By the time you read this, the Matildas will either have gained a spot in the World Cup final or gone down to England in a historic semi-final match.
It has been wonderful to see, especially in the middle of the divisive Voice campaign, the unifying effect the magnificent Matildas have had on Australians. Whilst I’m at it, congratulations to the Australian netball team on their world championship win, too. Our girls are certainly making us proud, and participation by women and girls in sport will soar as a result, to the benefit of us all.
Sport, however, is not just a most enjoyable activity. Team sport, especially, teaches us many of life’s lessons. It helps develop character, especially in young people.
It can also be very lucrative to the communities who host sporting events. For this reason, governments across Australia often stump up big bucks to host major sporting fixtures. The old yardstick – that for every $1 spent by the government to get a sporting event, you need to have a return of at least $7 to make money – still applies. Some time ago, I wrote about how the Summernats in the early 1990s brought in $46 for every $1 the ACT Government spent in hosting the event in Canberra. I also recall as sports minister investing $10,000 so we could get an international triathlon event that was televised worldwide to more than 100 million people, showcasing Canberra on TV for two hours or so. Pictures of the lake, Parliament House, and our other attractions went around the world. It would have cost millions to buy the sort of advertising we got from that event.
It therefore surprised me when Mr Barr didn’t cough up the $1 million needed to ensure Canberra could host a few Women’s World Cup matches. As even the most basic match attracted crowds of 25,000-plus, we could well have hosted some at Bruce (GIO) Stadium. This event was watched by several billion people worldwide, and would have been great in promoting Canberra. For a government that has no problem spending $3 billion on a tram to Woden, $3 million a year or so for four games of AFL, and $91 billion for a failed accounting system (and God only knows how much the Lehrmann / Brittany Higgins saga will end up costing the ACT ratepayer!), that‘s really not that much when you look at it.
I think the opposition should at least pursue this in the Assembly and see what was behind the government’s reasoning in not bidding for matches, and what economic argument they followed in deciding not to fund the event in Canberra.
Despite our not hosting any matches, we can still benefit from this wonderful event. Canberra has a proud tradition in women’s sport and women’s football (soccer) especially, thanks to the work of visionary female leaders such as Heather Reid, former CEO of Football Canberra. The success of the Matildas will encourage thousands more Canberran girls and women to take up this fine sport – to the benefit of all concerned.
