Wednesday, 8 February 2023

 Jacinta ALLAN (Bendigo East – Minister for Transport and Infrastructure, Minister for the Suburban Rail Loop, Minister for Commonwealth Games Delivery) (14:39): The countdown is on. In 1133 days time Victoria will be hosting the 2026 Commonwealth Games, and regional Victoria will be home to those games. The Andrews Labor government has grabbed with both hands the opportunity to bring the games to regional Victoria. The benefits will be significant and the legacy long-lasting, and I am delighted to update the house today on the huge amount of work that is going on in planning and preparation to deliver the games. We have got early works underway for four athlete villages in Geelong, Morwell, Ballarat and Bendigo, with major construction to start later in the year. These villages will create jobs during the construction phase and be new homes to families in regional Victoria once the games are over. During the games the villages will be home to 7200 athletes and officials, who will be competing in 20 sports, including nine parasports, and it is a smorgasbord of sports for the two weeks of the games. There is women’s T20 cricket, badminton, rugby sevens and shooting heading across to the Latrobe Valley.

In Ballarat I know our members for Wendouree and Eureka are looking forward to seeing boxing and athletics, and of course the home of Steve Moneghetti is hosting the marathon as well. The member for Ripon is going to be looking forward to checking out the mountain bike activities at Creswick. And, Speaker, this one is for you and me: we are hosting in Bendigo the basketball, the netball, the track cycling, lawn bowls, squash and table tennis. There is a festival of cycling over in Shepparton with road race and BMX events, and the members for Geelong, Lara and Bellarine and my parliamentary secretary the member for South Barwon will see nine sports: swimming, hockey, beach volleyball, gymnastics, weightlifting, T20 cricket and triathlon, plus in a games first, coastal rowing, and I know some are interested in golf coming to the Commonwealth Games. Plus the closing ceremony will be at Kardinia Park, rebuilt by successive Labor governments. It is going to be a great games for all of Victoria.