in this place takes pride in their sporting clubs, yet not one government member will be going to their sporting clubs and saying, 'We are going to reduce the capacity for you to access support funding.' I think it is a sad indictment of sport here in South Australia.

It was remiss of me not to mention some of the sporting groups in the electorate of Chaffey. I have three footy leagues and I attend 15 teams of footy, we have 15 netball teams that play together at those venues on the Saturday, and we cannot forget the soccer, the cricket, the hockey, the many club teams. We should also not forget that school sport in the Riverland and the Mallee comes away as school sport but it is a pathway to club sport, and they are great representatives of our region when it comes to state competition.

The Tour of the Riverland, of which I am a patron, was a recent event, the second biggest cycling event in the state, and it was great to see that those sporting clubs were there to support that tour. The Riverland is probably one of the motorsport capitals of South Australia, between speedway, go-karts, motocross, all types of off-road sport. It really is a great sporting area.

In closing I would like to make one comment, and want to refer to a media article, a mention from the member for Waite. He said that clubs would not be able to maintain grounds and clubrooms if the proposed cuts went ahead. He further stated, 'It condemns local sporting groups to a future with ageing clubrooms and infrastructure that may not comply with current standards.' However, we have not seen the member for Waite come in here and make a contribution. He was passionate about it some time ago, yet we have not heard one word from him today. The same goes for the member for Frome: he was equally as vocal and yet we have heard no contribution from him.

I am quite disappointed that the member for Newland, who was the minister for recreation and sport, has moved an amendment which is contrary to what this motion about. I think that he and all his colleagues will be hanging their heads in shame because they know in their heart that sporting financial programs are really what sporting clubs need in South Australia.

Again, I thank those who have made a contribution and who recognise the importance of sporting clubs and recognise the importance of what funding programs mean to their sporting clubs, but I do not support the member for Newland's amendment.

The house divided on the amendment:

Ayes 21

Noes 18

Majority 3

AYES
Bettison, Z.L. Bignell, L.W.K. Brock, G.G.
Caica, P. Close, S.E. Cook, N.
Gee, J.P. Hamilton-Smith, M.L.J. Hughes, E.J.
Kenyon, T.R. (teller) Key, S.W. Koutsantonis, A.
Mullighan, S.C. Odenwalder, L.K. Piccolo, A.
Picton, C.J. Rankine, J.M. Rau, J.R.
Vlahos, L.A. Weatherill, J.W. Wortley, D.
NOES
Duluk, S. Gardner, J.A.W. Goldsworthy, R.M.
Griffiths, S.P. Knoll, S.K. McFetridge, D.
Pederick, A.S. Pengilly, M.R. Pisoni, D.G.
Redmond, I.M. Sanderson, R. Speirs, D.
Tarzia, V.A. Treloar, P.A. van Holst Pellekaan, D.C.
Whetstone, T.J. (teller) Williams, M.R. Wingard, C.
PAIRS
Atkinson, M.J. Chapman, V.A. Hildyard, K.
Bell, T.S. Snelling, J.J. Marshall, S.S.

Amendment thus carried; motion as amended carried.

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