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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, Second Session (54-2)
2020-11-17 Daily Xml
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Sport and Recreation

Mrs POWER (Elder) (14:36): My question is for the Minister for Recreation, Sport and Racing. Can the minister update the house on how the recently announced Grassroots Facilities Program and the Regional and Districts Facilities Program will build what matters and help South Australians access quality recreation, sport and racing activities and facilities?

The Hon. C.L. WINGARD (Gibson—Minister for Infrastructure and Transport, Minister for Recreation, Sport and Racing) (14:36): I would like to thank the member for Elder for her interest in this area—and how important it is that we are building what matters to ensure that our grassroots sporting communities are supported, especially through these difficult times.

Sporting clubs, as we know, are the heart and soul of many of our communities, and it is actually the volunteers behind those sporting communities who are the reason they thrive as they do. We know they give their time and energy so generously to help athletes of all ages and all experiences to get out there and participate. In this time as we deal with COVID, the health officials have told us how important it is to be exercising and staying fit where we can. Not only does sport help people stay fit and stay healthy but it is also great for social interaction at sporting clubs and sporting facilities.

We know that, during the period when COVID first came on the scene, people being forced away from these locations were doing it tough because they weren't getting out and socialising with people in their community. That element of bringing community together we also know is very, very important, and that's why we have committed to investing in our community sporting facilities. Since coming to government, the Marshall Liberal government has already invested more than $150 million into facilities, equipment and programs for this type of activity to continue.

This past weekend, we released our state sports infrastructure plan, which is an outstanding plan to drive South Australia into a golden era of sporting success over the next 20 years and build the infrastructure that we will need. It is a road map to deliver what South Australia needs. The plan is a dynamic document, so it allows us to be nimble and respond to opportunities that present themselves to South Australia across that time. More than ever, we are living in a time when it is important to be nimble.

One of the key things that was identified in this plan, when we consulted very widely, was that people want facilities that are safe, high quality and well designed. They will attract people to those facilities, from grassroots right through to the elite levels. To kickstart this investment, our government has put forward $35 million towards grassroots facilities. We know the great success we have had with our Grassroots Football, Cricket and Netball Facility Program, taking $15 million of taxpayer money and turning it into more than $60 million of facilities across South Australia.

Well, we have increased that: we have now put $25 million into the grassroots program and we are including all sports across the board. This will be a great opportunity for sports to apply—

Ms Bedford: Calisthenics.

The Hon. C.L. WINGARD: Calisthenics is even included, for the member for Florey. We know how important it is that we get these sports involved. They did have an opportunity before through the Community Recreation and Sport Facilities Program, but this is an extra program, an extra $25 million that's going in.

An extra $10 million is going in as well over the next two years to the Regional and Districts Facilities Program. That allows groups of a bigger size to come together—two or three different sporting groups to come together and invest in something quite substantial. This money is over the next couple of years to really inject into our sporting arenas and our sporting areas from the grassroots right the way through.

What we have on the table over the next 12 months is $24 million to invest into sport—$44 million over the next two years. That is $44 million to go into sport within our community, because we know how important that is. It is wonderful to be delivering what matters for the people of South Australia.

Can I just finish by adding that over the weekend we did announce all our Active Club programs as well. That was some $2.5 million to give a little injection into all those clubs out there that have been doing it tough through COVID so they can reboot and come out the back end. We know how important it is. Grants of between $1,000 and $3,000 in communities right across South Australia are really the key to kickstarting sport back in this state at that community level. Again, as we can see from this money we are investing, it is so important to be building what matters.

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