LABOR LEADING THE WAY ON SUPPORTING WOMEN’S SPORT

THE HON TANYA PLIBERSEK MP.
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4 years ago
LABOR LEADING THE WAY ON SUPPORTING WOMEN’S SPORT
THE HON TANYA PLIBERSEK MP
Labor is leading the way when it comes to supporting women’s sport and welcomes this weekend’s news that the Liberals and Nationals have recognised that women’s sport deserves increased investment.
 
We have already publicly committed $95 million towards investments in women’s sport, much of it long before today’s ‘election-eve’ announcement by Scott Morrison.
 
The vast majority of Labor’s announced commitments to women’s sport are investments that will support local, grassroots sports clubs across Australia to provide dedicated female facilities and infrastructure upgrades that will support growth in female participation and there is more to come.
 
Labor announced last year that a Shorten Labor government, if elected, will invest $20 million in netball, Australia’s number one female participation sport, to support Netball Australia’s grassroots participation and engagement program and ensure a strong future netball – from local clubs, to Super Netball and our outstanding national team, the Diamonds. This investment will also support Australia’s bid to host the 2027 Netball World Cup.
 
We led the way on committing funding to support more coverage of women’s sport on television and, unlike the Liberal’s hand-out to Fox Sports, our investment would deliver more women’s sport on free-to-air TV through the ABC, where it could be seen by all Australians.
 
Labor was also first to back the FFA’s bid to host the Women’s World Cup in 2023,  (announcing our support almost two years ago in June 2017) and kept the pressure on the Government when they were wavering, to ensure they provided the full $5 million in funding initially promised for the bid.
 
We are absolutely committed to women’s sport in Australia, from the grassroots to the elite level.
 
Every Matilda, every Diamond, every world champion, every Olympian has made their start at a local community sports club, and the fastest area of growth in club team sports in Australia is women’s and girls’ participation.
 
Unequal access to facilities is one of the biggest barriers to increased female participation and Labor is committed to supporting facilities that enable ongoing growth, along with continued improvements in opportunity and in professionalism.
 
We are making these investments because we want to give every woman and every girl a fair go when it comes to participating in their chosen sport.
 
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