Commonwealth Games
Mr BOURMAN (Eastern Victoria) (12:10): My question is for the Minister for Commonwealth Games Legacy, Minister Leane. Minister, at the Commonwealth Games in the UK recently there were no shooting events at all. To date there have been no announcements about the Australian Commonwealth Games in 2026 and shooting sports. Shooting sports are legitimate sports enjoyed by nearly a million Australians that also bring large amounts of money to the economy, particularly rural economies. My question is: are you aware if there will be any shooting sports in the Australian games in 2026?
Mr LEANE (Eastern Metropolitan—Minister for Commonwealth Games Legacy, Minister for Veterans) (12:10): Thank you, Mr Bourman, for your question and your interest in the Commonwealth Games. There is an expression-of-interest process in that there will be extra sports other than the 16 sports that were announced in the initial announcement that there is going to be a regional Commonwealth Games in 2026. It is going to fantastic. As I said, there will be extra sports, and part of the process for expressions of interest is that the international sporting associations—and in this case you would know better than me, Mr Bourman, the different disciplines of shooting and the different international associations—need to be part of the expression of interest for extra sports. That is actually working its way through now, and I think there will probably be announcements of the added sports hopefully soon. It has been a fantastic process.
I think as far as the legacy goes—and I know you would probably be interested in the legacy—if, say, the sports that you are interested in were added to that initial list, of course common sense says that there will be a number of different—
Mr Bourman: On a point of order, President, the minister seems to be going on a wild frolic about what is and is not possibly done and all that. All I asked for was a fairly simple answer, yes or no: was he aware?
The PRESIDENT: To be honest, I was struggling with the question as well and whether it should be directed to the Commonwealth Games legacy minister or the Commonwealth Games delivery minister. But Minister Leane is happy to answer, so I ask the minister to continue.
Mr LEANE: I thought, President, you were struggling with my response as well. Mr Bourman, I thought I was giving you a Farage of different avenues. I thought I was going the Nigel. But, Mr Bourman, in all seriousness, there was an article today I read about how India is very pro the sports that you are interested in. Maybe something for Mr Bourman to follow up—and I am happy to follow up as well—is whether the international association has put in that application to be an extra sport.
I was going to say, as far as the legacy goes—and I understand your interest—of course common sense tells you that there are going to be a number of training facilities across regional Victoria, not just in the hubs. And that is an opportunity for those regional facilities to look at upgrades or to get to a certain standard, so it is quite exciting. In all seriousness, I thank you for the question.
Mr BOURMAN (Eastern Victoria) (12:14): I thank the minister for his farrago of answers, or whatever it is. And I thank the minister for actually mentioning that it is predominantly a rural sport. In the interest of getting as much as we can out of the Commonwealth Games to assist in upgrading rural facilities, will the minister help me in advocating for the shooting sports to make sure they are included in the 2026 games?
Mr LEANE (Eastern Metropolitan—Minister for Commonwealth Games Legacy, Minister for Veterans) (12:14): I think it would probably be inappropriate for me to advocate for a particular sport, but in saying that to Mr Bourman, I will endeavour to find out where the expression-of-interest stage is at and try and get more information just so he can come up to speed about how far away decisions are from being made. There are a number of sports vying for those extra spots, which is fantastic. I think one thing that is important is that the sports are inclusive so it is not too difficult for people to actually be involved, and that is one of the criteria that we are looking at. But I will endeavour to get Mr Bourman some more information on the expression-of-interest process.