Sport Minister Rod Kemp revealed in Senate Estimates last night that the Government is ditching Active Australia, the division within the Australian Sports Commission charged with making Australians more physically active and healthy.
The Government is replacing Active Australia with a new, broader division called Ausport reflecting their all-consuming interest in elite sport – at the expense of encouraging all Australians to be physically active.
Senator Kemp told the Estimates hearing that there “is some confusion” about what Active Australia does.
The only confusion is what Senator Kemp is doing to deliver greater grass roots participation in sport and related physical activities.
It is obvious that the Coalition is not genuinely interested in increasing the number of Australians participating in healthy physical activities: if it is not organised sport, they don’t want to know.
Physical activity participation rates, especially among young people, are declining under the Coalition. So the decision to abandon Active Australia is short-sighted, ill conceived and detrimental to the long-term health outlook of the nation.
Media contact: Simon Tatz on 02 62773334 or 0418 488 295
