Page 750 - Week 03 - Tuesday, 20 March 2018
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
While Ms Cheyne’s MPI and the speeches from my colleagues Ms Berry and Mr Rattenbury have highlighted the wonderful opportunities this Barr Labor government has provided to women and girls in the sporting realm, I want to highlight some local stories of women’s sport that I have been fortunate enough to be involved in.
Firstly, as Mr Rattenbury already has, I would like to congratulate the women who played for the Brumbies in Saturday’s Super W rugby match against Queensland at GIO Stadium.
Ms Berry: It was the inaugural.
MS CODY: Yes, it was the inaugural. I am just getting to that bit, minister. For those of you that missed it, unfortunately the Brumbies women went down 42-5. I was unable to get out to the match, but many of my friends and family made it out to watch this very first Super W game in Canberra. I look forward to getting along to other games over the remaining season.
One of the women who played in Saturday’s match for the Brumbies is a woman I have known for many years. In fact, I was fortunate enough to play with her for the Royals quite some years ago. It was great to see Louise continuing to have a fabulous career in rugby, including still playing for Australia.
The Super W competition means that Rugby Union has become the latest of Australia’s major football codes to launch a women’s competition. This follows in the footsteps of the longstanding W-League, the AFLW and women’s rugby league. With a stronger local competition and access to professional development, the Australian women’s rugby union team, the Wallaroos, will be a stronger team moving into the future.
But even though we celebrate the growing professionalism of women’s sport, it is important to note that the women playing in the Super W competition are not being paid, not one cent. Ms Cheyne has also highlighted the disparity between men’s and women’s paid professional sports. While their male peers, even those in their rookie or reserve season, may be earning impressive amounts, women who play rugby union professionally, who train and uphold the values of their clubs, do so without compensation.
This is a sobering reminder of the sacrifices women make to play sport professionally. This is why delivering and improving existing support and grants programs to sporting women and their clubs must continue into the future. I urge those here today to get behind a team, to join a club and to watch the games live at the wonderful grounds we have here across Canberra.
Another matter of importance I wanted to raise today relates to the announcement last month by Minister Berry of a grant to extend Circuit Mark Webber. I am thrilled that this government is investing in diverse sporting activities in Canberra. The recently announced $200,000 grant from the ACT government to upgrade the track at the
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video