I begin by acknowledging the traditional owners of the land on which we meet. I pay my respect to their elders past, present and emerging.
And I'm very happy to be here at the launch of the football season.
What we've seen in recent times is a 20 per cent increase in the number of football players in this country. This is a code that is exploding.
And it's a fantastic way for young people, in particular, whether it be young boys or young girls, and we're seeing a further explosion in the amount of women and girls are playing football, some 16 per cent in the last year.
And with the World Cup coming to Australia and New Zealand in the middle of the year, that's going to just get even bigger and better.
The Football World Cup being held in the middle of the year, I'm not sure that Australians realise yet how big deal this is. This is the third most watched event in the world after the Men's World Cup and the Olympics. The third most watched event in the world will be held right here in Australia and New Zealand.
Literally tens of thousands of people will be travelling to Australia as a major tourist destination. But literally hundreds of millions of eyes will be on Australia. It is such an enormous opportunity for us to promote our great country.
Now here at Fraser Park, is an example of the way that football has developed in Australia. The club was begun - the giveaway is the colours that don't represent South Sydney, they actually represent the national colours of Portugal - a few Portuguese migrants began this football club and then took over this area with the community club with the football club here and with the best chicken in Australia.
Since then we've seen a big expansion. When I was last the Minister for Infrastructure, we provided $2 million for the upgrade of these facilities. And that made an enormous difference in making sure that this club could continue to not just survive, but to thrive.
Now since then, it's become a club, not just for the Portuguese, one that recognises that heritage, but for the Inner West Community. And in particular, its become a club that competes at the highest level, that attracts junior players, gives them the skills that they have to potentially go on to be professional football players.
But whether it is to become a professional, or just to have a bit of fun, this is so important. Every parent I speak to worries about how much time their young boy or girl spends on their iPhones or on playing games, or - I'm showing my age here, and the age of my son - Nintendo, or whatever it is these days. We worry about getting kids off screens and on to fields.
From teams young people will learn how to win, how to lose. I'm not a great fan of this nonsense of kids not keeping score, because every kid knows the score in every sport that they compete in. But nonetheless, they learn how to win, they learn how to lose. Most importantly, they learn social interaction, that is so important for the growing up as they get older.
And that is why it's so important, that teamwork. You can have the best player in the competition and you still won't win a game if you don't play as a team.
And that's a really important lesson in life, that is something my government attempts to put into practice. We want our whole team as a nation to come together and to work together in our common interests, which is so important.
So congratulations, as well, to the club on another season coming forward. But I want to finish up with - I've spoken about the players, the young and the old, there are senior senior teams here as well - but a special shout out to those people who keep sport going. That's the parents who bring their young ones to training to the games each and every week. I miss it enormously.
To the coaches, to the administrators at the club, they give out their own time to put something back into the community. That's so important. So a special shout out to all of you. I really look forward to it being a fantastic season ahead for all of you.
I'm very proud to be the local MP for this area. And to now be running the country as Prime Minister was something that I wasn't anticipating happening. But I'm proud of this multicultural, vibrant community where people work together in our common interests.
Congratulations to all involved today.
Speech
Prime Minister