About one third of all adult Australians participate in sport, while almost one in two will go and watch at least one major sporting event each year. Nearly a quarter of a million are employed in sport and recreation occupations. For those collectors of sporting trivia, the largest single occupation was not footballers, or golfers, or even coaches, but greenkeepers - around 12,000 at the last census in 1996. And sport plays a major role in Australian society. The central place of sport in Australian life can be seen both in the blanket media coverage it is given, and the fact that Australians will talk sport far more readily than they talk politics.
Sport is also very much part of the economic life of our country.
We export everything from swimming costumes and sports equipment, to expertise in facilities engineering, coaching and sports management. It is sufficient comment on Australian export ability for me to say that an Australian company was chosen by Manchester United to provide the new turf system for its home ground. The Sydney Games will provide a big boost to the economy. Open for Business program represents a number of new business initiatives to maximise this opportunity. In the month around the Olympics, up to half a million visitors are expected to come to Australia.