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Thank you Andrew for your kind introduction and welcome.
It’s a pleasure to be here, and I thank the Brisbane 2032 OCOG for hosting this event.
I want to acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land on which we meet the Turrbal and Jagera peoples and pay my respects to Elders past and present.
Together Australians stand on the shoulders of 1,600 generations of First Nations people, and that is our shared history.
I also acknowledge to CO-Com, executives and the IOC delegation, particularly President-elect Kirsty Coventry and new Co-Com Chair Mikee Cojuangco Jaworski, who is all but a local… training under own Vicki Roycroft at the Brisbane Showgrounds… Mikee, please know, I view you as my Vicki Roycroft.
Thank you to my fellow OCOG members, and AOC President Ian Chesterman and new CEO Mark Arbib… Mark’s presence means there are three Federal Sport Ministers in this room – what could go wrong.
While our Prime Minister Anthony Albanese wishes he could be here this week with you, he has just returned from the Pope’s inauguration in Rome.
If there is one sentence that resonates long after you leave Brisbane… I hope it is this –
The re-election of the Albanese Government ensures Australia is absolutely committed to making the Brisbane Games – a great Games, for our athletes, for Queensland, Australia and the Pacific.
There’s a quote from outgoing President Bach that has stuck with me and lights our path to 2032…
“Like no other human activity, sport is about bringing people together in the spirit of friendship and respect. Sport always builds bridges, it never erects walls.”
The Australian government views Brisbane 2032 as an amphitheatre for our athletes to bring people together for greater health and social cohesion from playground to podium.
Because sport makes us hug strangers. And we have evidence of that right below us – on that grass.
I understand there is a tour of this stadium later today but this venue is so much more than turnstiles and corporate boxes.
You see, for decades that grass behind you was only known for men clashing in violent rugby contests.
Until we hosted the Women’s Football World Cup in 2023, when just down there, three seconds changed a nation.
A moment when a young woman called Cortnee Vine, who learned to kick a ball in the outer suburbs of Brisbane, 10 kms north of here, curled a penalty past France’s goalkeeper to send Australia through to the World Cup semi-final.
Our greatest World Cup achievement.
I was sitting just up there. I cried. I launched a ferocious hug on a bewildered Prime Minister that prompted Federal Police to hover.
Cortnee’s goal speaks to why the 2032 Games must be about sporting Moments not monoliths.
That moment and significant funding from the Australian government led to a ten per cent increase in women’s football participation post tournament.
That match is among the top five most watched television programs in Australian history.
In fact, four of those five are women’s sporting events, including Cathy Freeman’s 400 metre gold in Sydney.
This September marks 25 years since those Sydney Games transformed Australia.
Brisbane 2032 must and will drive even greater participation and social cohesion.
As a key Games Delivery Partner, I want to assure the Games family the Australian Government is a steadfast partner and we thank the IOC for your esteemed leadership.
Our immediate areas of focus include governance, infrastructure, impact and legacy.
I know how dedicated the IOC is to fostering sport through the Pacific and note your recent trip to Guam – we share that same passion.
We will make 2032 a north star for a more inclusive sport environment throughout the region and for our Pacific family.
From the outset the Australian Government has backed Brisbane 2032.
We provided more than $8.6 million to the Queensland Government to support its candidature bid and its only grown from there.
Already, our 2032 funding commitment across infrastructure, transport, high performance, major events and grass roots has exceeded $16 billion dollars.
This includes more than $12.4 billion dollars in Games related transport, more than $3.4 billion dollars in Games venues and in the past 18 months alone almost a billion-dollar commitment to grass roots and high-performance sport.
Crucially, we made a two year $489 million in Olympic and Paralympic sport as we head to LA28.
This is the largest Olympic and Paralympic sport investment ever.
This means that 95% of Olympic and Paralympic summer sports are receiving increased funding with an average increase of 64% per year, compared to the period leading up to Paris Games.
More sports are being supported too, with an increase from 54 to 68 summer Olympic and Paralympic programs funded in the lead-up to LA.
We have also increased our Direct Athlete Investment Scheme – DAIS – funding, boosting it to $41.4m across two years.
DAIS is money in the athlete’s pocket so they can spend more time training and less time fundraising.
This means more than 1000 Australian athletes now receive DAIS funding.
Crucially we have also doubled the money going towards Paralympic sports with an extra $54.9m over the next two years.
The is the largest commitment an Australian government has made to Para-Sport and will shift the balance of funding from 85 per cent able bodied and 15 per cent people with a disability, to 75 per cent able bodied and 25 per cent people with a disability.
And, while it hasn’t been announced yet, the Federal Government will invest an additional $2.1m so our Paralympians can travel to Milan Cortina to chase gold.
We are determined to do more – because we know 3 in 4 Australians with a disability want to play sport but only 1 in 4 have the opportunity.
While as Minister for Sport, I am first and foremost athlete-led.
We have also made major infrastructure commitments including a record $249m for the Australian Institute of Sport to improve our national centre of excellence where our juniors and elites train.
This is the biggest investment in the AIS since the early 80’s – before Kirsty and I were born.
This is on top of our $200m Play Our Way fund for women’s and girls sport infrastructure and programs – the largest ever sport funding package to build female changerooms and women-specific sporting environments.
And… since we came to Government Labor has funded more than $80m in Major Events as well including the Canoe World Champs that the IOC’s own Jess Fox will star in later this year.
The Albanese Government will also invest up to $3.435 billion in Games venues in a 50/50 partnership with the Queensland Government.
BUT – we are also funding significant Games transport.
$12.4 billion committed for transport projects in South East Queensland already identified by the Queensland Government as necessary for the Games.
This includes faster rail, highway upgrades, and major connection pieces that support 2032.
So this $16 billion commitment will revitalise the AIS, boost high‑performance sport, increase participation, reduce injuries, enhance guardrails and sport safety, fund legacy arenas and the connections that allow people to visit them while improving integrity for the benefit of all Australians.
And recent news helps us all. Last week I was honoured to be named Minister for Communications, opening greater synergies for the world’s biggest media event.
Sport and Comms is now in the infrastructure department, and already Sport Integrity Australia have flagged a goal to embed integrity as a design principle of sport infrastructure.
We are also continuing work on our IOC Guarantees.
As part of the candidature process to secure hosting rights, the Albanese Government committed to a range of operational support services.
These include communications, national security, taxation, integrity, safety and safeguarding, and visa handling.
We are committed to delivering on these guarantees, taking a coordinated approach across all involved departments to create solutions.
These threads I’m discussing today are hemmed through Australia’s first ever ten-year plan for sport.
Australia’s National Sport Strategy, Sport Horizon, will capitalise on sport’s power, and outlines my government’s priorities for this sector.
It affirms our commitment to creating a safe, fair, and sustainable sector that grows participation, drives positive social change, grows our economy and strengthens international relationships.
It emphasises the pursuit of gender equity.
For the first time in Australian history, sporting boardrooms across Australia must meet gender equity targets or risk government funding being withdrawn.
I have mandated our sports sector must achieve the following governance targets by no later than 1 July 2027:
50% of all board directors are women and/or gender diverse
50% of board chairs are women and/or gender diverse
50% of specified board sub-committee members are women and/or gender diverse.
Because we view sport as a transponder for social change.
As President Bach says, sport builds bridges, never erects walls.
And… we must remember this –
The Games’ most valuable treasure – is its athletes.
It is not about politicians or political point-scoring.
Our job is to work with Federations to create environments where brilliance thrives, and then… get out of the way.
Our job is to enable athletic moments to replace monoliths in 2032.
So that grass right there conjures the next Cortnee Vine.
So the aquatic centre a kilometre away creates history like Kirsty did in Athens and Beijing.
So Victoria Park is an amphitheatre for our next Cathy Freeman gold medal euphoria.
I was born and raised in this city…
I am not just determined, I am obsessed. Brisbane 2032 will be a great Games.
Thank you.
MIL OSI News –