Thanks very much Kate, Noeleen, Perry, my ministerial colleagues; Peter Dutton the Minister for Sport, Michaelia Cash the Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for Women and of course Senator Bridget McKenzie. Most of all to everyone who loves the great game of netball it is a real pleasure and honour to be here today and to be associated with the announcement of our Commonwealth Games netball team.
Prime Ministers usually display a certain amount of sporting memorabilia in their offices. I have got a number of sports represented in my office. I have got a number of sporting activities represented in my office including my own Queenscliff Surf Club patrolling jersey with signed members of the patrol up there. One of the very special items of sporting memorabilia that sits right behind my desk is an Australian Diamonds netball.
So, I am here, yes, as Prime Minister. I am here representing a Government which committed an additional $6 million during the election campaign to support netball, particularly the Netball World Cup, but I am also here as a netball Dad. For much of the last two decades I have been on netball sidelines watching my daughters compete in what can only be described as a very tough, vigorous game that requires the highest standards of commitment and athleticism.
I have spent far more time watching netball over the last two decades than any other sport and I have come to love this game which gives Australian girls and Australian women a great chance to demonstrate their sporting prowess.
It is perhaps our largest sport for women. There are some 350,000 players, some 5,000 clubs. Every weekend in winter tens, if not hundreds of thousands of parents and friends and supporters line netball courts right around our country in some very humble venues and in some quite sophisticated venues. Watching on TV are many more tens if not hundreds of thousands.
So, netball is a great game. It is just as important as some of the games which get more attention in the media. And I guess that’s the final reason to be here: women’s sport deserves more attention than it gets. Just because a sport is predominantly played by women doesn’t mean that it is not equally worthy of attention and I want to promote sport because sport builds character, sport builds team spirit, sport enables us to be everything that we can be. It helps to realise our dreams. But women’s sport is every bit as important as all sport and it’s important that the Prime Minister of this country acknowledge it.
So, it’s great to be here. I hope that we have a fabulously successful Commonwealth Games, but I particularly hope that we beat the Kiwis when it comes to the netball gold medal.
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