Labor wishes the Australian netball team the best of luck tonight as they take on arch rivals New Zealand in Wellington. The game is the first of a three match test series across the Tasman. The last test series was played in Australia with each team winning a match.
I wish we could see more of this fantastic team on television – fans in Australia will have to wait until 11:40pm tonight to see their heroes take the court on the ABC.
The ABC has tagged it as ‘must see TV’ however put it out of reach of most audiences, particularly children.
The test will be broadcast live throughout New Zealand where it can expect up to two thirds of the audience share. These massive ratings are testimony to the popularity of live Netball tests when produced and promoted well by televisions networks.
I congratulate the ABC for their efforts bringing one of the remaining three matches live to Australian families at 4.30pm this Saturday.
I am amazed that the commercial networks haven’t seized the opportunity to get some of the world’s best sportswomen on prime time TV. Examples are the Australian/New Zealand Netball Tests, the Opals winning the World Championship, the Hockeyroos great come back to claim silver at their World Cup and the Matildas earlier in the year as they played thrilling world cup qualifying matches in Adelaide!
The Senate inquiry report About time! Women in sport and recreation in Australia recommended that the Government invests up to $9 million over three years to support initiatives that get more top level Australian women’s sport on TV at accessible times.
Australian sport and Australian sport fans are still waiting for a response from the Howard Government to the 18 recommendations in the report. I call on the Howard Government to formally respond to the bipartisan report by supporting all of the recommendations so more Australians can share in the success of our fantastic women’s sporting teams.
Contact: Taryn Langdon 0417 148 059 or 02 6277 3334
