The Australian Government is determined to ensure the Green & Gold Runway – culminating in the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games – benefits’ extend beyond Australia and reach the Pacific Islands.
Speaking at the Oceania National Olympic Committees’ (ONOC) inaugural Brisbane 2032 Step-Up Oceania Conference, the Hon. Anika Wells MP – Australia’s Minister for Sport – said; “The Australian Government understands the importance of working in genuine partnership with Pacific Island countries.”
“Brisbane 2032 will extend legacies of the Games beyond Brisbane, beyond Queensland, and beyond Australia’s borders to the Pacific and Oceania region.
“We must do more than take the opportunities and seize the moments; we must generate the opportunities, we must create the moments, and ensure they ripple outwards to the Oceania region.”
B2032 sport for development outcomes to focus on women and girls, diversity
Hon. Wells continued; “Our mission for Brisbane 2032 is to foster greater participation in sport so more people reap the preventive health, social inclusion, and connectivity benefits it provides.”
“Brisbane 2032 can be the driver for greater sporting equality in Australia and beyond.
“We need more pathways for female leadership, more incentives for girls to pursue sporting passions, more mechanisms that protect our vulnerable, more professional competitions that foster talent, [and] an ecosystem where genders are treated equally.”
Hon. Wells added that the role of Minister for Sport is to ensure that the Australian Government’s AUD$3.4 billion commitment to investing in ensuring world-leading, purpose-built infrastructure is for people.
Australia’s support, debt of gratitude to Pacific neighbours
Hon. Wells added; “The Australian Government is proud to invest in the Pacific-Aus Sports Program, which creates new opportunities for Pacific athletes to train, play and grow together, and unlock the potential of a new generation of sporting champions.”
“Australia’s support to ONOC and its members during the final preparations for the Tokyo 2020 Games further highlights our shared agenda.”
Hon. Wells went further to pay tribute to the Pacific Islands, saying Australia owed a debt of gratitude to its Pacific neighbours.
Hon. Wells said; “Thank you for teaching us how to be better sportspeople.”
“We have learned so much from you about grace, about faith on the field, about warmth towards rivals, about pride in culture, [and] about treating teammates as family members.
“These elements have brought a needed revolution to the Australian sporting psyche and I thank you for this.”
Article adapted from ONOC website.