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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, Second Session (54-2)
2021-04-01 Daily Xml
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FIFA Women's World Cup

Ms LUETHEN (King) (14:28): My question is to the Premier. Can the Premier please advise the house how the Marshall Liberal government is building what matters and delivering key sporting events? With the leave of the house, I will explain.

Leave granted.

Ms LUETHEN: This morning we learned that, after a competitive process, Adelaide will become one of the host cities for the women's soccer World Cup.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL (Dunstan—Premier) (14:28): I thank the member for King for her excellent question. I think every South Australian—well, nearly every South Australian—woke to the fantastic news this morning that South Australia, in fact Adelaide—

Ms Hildyard: You weren't even going to participate.

The SPEAKER: The member for Reynell is called to order.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —will host games in the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup, and what an outstanding coup this is for our state. I must say that I was absolutely delighted with this news. Why the long face over there? Why the long face with such a great story for our state? It's almost impossible to believe because this is a great day. It's a great day for football, it's a great day for women's sport but, more than that, it's a great day for South Australia, and it would not have happened unless we really did craft our response to focus on the sporting legacy here in South Australia.

Part of that, of course, is infrastructure, but part of that is the ongoing legacy for the great game, and I do want to single out and thank the Minister for Sport, Rec and Racing in South Australia. He did an outstanding job, but he is a modest man. He enjoyed working with the Football Federation South Australia (FFSA) here in South Australia—Sam Ciccarello, its president, and, of course, Michael Carter, its chief executive officer—and also the Football Federation Australia (FFA) and James Johnson, Mark Falvo and Jane Fernandez. Everybody worked together.

We had a fantastic bid team on behalf of the country. We had two South Australians on that: Natasha Stott Despoja and Moya Dodd. We worked with Adelaide United, we worked with clubs in South Australia, we worked with EventsSA and we put in a compelling bid, and the good news is that the Women's World Cup is coming to Australia. It is going to be held in five cities in Australia and we are one of them.

When I spoke to James Johnson about this, he said that one of the critical reasons that it came to South Australia was our focus on legacy. What we are building at the moment down at Coopers Stadium, Hindmarsh, will transform that area. People love going to Hindmarsh and they love going to Coopers Stadium, but it is tired. As part of the oval's $212 million upgrade to the sporting infrastructure, presided over by the Minister for Sport, Rec and Racing, they will get a major transformation of that site, not only with money that we are putting in. I learnt recently through the work that we are doing in terms of our Local Government Partnership Program that there is also an upgrade happening outside Coopers Stadium, Hindmarsh, with the Charles Sturt council.

This takes it to around $56 million or $57 million of transformation there, and $24 million is going out to Gepps Cross. This is really important because we want to bring in as many people from interstate and overseas to watch the games, but we also want to bring teams in from overseas to train and spend money right here in our economy.

We know that sporting infrastructure is absolutely crucial to improving the opportunities for young people in South Australia to get out from behind their screens, get out onto the pitch and get out onto an oval and enjoy life, but we also know that it cannot happen just at the elite level. That is why I was really pleased to be with the member for King only last week when we were out at the Golden Grove Tennis Club.

I've got to say that they have been without clubrooms for a long period of time. It's absolutely extraordinary that those sitting opposite left them operating out of somebody else's shed. Well, by contrast now, the members there are absolutely delighted. I met with Craig Mousley—what a great president and also a great coach. I said, 'We have delivered for you, Craig; now you've got to deliver some future tennis champions for us here through the Golden Grove Tennis Club.' Elite, grassroots, putting the people of South Australia first. Building what matters.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! Before I call the member for West Torrens, I call to order the member for Florey. I warn the member for Reynell and warn for a second time the member for Lee.

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