16 October 2007 - Speech to the National Physical Activity Conference Adelaide Convention Centre

 Speech to the National Physical Activity Conference Adelaide Convention Centre

Tuesday 16 October 2007

Thank you for your invitation to be here today.  I would like to take this opportunity to share with you some of Labor's views on building healthy communities.

I should say in the context of the session, many of these principles and ideas are built on the strong advocacy from many of you in this room. I thank and acknowledge the difference you have made and will use my time to focus on a couple of key points.

Australia has a reputation as a wonderful sporting nation – this is a reputation that we all celebrate. While the rest of the world is catching up, our reputation is still well founded: we do punch above our weight on the world scene.

Unfortunately when you scratch the surface you begin to understand that the Australian ideal of a healthy, active nation does not represent all families and all neighbourhoods today.

In fact evidence suggests that the number of Australians who are active enough to gain a health benefit is actually declining.

This is particularly worrying when you consider that physical inactivity is a major contributor to the burden of chronic disease, cardio-vascular disease, stroke and some cancers.

The Howard Government has a poor record in the prevention of chronic disease.  Its initiatives have been piecemeal and ad-hoc over the last eleven years.

The dumping of Active Australia symbolised the Coalition’s abandonment of the Australian Sports Commission’s charter for participation and with it federal partnerships with community groups, the States and local government to improve levels of physical activity.

In contrast, Labor understands the importance of a Federal Government working cooperatively with all spheres of government in a model of cooperative federalism.  This is the only practical way to improve the social determinants of health: with collaboration between a multitude of portfolios and all spheres of government.

Labor rejects the Coalition's blame game. This approach is unproductive and will not achieve the outcomes our communities need.

In the context of the growing alarm about rising incidence of obesity, they then announced the Active After School Communities program in response to the growing outrage that there was nothing to promote physical activity for kids from the Howard Government.

Labor welcomed this initiative and a Rudd Labor Government will improve it by giving school children the opportunity to engage in a wider range of physical, recreation, sport and dance-related activities.

Under Labor, this program will focus build strong links with existing community clubs and organisations to ensure that the activity does not stop for children at the end of a term – they can continue in an ongoing setting.

This program will also link into existing well-established national participation programs that can assist a Rudd Labor Government to provide the reach that the program needs to ensure that it meets demand. Currently up to one third of children who want to access the program miss out due to lack of resources.

This initiative adds to the announcements my colleague Nicola Roxon, Labor’s Shadow Minister for Health, has already made to tackle the specific challenge of obesity which include to:

Labor knows that is makes good sense to invest in active communities - good health, environmental and economic sense. The evidence is in.

The rising burden of health care costs in Australia and the rise in the treatment of preventable illness is unsustainable, that is why Labor has a different approach.

Federal Labor is committed to acting decisively on a preventative approach to health care. Because unless we do, the economic cost will be great, the budget cost will be great – and the personal and family cost will be great.

Labor sees chronic disease as a frontline economic challenge.

Poor health from chronic disease results in lower workforce participation rates, and a less productive workforce. 

The Productivity Commission says that modest investments in health promotion and prevention will deliver improvements in workforce participation and national productivity over the long term.  This impartial analysis puts Labor’s focus on health promotion in good economic stead.

Australians are becoming increasingly aware of the need to access sustainable forms of transport such as walking and cycling to reduce greenhouse emissions and reduce traffic congestion.

Neighbourhood characteristics such as housing density, land use mix, traffic, street connectivity, safety and access to paths and cycle ways and proximity to employment have been shown to have an impact on physical activity levels.

We know that there are links between the planning of many of our towns and cities and chronic diseases. Such social determinants of health, including socio-economic status need to be a central part of public policy considerations.

That is why a Rudd Labor Government will commit up to $710,000 to complete 'Healthy Places and Spaces,' a collaborative project between the Planning Institute of Australia, the National Heart Foundation and the Australian Local Government Association.

This project will produce a policy document with practical tools, case studies and guidelines that will articulate principles of a health promoting built environment whether it be the development of a Greenfield site or the upgrading of existing communities.

The project will identify key planning and design elements that will lead to greater health and social benefits for the community and will link to planning codes and regulations in each state or territory. 

This funding will see this project through to completion, assist in publishing the information, provide training for professional development and implementation support.

This is important work that has national significance that engages three key sectors and draws together all three spheres of government.

There is no quick, one-off solution to helping our communities to be more active, however ensuring that communities have access to safe facilities and sustainable social infrastructure is a good place to start.

You will continue to hear more from Labor in coming weeks on our plan for healthy communities. I am very proud of my Health Promotion portfolio – a first in Australia.

My combination of portfolios and understanding of the health promotion challenge informs Labor’s view that a sustainable approach to these issues must be multi-portfolio in nature and bring together all spheres of government. 

This challenge requires building on our strengths. If a Rudd Labor Government is elected to office, we will maintain the funding programs that are currently delivered through the Australian Sports Commission.

There is a strong and important nexus between the inspiration our elite athletes provide the next generation of kids wondering what to get involved in.  This nexus needs to be acknowledged and reflected in public policy.   It is not good enough to celebrate the elite and ignore or neglect the community base of regular physical activity on which it is built. Advocating this link is important.

That is why we believe that there is a role for the Federal government in:

Thank you for the opportunity to be here with you today.

I look forward to hearing more from you about how we can work together to build active and healthy communities.