Sportswwatchatch Autumn 2017 What’s Inside From the QSport Offi ce Page 3 More sporting events headed our way Page 5 QSport Board returned at AGM Page 7 Left to Right: QSport Chair John Brennan OAM; Hon Mick de Brenni MP Minister for Sport and Peter Cummiskey QSport CEO, FL SportsReady graduates more at a recent Parliamentary Friends of Surf Life Saving function in Brisbane. young trainees for work in sport Page 10 Minister on front National Sports Convention pose serious question to Australian sport foot for sport Page 14 State Minister for Sport Mick de Brenni has wasted no time in getting to Changes to Get Playing grips with many organised sport representatives and some key issues and Get Going Round 6 confronting the sector following his appointment earlier this year. Page 15 The State Member for Springwood, who was elected to the Queensland Parliament in 2015, had responsibility for the Government’s involvement with sport added to his roles as Minister for Housing and Public Works back New national women’s in February when Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk reshuffl ed Cabinet. competitions score for their sports Introductory phone calls followed by meetings with sports representatives Page 16 supported by the State, including a Sport and Recreation Industry information session in March, and follow up correspondence has laid out a range of topics for engagement in the weeks leading into and beyond the INAS Global Games Fact Sheet upcoming State Budget in June. Page 19 QSport representatives have held a number of conversations with the Minister and his offi cers since he took up the sport portfolio and has moved Rugby on horseback to do so in advance of key government processes such as Commonwealth / gallops into Warwick for State / Territory Sports Ministers meetings, State Budget preparations and 2019 World Cup regional meetings of the Queensland Cabinet. Page 21 QSport welcomes the opportunity to provide input and feedback to the Government of the day and for that matter, all parties, political and otherwise, which impact on organised sport in this State. Sportswatch is a quarterly publication of QSport which is an independent collective of State sporting organisations established to enhance the development of sport in Queensland. Sportswatch aims to inform readers and views expressed in Sportswatch are not necessarily those of QSport. No responsibility is accepted by QSport for consequences emanating from actions or failures to act on material within this publication. For contributions, advertisements and enquiries, contact the QSport Office at Sports House, Cnr Castlemaine and Caxton Streets MILTON Q 4064 Telephone 07 3369 8955 Facsimile 07 3369 8977 Email [email protected] From the One of the tasks confronting the editor of any Executive and opted for change by evolution, not quarterly publication is how to arrive at the right revolution, with both sides of the contest both balance of topical content and other less time winners and losers. We’ll watch with interest as the bound material in each edition. process moves on to the next phases(s) over time. While one reason this autumn edition of Of all the announcements that surfaced prior Sportswatch is likely to turn up almost, indeed to the actual vote in Sydney the morning of May maybe, in winter, is because the other person 6, the resignation of ASC Deputy Chairman Mark in the QSport offi ce who puts it together in Stockwell made as much impact on me as any Operations Manager Kylie Thomson has been other, indeed probably more, given I know this overseas on leave, the slight delay in its release has Queenslander and have done so since the 1980’s. enabled some interesting issues in sport to come to a conclusion of sorts and therefore increase the So where to from here? more topical content. Well, with all the parties appearing to have decided In truth, I was always going to wait on the outcome that enough is enough and it’s time to move on, of the vote for the AOC Presidency on May 6 with agreement on a national lottery to salve which meant news on the Federal Budget handed wounds and bridge the funding gap, the journey down on May 9 and some other announcements to Tokyo 2020 will be interesting, to say the least. also could make the cut in terms of comment / And talking of lotteries, I wonder what are the odds coverage in this edition. on a certain AOC Presidency candidate ending up All the above duly arrived including the latest as the ASC Deputy Chair to fi ll the vacancy created episode in the saga that has been the falling by the Stockwell departure. out between ASC Chairman John Wylie and AOC But back to the root of the problem that led the President John Coates which led to the challenge two Johns to the recent fracas in money and how it to the latter continuing in his role. is controlled and lo and behold, tough times fi scally And as usual in things that are largely to do with in Canberra they may be but courtesy of the elite sport, it was about money or, in this instance, Treasurer, fi fteen big ones turned up on May 9 to declining amounts thereof for the one thing that ensure we beat England in next year’s Gold Coast both Johns want in Olympic medals. Commonwealth Games fi nal medal tally. Sure there were other issues in play and brought So it would appear that repeating the Glasgow into play, with the media giving us an insight into 2014 result of fi nishing second is not good enough the extent to which the relationships between and number one on home soil it has to be, individuals and organisations have deteriorated. particularly if we lose the Ashes in the cricket and the Rugby League World Cup to England late this It’s fair to say it’s all been coming for a while now year here in Brisbane in what will set the scene for and in some ways, predictable and for many out April 2018 in the biggest sporting event here this there in the sporting system under the elite levels, decade. preventable. Peter Cummiskey In the end, though, the AOC voting delegates went CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER democratically to a ballot for their President and Sportswatch - Autumn 2017 3 4 Sportswatch - Autumn 2017 More sporting events headed our way The 2018 Commonwealth Games next April will And while 2017 events mentioned above, undoubtedly will be the biggest sporting event in the Games next year and examples like the this State this decade. Polocrosse World Cup and the INAS Global Games and others in 2019 will come and go, It’s by no means, though, the only big event that there’ll be plenty of noise in North Queensland sport will provide for specifi c sport participants, in 2020 when the new Townsville Stadium opens spectators, supporters and the general public for business, with a number of sports and other here over the next few years. entertainment no doubt becoming interested in taking advantage of what will be a welcome There can be a bit of a void after something as big addition to the State’s sporting infrastructure. as next year’s Games but already other events of signifi cance to precede and to follow Gold Coast The recent announcement by Sport Minister 2018 are on the go in terms of planning and Mick de Brenni of successful bidders for Sport preparation. Infrastructure Planning Program funding to look ahead for broader more grass roots Elsewhere in this edition of Sportswatch on Pages infrastructure requirement is useful for both State 21 and 22 is a piece on the 2019 Polocrosse sporting organisations and local governments World Cup to be held in Warwick just 12 months and no doubt is welcomed by those who “got the after the Games. nod” this fi rst time around. There’s also an interesting fact sheet on Page 19 on the INAS Global Games for athletes with an intellectual disability to be held in Brisbane in October 2019. LIVE A CRYSTAL These two events, while catering for their particular LIFE sports participants, add interest generally and provide useful contribution to local economies. It all helps, given economic enhancement via sport is a sum of many parts, contributing to tourism and other related industry growth. And of course, it’s going on all the time if one thinks about the likes of Origin One and Three at Suncorp, the upcoming Ashes Test cricket at the Gabba in November, the Rugby League World Cup semi and fi nal at Suncorp in early December and numerous test events at various Commonwealth Games venues in a number of sports prior to April next year. Australia’s reputation for producing top fl ight sporting events is strong and Games organisers and their partners in all levels of government can be expected to leave no stone unturned to WATERFORDCRYSTAL.COM.AU ensure that reputation is maintained. Sportswatch - Autumn 2017 5 6 Sportswatch - Autumn 2017 QSport Board returned at AGM Members present at the QSport AGM held on The Board also has reviewed proposed 29 March in Brisbane have re-elected the fi ve operationalisation of the 2017-20 QSport members of the Board whose two year terms Strategic Plan developed late last year and expired prior to the AGM. progress with negotiation of State Government support for the implementation of aspects of the They are Janne Ellis, Executive Director of Diving plan in 2017-19. Queensland (representing the Aquatic Sports Group); Rob Moore, Queensland Rugby League At the time of writing, discussions with the Managing Director (representing the Field Team Minister and his offi cers were continuing with a Group); Kym Dowdell OAM, CEO of Gymnastics view to fi nalising support before the end of the Queensland (representing the Indoor Sports fi rst half of the year.