Tuesday, 31 October 2023

 Roma BRITNELL (South-West Coast) (14:34): (380) My constituency question is to the Minister for Community Sport, and I ask the minister: on what date can Portland Gymnastics Club expect to receive funding for their new facility? Last year, Minister, your Labor candidate for South-West Coast promised funding to redevelop the current facilities into a high-performance gym the whole community could be proud of. Then after this year’s budget a Labor member in the other place proudly announced the government had committed $1.25 million for the project. None of these promises have been delivered. Silence is all the community has had. This understandably gives the club no confidence that the promise is close, let alone a certainty. The Portland community had a plan for a multipurpose indoor facility that would host not only gymnastics but also basketball, volleyball, table tennis and more. It was a plan that I was proud to support at last year’s election. This government overrode the community’s plans, and now they are not even coming good on their election promise for the alternative. Minister, the level of disrespect being shown to volunteers who give up their time and effort to run this club is not going unnoticed by the community. They deserve an answer and a date.