The Sport and Recreation Ministers Council meeting includes a group discussion with Australian Sports Minister Kate Ellis, to be held after a briefing by businessman David Crawford on his Government-commissioned report into sports funding, released last month which found funding was biased towards Olympic sports and has sparked a divisive debate between elite sport and participation.

Wright claims that there should be more money for community sport, even advocating a sports programme for babies to "stimulate them for hand-eye co-ordination and motor skills".

John Coates, the President of the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC), has warned that Australia will be forced to send smaller teams to future Olympics and only athletes who have a chance of winning a medal, if the Government adopts the Crawford report, a view supported by a group of top athletes and influential administrators gathered together by the AOC.

But Wright is backing Crawford recommendation for $250 million (£140 million) a year for the next four years for sustainable grassroots facilities.

He said: "Money will always find its way for elite sport, but it should never be at the exclusion of money for community sport.

"We need to support grassroots sport without forsaking the financial responsibility to the elite level."


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