THE Canberra Liberals, Labor and the Greens have unanimously agreed to a motion calling for the ACT government to implement a fair, long-term plan when it comes to giving money to grassroots sports organisations across the territory.

Greens MLA and member for Brindabella Johnathan Davis, 29, brought the motion to the ACT Legislative Assembly in April, determined to get a plan in place that stops relying on sporting groups having to lobby and compete for funding. 

“I have seen – historically – by all sides of politics, community sports used as a political football (pardon the pun), where funding is granted on an ad hoc basis,” he says. 

“We see it most palpably through election campaigns when all political parties are guilty of throwing [money here and] there for that particular sport or that particular community. 

“I don’t think that’s a sustainable way to plan for and fund grassroots community sports.

“Investment in grassroots community sports should be a basic of good, local government and should be done as a matter of course based on identifying evidence-based needs rather than the political lobbying power of individual sports clubs.” 

With no government plan for community sports, Mr Davis has called on the government to: develop a long-term strategic plan for sport and recreation; develop a facilities management plan; climate-proof facilities from heat and smoke; tackle participation barriers for disadvantaged Canberrans; and, establish a sport and recreation industry peak body to support the sector.

As part of the motion, Mr Davis asked for the government to report back to the Assembly by December. 

His requests faced some criticism from the Canberra Liberals before being agreed to by all MLAs.

Shadow sports and recreation minister James Milligan was “gobsmacked” by it, saying it lacked understanding of the local sporting landscape and history of this portfolio. 

“The idea of a peak sporting body is not new,” he said, pointing to former sports minister Shane Rattenbury who “did away with” the peak body SportsACT in 2015 after it had run for almost three decades. 

Mr Milligan recognised that change was needed and blamed the government for its neglect of sporting groups and facilities but concluded that he would support the motion – “with limits”. 

Regardless of Mr Milligan’s concerns, Mr Davis was happy to receive the unanimous support, and later said that his work in the area was done – for now. 

“It’s now the responsibility of Sports Minister Yvette Berry, having supported that motion, to enact those recommendations,” he says.

“Then it’s my job, after seeing the result of the motion [in] December, to reflect on that, to consult with community sports once again and ensure that it actually meets all of their expectations.” 

Mr Davis, who is not a sports person himself – although he did play rugby league for the under 10s and scored one try that season (for the wrong team!) – says his passion stems from how many issues intersect with strong grassroots community sports. 

“It’s about physical health and wellbeing, it’s also about connecting with people, building relationships, building resilient and strong communities,” he says.  

It’s why Mr Davis believes community grassroots sporting groups need to get back to what they do best, which shouldn’t include lobbying.  

“The sports groups who don’t lobby, the sports groups who play sports and don’t become political activists are the ones that miss out,” he says. 

“It’s an unsustainable situation where so many of them feel obligated to engage in political lobbying simply to make sure that the grass gets mowed and the basketball court gets built.” 

As someone who has come from a working-class background, Mr Davis also wants to focus on people who might be slipping through the cracks. 

“I grow increasingly troubled about the number of Canberrans who are not able to access grassroots community sports because paying club fees, buying the right shoes, paying for the jersey, are economic barriers for those families,” he says. 

“We have, on the whole, a very wealthy city, which is why for most Canberra families, the idea of being able to find $50 for a jersey, $100 for shoes, $100 for club fees, doesn’t seem like a huge economic burden, but there are a substantial amount of paycheck-to-paycheck, working-class families in Canberra whose kids don’t play sports because that amount of money is a barrier to them.”