A Coalition Government will commit $250 million in funding over four years for community sporting infrastructure across the country.
This package is aimed at improving sporting infrastructure right across our country for the benefit of our young girls and boys who currently operate with poor change room facilities and substandard sporting infrastructure.
Federal Member for Groom, Garth Hamilton said with the recent success of the Matildas, the Diamonds and our Women’s Ashes Team, grassroots sport is experiencing a surge in interest in women’s sport.
“We must harness this new excitement around sport and participating in grassroots sports to build the sporting infrastructure that our young athletes need.
“I want to see more young people, more women from across our region participating in sport and go on to do great things, just like we have seen with the Matilda’s in recent weeks.
“This is a lasting proposal that will deliver legacy projects in our community, in contrast to the Prime Minister’s public holiday thought bubble. It will mean better outcomes over the decades ahead for young people across Groom,” Mr Hamilton said.
Too many young girls who have an interest in playing sport currently have to change in the sporting club carpark and use outdated or derelict toilets, particularly in regional Australia. This is not good enough. We need to do better, and this announcement will go a long way in rectifying this inequity.
Local sporting champion Olivia Winter welcomed the announcement of an infrastructure program designed to build better grassroots sporting facilities.
“I think it’s a great initiative. Having grown up playing sports, there were lots of times I played at grounds with no facilities, so I know this funding would go a long way in creating a more comfortable environment for young girls to get involved.”
“This wave of excitement for women’s sport has been a long time coming, it would be great to now have the facilities to support that.”
Our priority will be improving sporting infrastructure in population growth areas in outer metropolitan, rural and regional areas: areas where young families live and where participation in sport is vital.
Funding will focus on projects which reduce barriers to participation for women and girls, but funding will be made available for projects which also increase accessibility and improve local facilities for children around Australia.
ENDS.
Background:
- Our investment won’t be contingent on State and Territory government investment, we would encourage the States and Territories to match our investment to bring the total to $500 million.
- This commitment seeks to build on the recent momentum in female sports.
- The program seems to deliver long-term benefits for community by building infrastructure to boost female participation in sport and supporting grassroots sport across our country.
- Recipients would need to demonstrate co-funding of at least 20 per cent of the project cost.
