Minister for Sport Mark Arbib and Member for Perth Stephen Smith showed the Government’s strong support for Australia’s top hockey players, when they visited the Kookaburras’ training session at the AIS training centre in Perth last night.

Senator Arbib and Mr Smith congratulated the Kookaburras on a big year on the international stage capped off by winning the prestigious Sultan Azlan Shah Cup for a record sixth time.

'The Kookaburras are setting the benchmark for international competition, number one in the world after winning the World Cup for the first time in 24 years, and capturing their third straight Champions Trophy,' Mr Smith said.

'Winning the Sultan Azlan Shan Cup, combined with the gold medal results at the Delhi 2010 Commonwealth Games for both the Kookaburras and the Hockeyroos, shows how well positioned Australian hockey is at the high performance level.'

Senator Arbib said after meeting the Kookaburras and Hockeyroos at the Commonwealth Games in Delhi last year he was happy to visit their training centre in Perth.

'The Australian Government provides significant funding for the ongoing operation of this AIS training centre and it is terrific to see first-hand how it provides greater access to support services, quality training and high level competition for our top hockey athletes,' Senator Arbib said.

Senator Arbib announced an extra $180 000 to support both the Kookaburras and Hockeyroos as they prepare for the 2012 London Olympic Games.

'This funding is part of our ‘Green and Gold’ project that has injected an extra $3.8 million into Australia’s top Olympic and Paralympic sports and athletes – targeted funding to enhance the hockey teams’ chances of success.'

Hockey Australia Chief Executive Mark Anderson said he was pleased to see the Government’s strong support of Australian hockey continue in the lead up to the 2012 London Olympic Games.

'Hockey Australia is delighted with the ongoing support of the Australian Government,' Mr Anderson said.

'This extra funding from the Green and Gold project will greatly assist us to prepare our teams and players in the pursuit of Olympic success.'

Senator Arbib said the Green and Gold project was further evidence of the Government’s commitment to achieving sustained success on the international stage.

'The Australian Government is committed to giving Australian athletes every opportunity to achieve sustained international success, turning a potential fourth, fifth and sixth placing into a medal at the London games,' he said.

As part of the Australian Government’s $23 million in extra high performance funding to sport, hockey received more than $1 million on top of its existing high performance funding of nearly $6 million.

In last year’s boost to participation funding Hockey Australia received $500 000 to get more kids out playing hockey.

'The additional participation funding is already resulting in improved junior participation numbers for hockey across the nation,' Mr Anderson said.

'Participation at a grass-roots level is extremely important – we want to get more young children involved in sport, while delivering high quality, innovative programs that support our athletes and coaches.'