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TRANSCRIPT OF INTERVIEW WITH STEVE PRICE AND NICOLE LIVINGSTONE MELBOURNE TALK RADIO

THE HON KATE ELLIS MP
MINISTER FOR EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION
CHILD CARE AND YOUTH
MINISTER FOR SPORT

TRANSCRIPT OF INTERVIEW WITH
STEVE PRICE AND NICOLE LIVINGSTONE
MELBOURNE TALK RADIO

14 June 2010

Topics: Socceroos v Germany; Australia's World Cup Bid


STEVE PRICE: Let's go back to Durban and back to South Africa, the Federal Sports Minister Kate Ellis is on the line, morning to you Minister.

KATE ELLIS: Hello. How are you?

STEVE PRICE: Well not as good now as we were - thought we were going to be.

KATE ELLIS: I can relate. We're a little bit bruised over here in South Africa as well but I guess looking towards the next two games at least and hoping for some much better results.

STEVE PRICE: Did we perhaps go into this a little more optimistic than we should have been because Germany's obviously a very, very good soccer nation?

KATE ELLIS: Look I think we all knew that Germany would be a massive challenge. They are an exceptional football team and we saw that tonight. Just their pace, their skills were - showed through. We always knew this was going to be a challenge and they were probably the toughest team in this group so we just look forward now to Ghana next weekend and hope that we've learnt some lessons from tonight.

NICOLE LIVINGSTONE: Few days rest between we - before we take on Ghana Kate, good morning to you by the way, it's Nicole Livingstone.

KATE ELLIS: Hi Nicole.

NICOLE LIVINGSTONE: Do you get a chance to go and see the boys? Have you seen them since you've been there?

KATE ELLIS: I am going to training in a couple of day's time so we'll try and pass on some words of wisdom but also some encouragement. And I must say one of the great things about tonight was the encouragement from the Australian fans. There are thousands of Aussies over here and they really were amazing in terms of, you know, it was tough after that first goal but the Australian fans kept their spirit and kept up the encouragement and they really are fantastic ambassadors out here, ambassadors for the Socceroos but also for our World Cup bid.

STEVE PRICE: We are - we're talking to the Federal Sports Minister Kate Ellis, you've been there a few days now, more than a week I think, we are bidding, we've decided we're not going to bid in 2018 but we will bid for 2022, of what you've seen so far of the World Cup, is it an event that is worth chasing?

KATE ELLIS: Oh there is no question about that at all. But we've already seen and we've spoken since we lodged our bid and since we announced that we'd been bidding about the economic benefits and about the huge number of tourists but I think one thing that is apparent is just how much the eyes of the entire world are on South Africa at the moment and in terms of exposure and promotion of the country, it is a magnificent event.

But also when you're here, you can see the way that South Africa has just united behind this and particularly for a country with such a divided past, it - there is something really special about seeing the entire South African community out there with such pride showing off their country to the rest of the world.

And I tell you, I will absolutely do everything I can and I'm determined that we want this event in Australia and we're going to work hard to make sure that we can bring the eyes of the world back home.

NICOLE LIVINGSTONE: Well you've obviously withdrawn the bid for 2018 given that the support was going to go across to Europe, but when you look at 2022, there are other Asian Federation members that are bidding for that World Cup as well, including Qatar, Japan and South Korea, when you say that you're going to do everything you possibly can, are you actually talking to as many other FIFA members as you possibly can to try and get some support for Australia rather than Qatar, Japan, or South Korea?

KATE ELLIS: Yeah we have been and whilst we all were disappointed by the results on field tonight, there have been some really encouraging meetings and discussions taking place off field. But I've been here for a coupe of days now because we had the FIFA congress where we have the opportunity to meet with the executive committee of FIFA and the decision makers and those that will ultimately be voting in December.

And it's been really encouraging the feedback that we've been getting and we've been I guess on full duties out there pushing our case and it's been very positive. There is no doubt that lots of people are very supportive of the idea of coming to Australia.

They've seen what we've done with sporting events in the past, with the Olympics, the Commonwealth Games, the Rugby World Cup and people are excited about the prospect of coming to Australia and that's not to say it's not a massive challenge but I think that the Australian bid is being viewed very positively.

STEVE PRICE: Great to catch up, I'd just like to further ruin your Queen's Birthday long weekend by telling you Kate that the Crows got smashed yesterday just in case you hadn't caught up with that.

NICOLE LIVINGSTONE: [Laughs].

KATE ELLIS: I really appreciate you pointing that out Steve.

STEVE PRICE: I knew you would.

KATE ELLIS: I actually had that pointed out to me by one of the Socceroo supporters yesterday which was very kind of them as well and I understand that it's been a tough weekend just in sport, not only for the Socceroos but also for my beloved Crows. So we just look forwards towards the future.

STEVE PRICE: Good luck in the rest of the World Cup. Thanks for talking to us.

KATE ELLIS: Lovely to talk to you.

[Ends]

Minister Ellis' Press Secretary: Jamila Rizvi 0438 644 603 jamila.rizvi@deewr.gov.au

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