Community sport funding
Bill TILLEY (Benambra) (13:06): Grassroots sporting clubs are the heart and soul of our communities, bringing together men, women, young, old, family and foe alike, but there are cracks appearing – cracks in the buildings, 70-year-old buildings from a very different era. They have been playing footy at Chiltern since the gold rush. They are the defending premiers in 2023, but the clubrooms are more like wooden spooners’. They have taken showerheads off a row of showers in the footy change rooms because there is not enough water pressure. The netball change room is ridiculously small. With 100 girls and women from home and away sides using it on game day, it only has two showerheads. The umpires room is a dogbox. There is no disabled toilet, and they clear out the women’s toilets when one is needed. The canteen is a mix of home ovens, old fridges and pie warmers, and in the same LGA Yackandandah is in a similar boat. It has plans but no money. While Rutherglen has been offered $1 million in an election commitment, that is half of what is needed to get the job done, and there are many more. Last sitting week the Minister for Community Sport spruiked the country football and netball funding, but it is capped at a quarter of a million dollars. Once upon a time a working bee would have knocked these jobs over, but now there is so much red and green tape that these need big money. What we need is a better funding model for all sports clubs.