Thursday, 7 April 2022

Geelong electorate

Ms COUZENS (Geelong) (14:46): (6319) My constituency question is to the Minister for Community Sport. My question is: how can the Victorian government assist young people who want better access to community sports infrastructure in Geelong? As the member for Geelong it has been a real privilege to have discussion forums with a diverse range of young local residents to listen to their experiences. Importantly, the forums participation provided me with the opportunity to hear their views on where changes can be made to enable a fairer and more sustainable community for young people. One of the key themes was the provision of increased sporting and recreational facilities and outdoor activities. Many young people felt that there was a lack of sporting and recreational facilities in Geelong. This was even more of an issue during COVID-19 restrictions, with limited options during all-important outdoor exercise times. The clear feedback from forum participants in my community is that they would like to see more outdoor equipment placed in parks and public areas, with a particular emphasis on better access to basketball courts as it is a popular sport among young people regardless of their background or gender.