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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, Second Session (54-2)
2021-12-02 Daily Xml
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Sport and Recreation

Ms LUETHEN (King) (14:16): My question is to the Minister for Recreation, Sport and Racing. Can the minister update the house on how the Marshall Liberal government is lowering costs for South Australian families with children who play sport?

The Hon. C.L. WINGARD (Gibson—Minister for Infrastructure and Transport, Minister for Recreation, Sport and Racing) (14:16): I thank the member for King very much for her question and note her advocacy in this area. The Marshall government acknowledges the important role, I should say, that club sport and recreation plays in our community. We are committed to creating places and opportunities for kids to be active. The Marshall government has demonstrated its commitment in delivering important strategies to sport that support South Australian families at the same time.

Families right across the state have been cashing in on the government's beefed-up Sports Vouchers program. I stress the point about how excited the government is to have extended this program to include year 8s and 9s. I acknowledge the member for King's work in advocating for that because it puts money back in the pockets of South Australian families. We have also expanded the program to add swimming and dance, and we know that getting people more active is really important on this side of the house.

Since coming to government, more than $24 million—$7 million this year alone—has gone back into the pockets of South Australian families, hardworking parents so that their children can play sport. By contrast, the figure is especially significant when we compare it to the not quite $7.5 million that those opposite spent in three years. I do go back to the point that under the previous government the voucher was only $50, and in fact they didn't have it budgeted going forward—

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Point of order, sir.

The Hon. C.L. WINGARD: —at the last election. We doubled-down and we have put in $100.

The SPEAKER: Minister, there is a point of order. Please be seated.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: The minister is not answering the substance of the question, sir; he is debating the answer. I ask you to bring him back to the substance of the question.

The SPEAKER: I am going to give the minister some latitude. There was a reasonably broad question asked.

The Hon. C.L. WINGARD: I was pointing out the $100 that we put in over on top of what the previous government wasn't funding as far as this was concerned. So $100 went into the expanded program, and it is a great outcome for South Australian families.

It was great to see the member for Adelaide out catching up with young Tiah and Katia from the Walkerville Netball Club and to hear from their mother, Georgia, how important these sports vouchers are to their program and getting their kids playing sport and at the same time putting money—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for Lee is called to order.

The Hon. C.L. WINGARD: —back into their pocket. I note that the member for Elder caught up with—

Members interjecting:

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

The Hon. C.L. WINGARD: —a couple of sports vouchers beneficiaries from the Wildcats Netball Club.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Member for Playford!

The Hon. C.L. WINGARD: I also spotted on the member for King's social media—

Mr Brown interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Playford knows the standing orders.

The Hon. C.L. WINGARD: —that she had visited the Wood family and their three children, who have claimed sports vouchers through gymnastics, I think it is. Over to the member for Newland: under Labor, families in his electorate saved $160,000, which is not bad, but under our program it's more than $550,000 back into the pockets of hardworking families in the member for Newland's electorate. '

Let's have a look at all of them. If we go to the member for West Torrens' electorate, I am delighted—and I'm sure he is too—to let his constituents know that they are benefiting more under the Marshall Liberal government's policies than they were when his government was running the state. Under the old government, families in his electorate saved $106,000, but under the Marshall Liberal government's plan and what we have been delivering, more than $350,000—$106,000: $350,000 back into the pockets of South Australian families. I know parents in the member for West Torrens' electorate would be over the moon about that.

The Hon. A. Koutsantonis: You don't know any parents in my electorate.

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for West Torrens is called to order.

The Hon. C.L. WINGARD: We know that if we can get everyone doing 150 minutes of exercise per week, everyone doing that much exercise—it's a big goal, but we want to push towards that—we can save the health budget up to $800 million a year. That's what the figures are. By doing our policy, by putting in this cost-of-living relief through the Sports Vouchers program, we are going a long way to helping achieve that.

Since coming to government, we have put $400 million into sport, which is a wonderful accomplishment and it's already achieved great results, whether it's from the elite level right through to the grassroots level. As sports minister I am really proud of the programs that we have supported here.

Once again, the Marshall Liberal government is committed to building what matters in South Australia so we can get more people more active and at the same time lower the cost for all South Australians as they get more active in our community. Two words to finish: game on!

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