Labor welcomes the appointment of Greg Hunt as Minister for Sport. We hope that Minister Hunt will show the portfolio the respect it deserves.
Despite Sussan Ley’s numerous trips to the Gold Coast, recent reports suggested that in the past two years she spent less than an hour meeting Commonwealth Games organisers and touring venues.
Sport has also not been spared the cruel cuts of the Abbott/Turnbull Governments with sport funding cut by more than $50 million dollars over the past three years with significant cuts still to come.
We need a Sport Minister who is committed to expanding grassroots participation opportunities for all Australians, to securing stable funding for sport from the local level to elite athletes, and to ensuring that iconic sporting events like the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games build on Australia’s reputation as a great sporting nation.
Malcolm Turnbull must direct his new Minister for Sport to re-engage with Australia’s sporting community and reverse the Government’s funding cuts, which are undermining Australia’s sporting strengths.