Ms O’CONNOR question to MINISTER for SPORT AND EVENTS, Mr DUIGAN
I want to talk to you about an exciting initiative, the Tasmanian Academy of Leadership and Sport, which as you know, minister, started this year with a 12-month dual-diploma program. It is quite a unique partnership with TasTAFE, the Tasmania Devils, the JackJumpers, Netball Tasmania and the Hobart Hurricanes. It will provide an opportunity, particularly for young Tasmanians, to seek training and a career in all fields of sports management.
Minister, you would agree that this is an exciting initiative, and somewhat overdue, and it fills a gap where we have been losing a lot of our talented young people to centres on the mainland. It relies on the success of the Devils. The plan is to extend the academy next year into the regions.
Do you agree, first of all, that it is an exciting and important initiative and, secondly, regardless of what happens with the stadium enabling bill, it is the kind of program that needs sustained support from government, and it needs a commitment to be made to its success now?
ANSWER
Mr President, I thank the member for Hobart for the question and her enthusiasm for the program, because it is so great and it does emphasise and underline the value of having elite sport here in Tasmania. Pretty much every conversation I have with every sporting body is about the fact that Tasmania should be represented. There is no reason why Tasmania should not be fielding teams in the highest-level competitions in our country. It is certainly part of this government’s legacy, because we have seen successes of our teams.
It was great to catch up with two of the TALAS participants at Kingborough the other day. I cannot remember the names off the top of my head. The excitement that TALAS is bringing and the clear pathway that it sets out – because sport is an industry, and it is an exciting industry and it is a growth industry, and it does provide really important and well paying, much sought after jobs and careers. We are putting Tasmanians on the pathway to seek and secure those careers, whether it be here in the state, or more broadly around Australia, or the rest of the world. I occasionally catch up with old alumni of mine or people I know who are working in sports, in the field of sports. I caught up with somebody who was running a V8 supercar team the other day who was a friend that I had lost touch with, but it was great to see and hear about those opportunities that exist in sports.
Ms O’Connor – The question was, are you committed to the continuation of this project?
Mr DUIGAN – We are deeply committed by all of our actions from our time in government to giving Tasmanians opportunity, whether it be in basketball, in cricket, in tennis, in football, in AFL. We are committed to those opportunities, whether it is playing or in administration, and this is evidence of that commitment yielding results in reality for young people, which is deeply important.
