Page 3019 - Week 08 - Thursday, 15 August 2019

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investment in our suburbs by providing facilities and opportunities for Canberrans to get active close to their homes.

Canberra’s 40,000 football players, together with the local Gungahlin community, will receive a boost with a new home-of-football precinct in Throsby. The budget commits $20 million to deliver this facility for high-performance and community players in partnership with Capital Football and the Football Federation of Australia, FFA. Through this partnership, Capital Football will also contribute $4.5 million to the home of football in partnership with the Football Federation of Australia. The government will also bring three national team games to Canberra, including both the Matildas and the Socceroos.

Our partnership is delivering results for the ACT. Just last week I was happy to announce that football fans from Canberra and around Australia will have the opportunity to converge at GIO Stadium when the Socceroos play Nepal on Thursday, 10 October 2019, in their first match at home as part of the second round of qualification for the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

The home of football, which will include football pitches, an indoor futsal facility, office space and associated amenities, is planned for completion in 2021-22. The entire Canberra football community and residents in Gungahlin will benefit from the government’s investment, with these open space sportsgrounds available for everyone when not in the use for formal games and training activities.

The government is also working to ensure that the community in the new suburbs of the Molonglo Valley have space to get outside and participate in sport. Through funding in this budget, the government will undertake design and planning for Stromlo Forrest Park district playing fields as part of our efforts to ensure that local infrastructure grows alongside new communities in this part of the city. Government has allocated $200,000 towards this design and planning process, which will include stakeholder consultation and is expected to take around 12 months, consistent with our election commitment.

The 2019 budget also allocates funding to keep people safe while engaged in their sport through funding to support the regulation of combat sports in the ACT as we approach the commencement of the Controlled Sports Act this October.

Finally, the government is contributing, through this budget, to the Australian Olympic Committee and Paralympics Australia 2020 Tokyo team appeals as well as providing training grants for eligible ACT athletes. This recognises Canberra’s unique status as the home of elite sport through the Australian Institute of Sport at Bruce.

The government is investing $300,000 over two years, supporting team and athlete preparations. Of this amount, $100,000 will be provided to each of the Australian Olympic Committee and Paralympics Australia, with an additional $100,000 used to provide targeted training grants to local athletes in the mix for team selection. For the previous Olympics and Paralympics, 30 local athletes shared in $80,000 worth of support. It is important to acknowledge the many gifted and talented sportspeople who call the ACT home.


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