Thursday, 22 June 2023

Ministers statements: major events

Steve DIMOPOULOS (Oakleigh – Minister for Tourism, Sport and Major Events, Minister for Creative Industries) (14:18): According to the global livability index, Melbourne is again the most livable city in Australia and in the top three in the world. According to the Age this morning, Melbourne’s culture and environment set it apart from Sydney in the five categories assessed.

There is a lot going on here in Melbourne all year round, but off the top of my head I can think of at least 26 annual events that have contributed to the city’s world-famous cultural life. I have not got time for all 26. Let us kick off with Australia’s premier arts and cultural festival, Rising, which just wound up on the weekend with some tremendous numbers indeed: 630,000 people attended across 12 nights that had the city jumping in the middle of winter. Restaurants were booked out. Bars were packed, from very small bars with a capacity of 26 right up to our biggest nightclubs and venues.

Melbourne is roaring. Forty thousand Melburnians and counting have visited the ice rink down by the Yarra, which is still open actually and drawing crowds after 11,000 folks descended on what was the biggest public participation orchestra on record, 10,000 kazoos. Right next door to St Paul’s Cathedral we had Night Trade pulling in 80,000 people across the festival. Across our major events calendar this year we have broken records at the Australian Grand Prix, the comedy festival, the Avalon air show and the Australian Open. It is heartening to see our sport and culture economy recovering better than ever, but it is actually no surprise, because this success, these global leading numbers, come off the back of almost a decade of investment and planning by this government.

The recognition and crowds are great, but it is the hundreds of thousands of jobs that this industry underpins, the creativity it stages and the lives that it enhances that make Melbourne the best city in Australia and one of the best in the world. You would not want to be anywhere else, and that is endorsed by Taylor Swift, who is coming here. Now, there is no bad blood with the good people of South Australia. Taylor Swift is not going to Adelaide, but she must be enchanted with our city – she is coming here, to Melbourne.