MINISTER FOR RACING & SPORT
The Honourable Jane Howlett - MP
•A $10 million Solar Power Sports Club no-interest loan scheme for solar systems installation including solar hot water and/or batteries; •$500,000 over three years to Reclink, to support at-risk and disadvantaged Tasmanians enjoy sporting activities; •$10 million investment in football (soccer) facility upgrades in Devonport, Launceston and Kingborough; and •An $8million Events Support and Attraction Fund to secure existing events and attract new events for Tasmania, including sporting events. Meanwhile , the Government continues to roll out assistance to sporting clubs and associations through new tranches of the COVID-19 Sport and Recreation Grants. Tranche Three, which closed last week, offers up to $3000 for clubs for hygiene and sanitation needs as a continuation of the second Tranche of late 2020. Tranche Four will close on 19 April and provides sport and active recreation clubs with grants of between $3 000 and $25 000 to assist with the purchase of equipment. Applicants are required to contribute at least 20 per cent of the total project cost. This is a competitive Grants Program. Sport is the lifeblood of communities around Tasmania and the Government’s Sport and Recreation Policy will invest more to help Tasmanians participate in sport and physical activity, regardless of where they live, their age or their circumstances.
Tasmanian sporting clubs will be the key beneficiaries of the Liberal Party’s Sport and Recreation policy. The policy is designed to increase participation rates in community sports as well as boost funding for capital projects at sports clubs around the State. Ticket to Play, a program created by the Government to reduce the cost barriers for young Tasmanians to participate in sport, will be boosted by a doubling of the per-person value of the vouchers to $200 for the next three years under the Liberal policy. The Liberal State Government increased the voucher value from $100 to $200 in the current financial year and extended the age of eligibility to include 18 year-olds in acknowledgement of the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. This doubling of the voucher value would now be extended for a further three years to 2023-24. Ticket to Play provides financial assistance towards club membership for those aged 5-18 who are listed on a Centrelink Healthcare Card or Pensioner Concession Card or are in Out of Home Care. Eligible young Tasmanians can choose to redeem the voucher against one club membership or split between two – for example a winter and a summer sport. Another feature of the Sport and Recreation Policy is the doubling of the value of the successful Improving the Playing Field grants program to $10 million for the 2021-22 financial year. Improving the Playing Field is a competitive grants program open to sportingclubs toassistwith funding for infrastructure projects, improving the amenity for participants, officials and spectators.In the current financial year 58 projects were funded including change rooms, toilet and shower facilities access, lighting, fencing, scoreboards, drainage and other civil construction works. A re-elected Liberal Government will invest an extra $5 million to the grants pool in 2021-22 to boost the capital investments at community sporting facilities, thereby stimulating job-creation and Tasmanian small businesses. Other elements of the policy include:
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