Page 2795 - Week 07 - Wednesday, 29 June 2011
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I think that is an excellent objective and expected outcome. I think that the strategic initiatives are good ones although, as I have spoken about before in this place, the lake does not rate a mention. This is where we do need to join up some of these points. That is an important facility that is often difficult to use. That sort of joined-up thinking means that some of the areas I talked about—for example, the number of people commuting to work on a bike—are covered, as they should be, when the sustainable transport action plan is finally delivered. I am sure that will also measure the number of people commuting to work on a bike, but it is the sort of thing that will also come into this document. A little of that cross-fertilisation across government would be a very valuable thing and would add to what I believe is an excellent strategy.
In conclusion, the Greens will be supporting Ms Porter’s motion. I understand that Mr Doszpot will also bring forward some amendments. We will speak about those when we come to them. But as I said, the Greens will be supporting Ms Porter’s motion. We believe that it supports the direction of the strategic plan and puts further emphasis on that. I just urge the government to go the next step and measure our progress down that path. To that end, I move the amendment circulated in my name:
Add:
“(3) calls on the ACT Government to develop the following statistically measurable indicators for the Active 2020 strategic plan and to publicly report on them:
(a) baseline indicators; and
(b) future targets.”.
MR DOSZPOT (Brindabella) (11.41): I welcome the opportunity to speak on the motion moved by Ms Porter. Sport and recreation is a vital and essential element of Canberra life. Recent Australian Bureau of Statistics information shows that the ACT is Australia’s most physically active state or territory, with a sports and physical recreation rate of 87.4 per cent in 2009, above the national average of 82 per cent. Certainly this percentage is assisted by the fact that the ACT is home to many successful elite athletes and sporting teams, as well as an abundance of quality sport and recreational facilities.
Our ovals and playing fields have nearly 81,000 hours of booked sports usage a year, and that does not take into consideration the number of swimming pools in which training is undertaken each day of the year, or the number of training and recreational activities—rowing, dragon boats and sailing on our lakes. It does not take into account the myriad small groups and individuals that each day pound across our bridges and on paths around the lakes. It does not take into account the number of fitness instructors who push their sometimes less than willing clients through painful activities in any grassed area across the territory. And it does not take into consideration the countless number of cyclists that use our bike paths.
So we do take our sport seriously. And, yes, it is appropriate that government should work with the community to develop a shared vision for where we want our sport and
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