Tuesday, 2 August 2022

 Mr TAYLOR (Bayswater) (19:13): (6461) We are building the home of basketball in Knox, and with construction well underway on the expansion of the revitalised State Basketball Centre in Wantirna South we are not far off it being a reality. So I wish to raise a matter for the fantastic Minister for Tourism, Sport and Major Events, who is doing a great job. I would like to have the minister for sport come down to Knox and check out the massive construction site of the new home of basketball in the nation. Of course I am so proud that the state Labor government has started work on the new facility, with $105 million from our government to get the job done. It is great to have an investment of $27 million from Knox council too—in total a massive investment of $132 million.

The landmark redevelopment of the State Basketball Centre will take the game in Victoria to a new level for elite and community players in basketball and gymnastics. The redevelopment will deliver 12 new indoor courts for local competitions and statewide championships, taking the total number of indoor courts to 18; high-performance facilities for the WNBL Deakin Melbourne Boomers and NBL South East Melbourne Phoenix; an administrative base for the Boomers and Phoenix along with Basketball Australia, Basketball Victoria and Knox Basketball; a regional state-of-the-art gymnastics facility; a fantastic cafe to get your lattes and everything else in between; and a stunning town square. I cannot understate the phrase ‘stunning town square’—it is fantastic.

Once completed, anticipated in late 2023, the centre will host up to 2 million visitors a year. Importantly this project will support more than 500 good, well-paying jobs in construction and more than 100 ongoing roles once completed. This is fantastic for local jobs and fantastic for our local community. The State Basketball Centre does currently welcome almost 800 000 visitors annually, and of course once the project is complete, this will increase visitation to more than 2 million people. As I said, it is absolutely huge. Once it is complete it will mean better facilities for locals and much more capacity for basketball and gymnastics to grow into the future.

It is a fantastic project that will deliver decades of enjoyment and opportunity for basketballers, gymnasts, coffee enthusiasts, sport lovers, lovers of town squares and everything else in between, and it means ongoing jobs for locals. I tell you what, this state Labor government just gets on, it gets things done, it delivers, and it delivers big infrastructure for our sporting community and everything else in between. I love it; I am excited. We are up and about.