Funded by increased royalties on big mining corporations, the Queensland Greens will today announce a plan to make club sport free for all Queensland kids.
The average Queensland family spends $1,355 per child on outside-school sport, with half of all families spending at least $780. For a family of three kids, that’s over $2,000 every year, a massive bill for something every kid should have.
The Greens’ plan would cost $2.53bn over 4 years, funded by our plan to raise $61 billion from increasing royalties on big mining companies, and includes:
- Fully covering the cost of one sporting program or season of community sport for every Queenslander under 18 years, from infants to high schoolers
- A $150 voucher for each child to spend on sporting equipment
- $200 million towards acquiring new sporting fields and green space in growing suburbs so that every kid can play sport, no matter where they live
- Annual grants of $25,000 to support clubs to increase capacity
We expect our plan to result in a 14% increase in total participation, or an extra 110,000 kids by closing the participation rate between kids from low and high income households.
Michael Berkman, Qld Greens MP:
“Queensland families shouldn’t have to choose between breaking the bank or sitting on the sidelines.
“What if Ash Barty’s parents couldn’t pay for tennis lessons? What if Reece Walsh’s family couldn’t afford footy boots?
“Right now Queensland kids from low income households are almost twice as likely to miss out on sport, and 83% of kids will miss out on Labor's limited sports vouchers.
“Labor's limited sports vouchers are lottery stakes for small prizes. If Labor raised mining royalties like we've proposed, every kid could get a season of free sport.
“By covering the cost of fees and equipment for a sport of their child’s choice, we can deliver massive cost of living relief to all families and ensure every kid can play sport.”
Rebecca White, Qld Greens candidate for Greenslopes:
“If we can close the participation gap between low and high income households, that’s an extra 110,000 kids playing sport. The long term social and health benefits are enormous.
“Labor’s $200 sport voucher program might have been able to cover a season of sport in the 90s, but isn’t going to go very far these days.
“Our plan would support 900,000 kids, five times Labor’s policy, and we’d cover the full cost of a season. And we can fund it because we’re willing to tax Labor’s mates, like big mining companies or Anna Bligh and the banking lobby.
“Clubs in growing areas regularly have to turn away new players because they don’t have the space needed to field more teams, which is why we’d expand buy-backs of flood prone land to create more green space and recreational areas.”
Background:
- The average Queensland family spends $1355 per child on outside-school sport, with half of all families spending at least $780.
- Source: The Australian Sports Commission, 2023. Participation expenditure. Median expenditure for child under 14 years of age, Queensland.