Page 2806 - Week 07 - Wednesday, 29 June 2011
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is something that I hope will improve over time. ACTSport is a valuable player in this discussion in the ACT, an important stakeholder, and I hope that we can see an improved situation in the future where it can play a more active role in direct conversation with the government.
Amendment agreed to.
MADAM ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Ms Le Couteur): The question now is that the motion, as amended, be agreed to.
MS PORTER (Ginninderra) (12.18): I thank members for their contributions to the debate. As Mr Rattenbury says, sport and recreation is not only good for our physical health, but also good for our mental health, and it builds socially cohesive communities. He reflected also on the huge contribution of volunteers. However, as he says, the contribution they make is matched by the benefits they derive from the volunteering, which he refers to as social glue. Of course, Mr Rattenbury, I do support all of the active 2020 strategic initiatives.
I find some of Mr Doszpot’s remarks somewhat strange. I think if he bothered to read the active 2020 document thoroughly, he would know where ACTSport was, in relation to this matter in particular—fully involved and engaged with me and my consultation processes that I went through with the sporting clubs and principals and staff at public and private schools. As the minister says, Mr Doszpot also spent a lot of his time criticising the man and not engaging on the valuable aspects of this motion, which was disappointing. Bringing together schools and sporting clubs through resource-friendly policy is an opportunity to build a stronger sense of community cohesion and cooperation around two institutions valued and appreciated by Australians.
As I said, the strategy is a dynamic partnership between the sport and recreation industry and the government. I want to congratulate and thank the active 2020 working group, a group drawn from the industry itself. As the minister said when launching the report earlier this year, this has been a true collaboration between the sport and recreation industry and government. He went on to say:
… record numbers of local sport and recreation enthusiasts and relevant ACT Government agencies providing their input into the future priorities for local sport and recreation over the next decade.
As the working group said in the document:
The sport and active recreation sector includes people from all walks of life. For some it is their pastime, for others it is their vocation and for most, it is their passion.
This is why at the beginning of this term I made a determined effort to meet with as many local community sport and recreation groups as possible to offer them my support and to try to make sure I understood their various challenges as well as the opportunities that might exist. This led me, as members would know, to move a motion in relation to community sport and recreation groups and sport and recreation
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