PHIL WAUGH, RUGBY AUSTRALIA CEO: Thank you very much. Thank you very much to everyone for joining us for this very special announcement today. I'd firstly like to acknowledge the Custodians of the land on which we meet, the Jinibara and Kabi Kabi and the Turrbal people, and pay our respects to those past, present and emerging.

We’re joined today by the Honourable Anika Wells, Minister for Communications and Sport; Rugby Australia Chair, Daniel Herbert, Wallaby number 715; Managing Director of Rugby World Cup 2027, Chris Stanley; Wallaby Tom Hooper, Wallaby number 964; Wallaroo Tiarah Minns, Wallaroo number 217; classic Wallaroo, Shirley Russell, a life member of Queensland Rugby Union and Wallaroo number 26 and we have Queensland Rugby Representative George Blake.

And the proceedings for today is we'll hear from the Minister for the announcement, then hear from the Managing Director of Rugby World Cup 2027, Chris Stanley. I'll say a few words and then we look forward to a group photo with our Junior Sevens players after that. And then we'll hear from Tom and Tiara for a media opportunity. So, I'll now pass over to the Honourable Minister Anika Wells, the Minister for Communications and Sport. Thank you.

MINISTER FOR COMMUNICATIONS AND SPORT ANIKA WELLS: Thank you. So, today I’ll begin by acknowledging the custodians owners of the land on which we gather this afternoon, the Kabi Kabi, Turrbal and Jinibara People. Together we stand on the shoulders of 1,600 generations of First Nations people, and that is our shared history.

Today I am announcing the Albanese Government is investing $90 million in the future of rugby union as part of our continued commitment to hosting major sporting events in the run up to Brisbane 2032. Rugby has a long, storied and proud history in Australia with names like George Gregan and John Eales to the Queensland Reds' dynasty of Michael and Tom Lynagh, through to our incredible current and ex-Wallaroos and Wallabies, some of who are joining us today.

With this investment, we are building rugby union, with legacy programs focused on grassroots participation, particularly for women and girls. This will deliver better pathways and drive participation in rugby for both here and our neighbours in the Pacific. It will grow the capability of local clubs, local coaches and local officials in the sport, with a major focus on getting more women and more girls into the sport.

Support for sport in the Pacific and sport diplomacy is central to the Albanese Government's commitment to deepen cultural ties with our Pacific Island communities. Through initiatives such as this, along with our significant support through the Pacific Sports Australia program, the Albanese Government continues our strategy of engagement in the Pacific, building and growing those cultural ties.

It isn't just grassroots rugby that will benefit from this investment. Our support includes funding today for both the Men's and Women's Rugby World Cups. We're so proud that Australia is hosting both the men's competition next year, and the Women’s World Cup in 2029. They’re two major events leading up to Brisbane 2032.

These events inspire more people to take up rugby, especially women and girls, it increases social cohesion and drives the economy through tourism and for small businesses. The Men's Rugby World Cup is the third largest sporting event in the world and it is projected to generate an economic benefit of more than $2 billion. These tournaments will leave a lasting legacy that the Albanese Government is proud to back these major events which will deliver for both Australia and the Pacific region.

Now, I’ll hand you over to Chris.

CHRIS STANLEY, MANAGING DIRECTOR, 2027 RUGBY WORLD CUP: Thank you, Minister, and thank you to your Government and the Albanese Government for the funding that they are putting towards both Rugby World Cups ’27 and ’29 and the legacy programs.

Today is a major milestone for us in the run-up to both Rugby World Cup ‘27 and 2029. As of today, we are just nine weeks away from one year to go from what will be the largest Rugby World Cup ever. It's a once in a generation opportunity to have the men's tournament here in this country in 2027 and then the women’s tournament here in 2029.

And as the Minister said, this funding is not just for the hosting of the tournament, not just for the funding of two iconic and uniquely Australian Rugby World Cups. It ensures that the benefits, from the run up to the tournament and after, are long-standing and meaningful. Events are more than just matches and people turning up to stadiums to see fantastic matches of rugby. They inspire the next generation of people to pick up a rugby ball and be part of this amazing sport.

Under the umbrella of the World Rugby Impact Beyond brand there's two legacy programs - Impact Beyond Australia focused on the domestic legacy program, and Impact Beyond Pasifika, focused on the Pacific region. Both of those programs are all about building sustainable rugby, growing the rugby community, increasing participation for men, women, boys and girls, more coaches, more match officials and more people being part of this amazing sport. Thank you.

WAUGH: Thanks, Chris. Thanks Minister Wells. And just on behalf of Rugby Australia, thank you so much for your Government’s continued support of sport and, in particular, rugby union.

Last year we kicked off the golden decade of rugby in Australia with the British and Irish Lions Tour to Australia, as well as our Women's Rugby World Cup in the UK. And we look forward to what's going to be a very exciting period into the Rugby World Cup for the men in 2027 and the Women's Rugby World Cup in 2029.

It's far more than just what happens on the field. It's what happens off the field, and one of our biggest focuses is as a game connecting the clubs to the national teams, and that is and continues to be our biggest focus, and this support allows us to enable that and execute on that.

As Minister Wells said, all eyes will be on Australia in 2027 with the Men's Rugby World Cup, and all eyes in 2029 with the Women's World Cup - next year's World Cup is the third largest sporting event anywhere in the globe. And as we saw last year's Lions Tour where we had 40,000 people embark on Australia, in 2027 we expect 250,000 people embarking on Australia and up to $2 billion of economic benefit to Australian communities.

The two objectives of the Rugby World Cup and Rugby Australia's involvement and hosting of Rugby World Cup next year is to showcase our game to the world. And we've certainly seen that and the importance of Australia hosting major sporting events, and we look forward to two massive events in ‘27 and ‘29. And then the second objective is to grow our game in terms of participation. And we have some very lofty goals in terms of participation growth by 2029 of 30 per cent, and 70 per cent increase in female participation.

So, I would just like to finish again by acknowledging and thanking the Federal Government of Australia - Minister Wells, thank you for your support. And we look forward to creating one team from club to country through the Rugby World Cups in 2027 and 2029. Thank you.

JOURNALIST: Could you tell us about what specifically we might see from this funding? You know, you talked about new coaches and new referees and things like that, but what are we looking to create in terms of legacy programs? New competitions?

WAUGH: Yeah, I think you've answered that very well. I mean, it's right from development officers in schools and local clubs right through to supporting competitions across Australia, across the Pacific, as well as infrastructure investment to ensure the facilities for young aspiring girls and boys have access to those facilities. So it’s very broad, and the considerable investment allows us to achieve that.

JOURNALIST: Is that where you see the gap, you know, that there’s not a competition, let’s say [indistinct] for women who are perhaps not at that elite level that you want to get towards that elite level? Can you talk to me about where you see that money best spent? You know, is it the pathways programs …

WAUGH: Yeah, I think that we’ve often recognised that we need to invest more in pathways, more in juniors, more in clubs, and so working through with our member unions. Ultimately, our game is delivered through our great member unions, and so more investment into pathways, schools, clubs and really connecting the amateur game and the community game.

JOURNALIST: What about branding as well? You know, are the issues with making sure people are more aware [indistinct] …

WAUGH: Yeah, well, I think that we’ve seen in a lot of ways with the trailblazers of women’s sport with our women’s Sevens team that won gold in 2016, and that was established in 2014. And we’ve just continued to be the leading professional women’s program in the country. So that’s a big focus of ours, to continue that as we go into LA ’28 and of course the home Olympics in 2032. But if you look at where our growth has been most pleasing, is between four and seven-year-olds and the new branding of Get Into Rugby, which we launched two years ago. And we saw a 26 per cent increase in 2024, and we saw a 14 per cent increase in 2025. So that continues to be a real strength to our game and where we’re focusing a lot of investment.

JOURNALIST: On the back of that grassroots growth, do you expect to see the Super Rugby Women's comp expand between now and 2029?

WAUGH: Yeah, we've got- again, very targeted goals of going to the final weekend in 2029. We saw how important it is to go deep into the tournament in 2003 when we last held the Men's Rugby World Cup. We saw that with the FIFA Women's World Cup, that going deep into the tournament doesn't just capture the sporting lovers of the code, but it captures all Australians, and it's our aspiration to go through to the final weekend in 2029 with our women's. And so, we know that the length of the competition isn't ideal at the moment, but we are playing 10 tests per year with our Wallaroos, which is a considerable investment at that international level. So we'll be accelerating that investment into ensuring that we can reach that goal in 2029.

JOURNALIST: Do you sort of have any concerns that players could be lost if that elite product isn't more domestic and, I guess, more grassroots players are able to advance to a professional level, not just the Wallaroos side of things?

WAUGH: Yeah, I mean, it is a differentiator for our sport in the fact that it's an international game and we're playing 10 internationals with our Wallaroos, as well as our women's Sevens team who are travelling the world every year. You have the world series events all around the world for nine series events every year, so certainly a great opportunity for young girls who aspire to travelling the world. Ultimately, you need to ensure that pathway through from playing in the community game right through to the opportunity to travel and compete at the international game with the Wallaroos and the women’s Sevens is well invested, and we’re on that path.

JOURNALIST: Is it concern or an impediment to growth is things like injuries, and particularly a lot of conversation about [indistinct] injuries and things like that. Do you see that as a concern going forward for growing the game, particularly amongst juniors?

WAUGH: Well, I think that we've already implemented tackling below the sternum to protect players. If you look at right through the international game, World Rugby are leading with instrumental mouth guards which identifies significant head contact and removes that player from the field. So we're very confident that we're progressing in that space and we're certainly focused primarily on player welfare, which ultimately comforts the parents when they’re registering their kids.

JOURNALIST: On the age verification software, the companies who sell that software are calling on the government to grant the eSafety Commissioner investigative powers to test if social media companies are actually using their tech properly. Is that something you’d be open to?

WELLS: I mean, that's exactly why we introduced the legislation in the last sitting fortnight. The eSafety Commissioner had the notices ready to issue to social media platforms to summons the documents so that we could get to the bottom of this. That's exactly why the Albanese Government was trying to act urgently in this phase. Instead, we had Angus Taylor and the Coalition refer a four-page bill off to an eight-week Senate inquiry. And now we've got submissions examining the scale of the problem. I think Australians don't want their parliamentarians to examine the scale of the problem, they want them to fast-track solutions, and that’s what I’ll keep doing.

JOURNALIST: So that is a concern, though, that they’re potentially not using the software as they should be.

WELLS: We know that they’re doing the bare minimum. You’ve heard me say that many times. What I wanted to do was give the eSafety Commissioner powers to get to the bottom of that and force compliance. Instead, we’re having an inquiry where people are examining the scale of the problem again. We’ll now get through that and then hopefully the Coalition will join us in supporting urgent action to actually demand some accountability from these social media platforms.

JOURNALIST: What about a mandatory audit of those captured by the under-16s ban?

WELLS: Look, I think let’s do the summonsing of documents. At the moment, the eSafety Commissioner is reliant upon what they tell her as the independent regulator whereas being given more powers as requested and tabled through the legislation would allow her to talk to people like age assurance companies and third parties and get the evidence from them about that, so that would be a great next step. We’ve got Digital Duty of Care coming down the line in the second half of this year. It will add to the way that we examine and account for safety by design in the system. I’m working on those steps and hopefully the Coalition will join us.

JOURNALIST: Minister, I want to ask about the ABC skit depicting the sexualized violence directed at Gina Rinehart. What was your reaction to it?

WELLS: My personal view is it’s unacceptable. Like any Australian, there’s stuff I’ve seen on TV that I don’t agree with. As the Minister for Communications, I respect the editorial independence of the ABC, but I understand they have now referred it to the Ombudsman. I think that was the right thing to do.

JOURNALIST: Should the ABC apologise?

WELLS: The ABC should have referred it to the Ombudsman, and that’s what they’ve done.

JOURNALIST: Gina Rinehart’s calling for an apology. Do you think it’s something that they should be apologising for, while also referring it to the Ombudsman?

WELLS: Look, as the Minister for Communications, as the Minister for Sport, to be honest, if I spent all my time weighing in day to day on the scandals or outrages, valid or not, in both sport and communications, I wouldn't have time to do anything substantive. So, like I said, in this case, the ABC has referred to the Ombudsman, and I think that was a helpful and right thing to do.

JOURNALIST: With regards to gendered and inflammatory language, is it not hypocritical for Labor figures to come out and condemn the Ditch the Witch campaign against Julia Gillard and Jacinta Allan, but not actively be condemning this sort of content towards Gina Rinehart from the ABC?

WELLS: I think the nuance here as the Minister for Communications is that I, as the Labor Minister for Communications, respect the editorial independence of the ABC. They have a board, they have a chair, they have a process for where these things reach public ire. I appreciate the fact they have now referred it to the Ombudsman for that to play out.