Category: Politics
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Vale Bob Ellicott AC KC – Fraser Government Minister Responsible for Establishing the Australian Institute of Sport
By Greg Blood Prime Minister Malcom Fraser in late 1978 transferred the sport function to the Dept of Home Affairs under Minister Bob Ellicott. Fraser told Ellicott to “do something about sport” after Australia’s poor performances at the 1976 Olympics and 1978 Commonwealth Games. Greg Hartung in reviewing Ellicott’s period as minister stated he “left…
australiansportreflections
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Vale Professor John Bloomfield AO – Gentle Giant of the Australian Sport System
By Greg Blood Professor John Bloomfield AO was one of the main architects and drivers of the modern Australian sport system. Bob Ellicott, the Minister for Sport responsible for establishing the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS), gave enormous credit to Bloomfield for his strategy and development of sports and recreation reports in the lead up…
australiansportreflections
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Sport and Federal Politics – Importance of Relationship Building by National Sports Organisations
By Greg Blood With a new Federal Parliament under way, it is important that national sports organisations educate and lobby existing and new Parliamentarians regarding their sport and its needs. It is not enough to just work with the Federal Government’s primary sport agency – Australian Sports Commission. The 47th Federal Parliament commenced on 26…
australiansportreflections
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Sport and the 2022 Australian Federal Election
By Greg Blood Who said sport and politics don’t or should not mix? In many ways, sport and politics has become more intertwined in recent years. This has occurred through linking political/social issues such as same sex marriage, racism and climate change, “sport-barreling” and more recently transgender issues in sport. In 2021, Prime Minister Morrison…
australiansportreflections
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Athlete Entry Fees And The Creation Of The Oceania Paralympic Committee – Two Different But Lasting Dividends Of The Sydney 2000 Paralympic Games
By Greg Hartung AO History of Australian Sports Policy Series: Part 27 The purpose of this chapter is to consider two issues which made an important imprint on the Sydney 2000 Paralympic Games legacy. The first concerns the vexed question of entry fees applied to teams to enter the Games; the second relates to the…
australiansportreflections
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The Sydney 2000 Paralympic Games Was Rocket Fuel For Athletes With A Disability…The Spectacular Success of Sydney Became a Turning Point for the Paralympic Movement
By Greg Hartung AO History of Australian Sport Policy Series: Part 26 Transformation The Sydney 2000 Paralympic Games has been described as the “benchmark” Games for the Paralympic Movement. This is true in many respects, but not all. Coming off a low base from the Atlanta Games four years earlier, the Sydney Games were undoubtedly…
australiansportreflections
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The Fight To Be Heard! How Athletes With A Disability Made Their Way In Australian Sport…defeat was never an option for our pioneers
History of Australian Sport Policy series: Part 25 By Greg Hartung AO Partners in the long campaign The pioneers who advanced the interests of people with disabilities in sport during the 1970s and early 1980s were the members of the government-appointed National Committee on Sport and Recreation for the Disabled (NCSRD) and the non-government Australian…
australiansportreflections
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Support For Athletes With A Disability: From The Ground Up …The Years Of Struggle To Be Taken Seriously
History of Australian Sport Policy Series: Part 24 By Greg Hartung AO Only one way to go Assistance for athletes with a disability has regularly featured in reports and government policy discussions. Whether this has always translated into positive outcomes is another matter altogether. This part of the sporting world was never as administratively robust…
australiansportreflections
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Crusade to Attract Non-Government Cash to the Aid of Sport – and High Hopes for the Australian Sports Foundation
The Foundation was established as an essential part of the Australian Sports Commission History of Australian Sport Policy Series: Part 22 By Greg Hartung AO Australian Sports Aid Foundation: the origin The Parliamentary enquiry into sport funding, chaired by Labor’s Leo McLeay, threatened to turn the case against the introduction of a Sports Foundation promised…
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The Idea of an Australian National Sports Lottery Has a Long – and Disappointing – History …but History has Proved No Impediment to Old Arguments in the Quest for the Non-government Dollar
History of Australian sport policy series: Part 21 By Greg Hartung AO A long search for El Dorado Governments and national sport organisations have for decades longed for a source of reliable funds independent of the federal budget. Ray Groom, Tasmanian Liberal and former AFL footballer, became responsible for sport policy when he succeeded Kevin…
australiansportreflections