❓ The Minister for Sport and Recreation updates the house on efforts to retain the Hockey Australia High Performance Unit in WA, highlighting the state's strengths and a significant investment proposal.
AnsweredQoN 670Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
HOCKEY AUSTRALIA HIGH PERFORMANCE UNIT
670. Mr G. BAKER to the Minister for Sport and Recreation:
I refer to the McGowan Labor
government's investment in grassroots sport and its commitment to
ensuring that Western Australia remains a nation
leader in competitive sport. Can the minister update the house on the
government's efforts to retain the hockey high-performance
program in Western Australia, including his recent trip to Sydney?
670. Mr G. BAKER to the Minister for Sport and Recreation:
I refer to the McGowan Labor
government's investment in grassroots sport and its commitment to
ensuring that Western Australia remains a nation
leader in competitive sport. Can the minister update the house on the
government's efforts to retain the hockey high-performance
program in Western Australia, including his recent trip to Sydney?
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member for South Perth
for his support of all sporting codes in Western Australia, but, of course,
particularly hockey.
Western Australia is a proud hockey
state. Last week, I led a delegation from Western Australia to retain the Hockey Australia High Performance Unit here. It is
the only Olympic high-performance centre in Western Australia . All the
high-performance centres for other Olympic sports are located on the eastern
seaboard. This is very important for Western Australia. We have a great history
in hockey. Our nearly 40-year tenure as the location for the high-performance
hockey centre has been demonstrated in the successes of both our women's
and men's teams, the Hockeyroos and the Kookaburras. That includes
their successes in the recent Commonwealth Games.
Western Australia is the best place
for high-performance athletes in this code. We have focused our bid on a $135 million
facility that will include three new hockey pitches, specialist training
facilities and an indoor hockey centre for the indoor version of the game. It
also focuses on athlete support networks and wellbeing. We believe Western Australia
is very well placed because of our position in the South-East Asian corridor,
in which there are numerous countries that have a strong hockey code, to
further enhance our Asian engagement.
I have to give this important
message to Hockey Australia, and I reiterated this message even to the chair of
the Australian Olympic Committee, who has
visited Parliament over the last couple of days: it is important, if we are
talking about the nation's interests in sport, that states like Western
Australia do not miss out on having a high- performance centre located
there.
I assure the member for South
Perth, the other members in this house and the people of Western Australia that
our bid is not only the most competitive, but also based upon very, very strong
aspects that are important considerations for the centre going forward after
2024. We in Western Australia have the best lifestyle. We have magnificent
opportunities in our transport linkages. We have great opportunities for
further education and training. We have a magnificent economy. Our cost of living
is far, far less than in any other state or territory in the country. All these
ingredients mean that any men and women who are selected to play for Australia
in our peak hockey teams, the Hockeyroos and the Kookaburras, will be well and
truly supported here in Western Australia. There have been a couple of voices
in the eastern states who for various reasons have been saying that the
high-performance centre should not remain here. A reminder: with the success of
the sport here, the embedded nature of hockey in this state and the fact that
we are proposing an Australian hockey centre that will deliver for the nation,
it would be very strange if the best bid, in all the aspects that we have
proposed, was unsuccessful because of eastern states bias.
I am very confident that we are
very well placed to be awarded the centre going forward because we have put
forward the very best bid. I want to thank all those who have been part of it.
We took a six-member team across to Sydney last Thursday and presented to
Hockey Australia. The presentation was very well received. It was very comprehensive and it outlined the whole raft of
reasons why the hockey high-performance centre of excellence should remain in Western Australia. It should remain so that we can continue to
deliver high-performance outcomes for both
the men's and women's team, and, even more importantly, if we
have the centre here, we can deliver to Australia and to all the levels
of hockey from the grassroots through the pathways to the elite level. We have
done it over the last 40 years highly successfully and we should continue to do
that. I expect that we should be awarded the privilege of continuing to have
the high-performance centre here when the decision is made by Hockey Australia
in a couple of weeks' time.
for his support of all sporting codes in Western Australia, but, of course,
particularly hockey.
Western Australia is a proud hockey
state. Last week, I led a delegation from Western Australia to retain the Hockey Australia High Performance Unit here. It is
the only Olympic high-performance centre in Western Australia . All the
high-performance centres for other Olympic sports are located on the eastern
seaboard. This is very important for Western Australia. We have a great history
in hockey. Our nearly 40-year tenure as the location for the high-performance
hockey centre has been demonstrated in the successes of both our women's
and men's teams, the Hockeyroos and the Kookaburras. That includes
their successes in the recent Commonwealth Games.
Western Australia is the best place
for high-performance athletes in this code. We have focused our bid on a $135 million
facility that will include three new hockey pitches, specialist training
facilities and an indoor hockey centre for the indoor version of the game. It
also focuses on athlete support networks and wellbeing. We believe Western Australia
is very well placed because of our position in the South-East Asian corridor,
in which there are numerous countries that have a strong hockey code, to
further enhance our Asian engagement.
I have to give this important
message to Hockey Australia, and I reiterated this message even to the chair of
the Australian Olympic Committee, who has
visited Parliament over the last couple of days: it is important, if we are
talking about the nation's interests in sport, that states like Western
Australia do not miss out on having a high- performance centre located
there.
I assure the member for South
Perth, the other members in this house and the people of Western Australia that
our bid is not only the most competitive, but also based upon very, very strong
aspects that are important considerations for the centre going forward after
2024. We in Western Australia have the best lifestyle. We have magnificent
opportunities in our transport linkages. We have great opportunities for
further education and training. We have a magnificent economy. Our cost of living
is far, far less than in any other state or territory in the country. All these
ingredients mean that any men and women who are selected to play for Australia
in our peak hockey teams, the Hockeyroos and the Kookaburras, will be well and
truly supported here in Western Australia. There have been a couple of voices
in the eastern states who for various reasons have been saying that the
high-performance centre should not remain here. A reminder: with the success of
the sport here, the embedded nature of hockey in this state and the fact that
we are proposing an Australian hockey centre that will deliver for the nation,
it would be very strange if the best bid, in all the aspects that we have
proposed, was unsuccessful because of eastern states bias.
I am very confident that we are
very well placed to be awarded the centre going forward because we have put
forward the very best bid. I want to thank all those who have been part of it.
We took a six-member team across to Sydney last Thursday and presented to
Hockey Australia. The presentation was very well received. It was very comprehensive and it outlined the whole raft of
reasons why the hockey high-performance centre of excellence should remain in Western Australia. It should remain so that we can continue to
deliver high-performance outcomes for both
the men's and women's team, and, even more importantly, if we
have the centre here, we can deliver to Australia and to all the levels
of hockey from the grassroots through the pathways to the elite level. We have
done it over the last 40 years highly successfully and we should continue to do
that. I expect that we should be awarded the privilege of continuing to have
the high-performance centre here when the decision is made by Hockey Australia
in a couple of weeks' time.
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