❓ Question regarding funding for community sports clubs, specifically Scarborough Sports and Community Club, to support inclusive facilities. The Minister confirms funding and criticizes councils and the Liberal Party for hindering women's sports participation.
AnsweredQoN 377Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
PlayOn WA initiative
377. Mr Stuart Aubrey to
the Minister for Sport and Recreation:
I refer to the Cook
Labor government's plan for community sport and recreation funding through the PlayOn
WA initiative. Can the minister advise the house how this government is
investing in community clubs, such as the Scarborough Sports and Community
Club, to support inclusive and fit-for-purpose facilities?
377. Mr Stuart Aubrey to
the Minister for Sport and Recreation:
I refer to the Cook
Labor government's plan for community sport and recreation funding through the PlayOn
WA initiative. Can the minister advise the house how this government is
investing in community clubs, such as the Scarborough Sports and Community
Club, to support inclusive and fit-for-purpose facilities?
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member
for Scarborough for that question. We know that community sports and recreation
facilities and clubs around our great state are so important for both getting
people out there and participating in sport and being part of and belonging to a
club. We know there is a huge task to continue to invest to improve those
facilities. I am delighted to confirm that the club will receive just over
$73,000 for female change rooms and disability and child-changing facilities.
Across the state, we
are investing like never before to improve our community facilities—whether
it is through the delivery of over $300 million in election commitments, the Club
Night Lights program to get better use of our facilities, working with our Department
of Education and schools to have community access to our local schools or
supporting a whole range of demands, such as for pitches, ovals and hardcourts.
We know that drainage is a particular issue at the moment, as most of our ovals
have been waterlogged over the past couple of weeks. Another key part is
clubrooms. We have seen a massive increase in participation in key sports like
footy and soccer across the state, and we need to make sure that we upgrade our
change rooms to reflect the exponential growth in women's teams across all
sporting codes.
I get very
frustrated when we try to deliver these projects and some councils do not
believe they should be accommodating women's sports. It is like they are
members of the Liberal Party. I am looking at people in here. We are struggling
with some councils to deliver the change rooms that will allow for greater
women's participation and also safety in those change rooms. It is not good
enough to say, "Boys and girls can share a change room; you just need to
lock the door." That is not good enough. I have heard that from some councils.
We will continue to invest to make sure that we mirror the huge participation
in women's sport with the right change rooms.
Of course, we know
that the Liberal Party is not so big a fan of women participating in sport—
Several members
interjected.
Ms Rita Saffioti: Or politics—or anything,
really. Let us call it. I know that the member for Nedlands is not here today,
but of course his interaction with the Minister for Energy and Decarbonisation
when he talked about—
Point of order
Mr Liam Staltari: The member for Nedlands is not here
today and the convention is that he would not be spoken about or criticised.
The Speaker: No. Thank you. I shall not uphold that
point of order, but the convention is that you do not refer to people's
presence within the chamber or not.
Questions without notice resumed
Ms Rita Saffioti: Talk about being tone deaf! What did
the Leader of the Opposition and the member for Central Wheatbelt do in the
first question? What did they just do?
Several members
interjected.
Ms Rita Saffioti: What did they do? The hypocrisy of
the other side is incredible.
Several members
interjected.
Ms Rita Saffioti: The hypocrisy of the other side to
stand and criticise a pair—
Several members
interjected.
The Speaker: Members! Leader of the Opposition! Leader
of the House! Minister, if you could get back to the question, that would be
appreciated.
Ms Rita Saffioti: It was a great point of order. I am
glad to entertain it. Are you tone deaf? Did you not just see what the member
for Central Wheatbelt and your own leader just did?
To go on with the
leader, remember, it is the Leader of the Opposition who believes that women's
tennis is somehow inferior—
A government member
interjected.
Ms Rita Saffioti: A reserves game is what the Leader
of the Opposition said. We very much support women's participation in society,
in this place and in sport, unlike the Liberal Party.
for Scarborough for that question. We know that community sports and recreation
facilities and clubs around our great state are so important for both getting
people out there and participating in sport and being part of and belonging to a
club. We know there is a huge task to continue to invest to improve those
facilities. I am delighted to confirm that the club will receive just over
$73,000 for female change rooms and disability and child-changing facilities.
Across the state, we
are investing like never before to improve our community facilities—whether
it is through the delivery of over $300 million in election commitments, the Club
Night Lights program to get better use of our facilities, working with our Department
of Education and schools to have community access to our local schools or
supporting a whole range of demands, such as for pitches, ovals and hardcourts.
We know that drainage is a particular issue at the moment, as most of our ovals
have been waterlogged over the past couple of weeks. Another key part is
clubrooms. We have seen a massive increase in participation in key sports like
footy and soccer across the state, and we need to make sure that we upgrade our
change rooms to reflect the exponential growth in women's teams across all
sporting codes.
I get very
frustrated when we try to deliver these projects and some councils do not
believe they should be accommodating women's sports. It is like they are
members of the Liberal Party. I am looking at people in here. We are struggling
with some councils to deliver the change rooms that will allow for greater
women's participation and also safety in those change rooms. It is not good
enough to say, "Boys and girls can share a change room; you just need to
lock the door." That is not good enough. I have heard that from some councils.
We will continue to invest to make sure that we mirror the huge participation
in women's sport with the right change rooms.
Of course, we know
that the Liberal Party is not so big a fan of women participating in sport—
Several members
interjected.
Ms Rita Saffioti: Or politics—or anything,
really. Let us call it. I know that the member for Nedlands is not here today,
but of course his interaction with the Minister for Energy and Decarbonisation
when he talked about—
Point of order
Mr Liam Staltari: The member for Nedlands is not here
today and the convention is that he would not be spoken about or criticised.
The Speaker: No. Thank you. I shall not uphold that
point of order, but the convention is that you do not refer to people's
presence within the chamber or not.
Questions without notice resumed
Ms Rita Saffioti: Talk about being tone deaf! What did
the Leader of the Opposition and the member for Central Wheatbelt do in the
first question? What did they just do?
Several members
interjected.
Ms Rita Saffioti: What did they do? The hypocrisy of
the other side is incredible.
Several members
interjected.
Ms Rita Saffioti: The hypocrisy of the other side to
stand and criticise a pair—
Several members
interjected.
The Speaker: Members! Leader of the Opposition! Leader
of the House! Minister, if you could get back to the question, that would be
appreciated.
Ms Rita Saffioti: It was a great point of order. I am
glad to entertain it. Are you tone deaf? Did you not just see what the member
for Central Wheatbelt and your own leader just did?
To go on with the
leader, remember, it is the Leader of the Opposition who believes that women's
tennis is somehow inferior—
A government member
interjected.
Ms Rita Saffioti: A reserves game is what the Leader
of the Opposition said. We very much support women's participation in society,
in this place and in sport, unlike the Liberal Party.
Explore WA Government Data
Search the full archive in the free dashboard, or query programmatically via API.
Explore more
Government Gazette
Appointments, regulatory notices, planning changes.
Hansard
Debates, questions, speeches and sentiment.
Tabled Papers
Reports and documents tabled in Parliament.
Committees
Committee profiles and recent reports.
Regulations
Subsidiary legislation with filters and summaries.
Bills
Proposed laws and parliamentary progress.
Acts
Current WA legislation and summaries.
Explanatory Memoranda
Bills with EMs (text/PDF) available.
Members
MP profiles, party breakdown and rankings.
Pollie Rankings
Data-driven rankings across 19 categories.
Amendment Chains
Track how schemes and regulations evolve over time.