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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, Second Session (54-2)
2020-05-12 Daily Xml
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Coronavirus Restrictions

Mr BASHAM (Finniss) (14:28): My question is to the Minister for Recreation, Sport and Racing. Can the minister update the house on the Marshall Liberal government's Roadmap for Easing COVID-19 Restrictions on community sport?

The Hon. C.L. WINGARD (Gibson—Minister for Police, Emergency Services and Correctional Services, Minister for Recreation, Sport and Racing) (14:28): I thank the member for his question and note his eagerness to see the Victor Harbor football side, the netball sides down there at Strathalbyn and the Goolwa Magpies no doubt returning to their fields and their courts to play, as we all are. I think everyone is itching to see sport back. It's one of the most common questions I get asked walking down the street. Generally from about a metre and a half away, people ask me, 'When is sport coming back?'

Can I say that with the great news last Friday and the wonderful work that all sports have been doing in the lead-up to this point to make sure that they are as prepared as possible, we know the announcement from the national cabinet on Friday really opened the doors for us to begin bringing our sports back here in a training mode.

Since that announcement, we have seen a real kick and a spike in the number of people applying for their sports vouchers. People are wanting to use these sports vouchers and get back to playing sport. Of course, as you know, Mr Speaker, we doubled the value of that sports voucher when we came into government and that puts a hundred dollars back in the pockets of South Australians, and they really appreciate it at this time and appreciate getting back into their sport.

What we have done, as I outlined, is work with all the sporting codes over the past number of weeks to make sure they are as prepared as possible. We know we live in a different environment, a different climate now whereby things will be done a little bit differently. The Premier outlined a little earlier the first step toward getting back to playing sport and being in the new world that we live in, and that is about training, training with 10 people in a group, one coach or whatever, helping out there on a football-size field.

You can divide that up into three groups, if you like, or three segments on that football field so we can get people back training. There is no contact at the minute, no contact as far as the sports are concerned, so those contact sports will have to devise training sessions around skills and fitness to make sure players are developing and getting ready to return to play, and that is exciting. All the sports have put their plans in place. They have worked well with the Office of Rec and Sport and they have helped shape those for them so that we can get through step 1.

The ideal scenario then, as we keep working with Health, is that they will have a look at how things are going and we can look at moving toward step 2. That is where we look and hope to bring back our competitive training so we can ramp it up to the next level and bring back indoor sports as well. At the moment, in step 1 we are only doing outdoor sports. So it is exciting and people are very happy to see sport coming back, and if we get through step 2—step 2 is pencilled in to start on 8 June—we can get into step 3 and, hopefully, get back to competition.

What the sporting groups and sporting bodies are very focused on, and that goes right through to the associations, the clubs and the individual players themselves, is making sure they keep doing the right things, keep following the rules and following the instructions. South Australians by and large have done that so wonderfully well, and collectively we should all be very proud of how our state has done. Compared with the other states, we are, I think, a long way in front.

I have talked about competitive sports and their pathway back. Those non-contact sports I should say have a little bit of an advantage, and we have seen just recently that tennis is already back to playing games and looking to get winter pennant up and running in early June as well. Tennis has really grabbed the bull by the horns. By the nature of the sport itself, they socially distance, so that is fantastic and we are keen to see people pick up a racket, and I know that Tennis SA is really keen to promote that as well.

Bowls have also done an outstanding job. They worked under the restrictions prior to last Friday and put a plan in place whereby people could continue to play bowls. We do still have to work through that the clubs and the clubrooms aren't open, and we will keep working on that. That is something we need to work with Health around because we know congregating in big numbers in smaller spaces and places is what has Health a little bit worried.

We will keep working through that, but we should rejoice and celebrate this first step we have taken because South Australians have done an amazing job and the sporting community has done an amazing job. We look forward to seeing people back on the courts, in the parks, playing and getting fit not only for their mental health and physical health but also for their social wellbeing. I know South Australians are very excited with the great work they have done.

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