Speech to Sport NZ’s annual conference, Auckland

  • Jonathan Coleman
Sport and Recreation

Opening

It’s great to be here for Sport New Zealand’s annual sport and recreation conference – Connections.

I’d like to acknowledge Sir Paul Collins and Peter Miskimmin, and all of the other Chairs and CE’s here today. I’d also like to acknowledge the other speakers, including Dr Holly Thorpe who will be up next.

The theme for this year’s conference “the importance of identifying and responding to the customer” strongly aligns with my commitment to have Sport New Zealand becoming more participant focused.

Sport in New Zealand

It’s a great time to be Sport Minister. The ICC Cricket World Cup was a sensational way to start the year. More than 325,000 people attended the 23 matches held here and well over a billion watched the global broadcast.

The Black Caps captured the nation’s imagination and inspired a new generation of cricketers. The team provided many unforgettable sporting moments: Trent Boult’s bowling – he was the second-highest wicket taker. Martin Guptill’s World Cup record setting 237. Grant Elliot’s semi-final winning six.  Also, let’s not forget Brendon McCullum’s leadership.

New Zealand is getting a reputation for hosting world class international sporting events. In less than two months, we’ll be hosting the FIFA U-20 World Cup.

Lionel Messi, Ronaldinho, Michael Owen, and Adriano all played at this event previously, so it’s a huge chance for Kiwis to see the next wave of global superstars in action.

The tournament will be broadcast to around 100 countries with a global TV audience of 170 million. We are expecting over 7,000 international visitors, including 800 players and support staff and 100 international media.

Sport’s connection

Sport is one of the few positive experiences which can really unify a nation. When New Zealanders are competing on the world stage, it brings us together.

Sport is important to New Zealanders. It’s part of our national psyche. Many of our greatest heroes have been sports people. Saturday morning sport has been a rite of passage for generations of Kiwis.

High performance

I’d like to focus on the high performance space for a moment.

Several factors have contributed to our increased success in recent years, including significantly greater Government investment. 

This enabled the creation of High Performance Sport NZ as a one-stop shop for athletes, providing targeted investment and world-leading support to our top athletes.

It was also the catalyst for the creation of a network of world class facilities so our athletes can have the best possible training environment here at home. The development of national centres of excellence such as rowing at Lake Karapiro and the cycling Avantidrome in Cambridge have had a significant impact.

There is a new pool under development as part of the Millennium Institute, and there are plans in the pipeline for a purpose-built indoor venue for dry-weather snow sports training in Wanaka.

As a result, New Zealand is now fourth on the medals table per capita. We are already first on medals per capita in Paralympics. 

This is proof that we have a world-leading high performance system which is providing a great return on investment and is the envy of many other nations.

The next test will be to see how well our athletes do in the Rio Olympics next year.

New Zealanders participation

There are many benefits to participating in sports and keeping active.

When we take part in sport at a young age we learn important life skills, such as teamwork, co-operation and resilience. You learn how to win, but sometimes more importantly, it’s about how you lose.

We have some of the highest rates of sport and recreation participation in the world. Three-quarters of adults, which is 2.5 million people, take part in sport and recreation in any given week. 89 per cent of kids take part in organised and informal sport at least three hours a week.

Sport contributes $5.2 billion to our economy – that’s around 2.8 per cent of GDP. Households spend $1.3 billion on sports goods and equipment.

Changing landscape

But, the landscape is changing. Maintaining or even increasing these high participation rates is only going to become increasingly difficult.

A recent Colmar Brunton survey found while TV is still the most popular medium for children, digital media is a big part of most kids' lives.

The study looked at the media habits of 700 children and found 88 per cent of those aged between six and 14 watch TV every day. Two thirds are using the internet frequently, and 72 per cent have access to tablets or smartphones.

Obesity

New Zealand is not unique in its drift towards a more stationary lifestyle, it’s a global trend.

We are the third most obese nation in the OECD. Since 2006 obesity in New Zealand has increased from 27 per cent of the population, to 31 per cent.

Research by the Ministry of Health shows that one in three New Zealand school children are obese or overweight, and that more than a third are inactive.

We know there are links with deprivation and inequality. Children living in the most deprived areas are three times as likely to be obese as children living in the least deprived areas.

There is no doubt that being active is good for you. Regular activity can reduce the risk of many chronic conditions such as type 2 diabetes. A lack of physical activity can be linked to around 13 per cent of all deaths in New Zealand.

Priorities

As most of you will be aware I am also Minister of Health. This is the first time the Prime Minister has paired these two portfolios.

He’s asked me to find ways to leverage the two portfolios to help address our high obesity levels.

There is no single solution that will fix obesity.

I’ve drawn together officials from Health and Sport New Zealand and asked them to summarise existing Government actions in this area as well as the international evidence for possible interventions.

I’m also in discussions with Sir Peter Gluckman, co-chair of WHO’s Commission on Ending Childhood Obesity.

No decisions have been made on what shape or form any interventions will take.

I am not ruling out an obesity target – but it’s too early to speculate as to what shape the target would take. If we went down this track, the target would have to be meaningful and evidence based. 

Sport in schools

We need to focus on getting kids to do more physical activity. I believe school is the best place to be encouraging kids to get active and healthy.

I am pleased to see that Sport New Zealand’s updated Strategic Plan and Community Sport Strategy recognises this and lays the groundwork for more work to be done in this area.

International research shows that kids who are sporty and active do better at school.  They’re more engaged and get better academic results. 

Sport NZ’s own Sport in Education project backs this up. I am keen to see a greater collaboration between the sport and education sectors going forward.

I’m encouraging Sport New Zealand to continue the work it’s doing with a wide range of stakeholders to better understand the changing school context, and its impact on our kids’ sporting pathways – and to consider how we ensure sport and PE continue to be a key part of a well-rounded education.

I’ve also been impressed by Project Energize, which is a physical activity and nutrition programme delivered by Energizer teams who work with local schools to provide hands-on support.

Started in 2005 by Sport Waikato and Waikato DHB, Project Energize has also been taken up by Counties Manukau Sport and Sport Northland.

What we’re doing

These programmes fit in with the wider work programme already underway to help address obesity.

Each year the Government invests over $60 million in a range of programmes to promote healthy lifestyles, including Kiwisport, green prescriptions, and fruit in schools.

Budget 2013 gave a $35.5 million funding boost over four years to better support Kiwis with or at risk of developing diabetes or heart disease.

We’ve listened to the advice of Sir Peter Gluckman that preconditions for obesity are set very early and the best intervention point is maternal and newborns.

The Government is also adopting a voluntary new Health Star Rating front of package labelling system that will help New Zealanders make healthy food choices.

Healthy Families

Budget 2014 also allocated $40 million over four years for Healthy Families NZ.

The programme is modelled off an Australian initiative and aims to improve people’s health where they live, learn, work and play by taking a dynamic system approach to preventing chronic disease.

In New Zealand we have ten locally-based lead providers who are currently establishing Healthy Families in their neighbourhoods.

The approach aims to drive the necessary changes to support good health and wellbeing by moving away from disconnected, small-scale and short-term projects.

We want to address the systemic drivers of chronic disease in a concerted and coordinated manner.

The message is being well received.

Later this week I’m travelling to Gisborne to launch the initiative on the East Cape where six local iwi have come together to lead the programme locally.

So watch this space. I hope to have more to say about the positive impact Healthy Families is having in New Zealand going forward.

Closing

We want New Zealanders to be living healthy active lives. By encouraging activity in our kids we will also be paving the way for our future top athletes.

We need Kiwis to continue to participate in sport and recreation in high numbers, and we want more Kiwis to win on the world stage.

From what I‘ve seen of the sector so far, I’d say we are up to the challenge. The New Zealand Sport and Recreation Awards last night was a fantastic reminder of what’s at stake in the long run.

I want to again congratulate all the finalists and winners, and especially the winners of the Lifetime Achievement and CK Doig Leaderships Awards.

Your contribution to sport and recreation, often over many decades, is what keeps the sector vibrant and successful.