Thursday, 5 October 2023

 Paul HAMER (Box Hill) (17:07): (364) My adjournment matter is for the Minister for Community Sport, and the action that I seek is for the minister to join me on a visit to Mirrabooka Reserve in Blackburn South and meet with representatives from the tenant clubs. This year’s Victorian budget has committed $3 million for a massive upgrade to the Mirrabooka Reserve, with a further $2 million committed through the Albanese government from my friend Dr Carina Garland, the wonderful member for Chisholm. I would like to congratulate the Blackburn NewHope Football Club and the Blackburn South Cricket Club, the two tenant clubs, as these are the communities and sporting clubs that will be amplified from this upgrade. They provide training and games for more than 450 players across 32 teams of all ages. The upgrade will include new change rooms that will encourage and support women’s and girls’ participation in sport, and we can see just from the enormous groundswell of support that came to the Matildas recently how important this is, particularly for a local soccer club like the NewHope football club. A visit from the minister would be an amazing opportunity to talk to the clubs about the progress of this project and understand what the upgrades will mean for both clubs.