Tuesday, 27 August 2024

Bills

Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Trust Amendment Bill 2024

Second reading

Debate resumed on motion of Steve Dimopoulos:

That this bill be now read a second time.

Sam GROTH (Nepean) (17:20): I rise to speak on the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Trust Amendment Bill 2024. This bill has been introduced by the government in order to address and reflect changes to the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Trust’s operations and remit. It includes the addition of the new convention centre in Geelong under the trust’s administration. These changes have been broadly viewed by the sector as uncontroversial, with the bill necessary to address basic and expected changes to the trust’s operations. However, it does not mean that there are not important conversations to have around some of the contents in this bill, the impact it will have on the sector and some of the broader contexts of the government’s policy.

In line with what I have just mentioned, the main provisions of the bill revolve around changing the trust’s name. It will change the name of the trust established by the principal act from the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Trust to the Victorian Convention and Event Trust, and this brings it in line with the expanded remit of that trust. It particularly centres around the addition of the Nyaal Banyul Geelong Convention and Event Centre, which is due to open in 2026. With the track record of this government in opening assets we do not know if 2026 will be the date, but we all I guess hope it will be, especially for the Geelong region and for the events sector. The other noteworthy provisions increase the number of trustees from seven to nine and amend the legislation to remove powers from the Governor in Council, and it will transfer those powers back to the minister. This was described by the government as a measure to get things moving quickly – an expediency measure.

All the changes in this bill, though, do contribute to the impact on the stakeholders across the state, both changes for the better and changes that create a deal of uncertainty as the events industry moves forward into the next phase of its recovery after what was a challenging few years through that COVID period. There are concerns about this bill, though, as I mentioned, and there is definitely a feeling of uncertainty in the community and the industry around how certain changes will directly or indirectly impact them.

The event industry in Victoria is a big, big industry. It is made up of the people in the businesses involved in the professional creation and management of special events both in and from Victoria. It is an industry responsible for some 120,000 events a year and is worth in a normal year over $15 billion to the Victorian economy. It covers things like conferences, exhibitions, brand activations, product launches, incentive programs, charity events, public and community events, festivals, mass participation events, weddings and of course our major events, which we are so proud of here in Victoria and which have been a key piece of what Victoria and Melbourne are known for by both sides of this house.

There are people involved in the events industry, and when you think not just about our major events, it is a lot broader than that. There are event companies, conference organisers and exhibition organisers. There are all the people who work in the audiovisual, the theming, the building of the stands, the exhibition rental, the lighting, the audio, the rigging, the staging, the guest management, the content creation – it is a very, very big industry. There are risk managers, production managers – I could keep going – all of the catering and the conferencing. It is a truly huge sector that provides a huge number of jobs to Victorians, and it is important we keep creating a sustainable environment for them to be able to operate in and the best conditions for them to do so.

There is also sometimes some confusion. I think it gets a little bit lost by this current government that, even though it does fall in my shadow portfolio and the minister’s portfolio of tourism, sport and major events, there is a big separation between tourism and sport and our events sector. I think it is just important for us to note that there is that separation. There is a different purpose, there are different economic and operational models and there are different people. While there are overlaps in some of those and some of those jobs that I did mention and those people involved will get involved in some of our major events, they are working predominantly in the events sector.

The government, in my opinion and that of some of those stakeholders that I have spoken to, only views the events industry in terms of hotel-room nights and then some of the trips to other assets around the state that they can deliver – trips down to the penguins and how it supports the tourism industry. Even though these are by-products of the industry, in the majority of cases they are not the main purpose or benefit of the event. In fact the vast majority of our events have little to no tourism benefits as they are local events. They are events held for people here. They are not bringing people necessarily into the city; they are for people here in Victoria or in Melbourne. The events industry is also an export industry, and we export a whole range of products and people to the rest of the world. For the big events that you see in other states or globally, there are people who are based here in Melbourne, and having a sustainable industry here allows them to also go out and do what they do right around the world. It is important to know that we need to make sure we are looking after what we do here so that those people can work here – and that is important – but they are also trained and built up to go out and deliver these events globally.

When we think about events, I think in this place or in this state we get very, very caught up quite often in photo opportunities and we think about our major events. Yes, we have a great major events calendar, most of which was handed to this government and very, very little they have built themselves. Things like the Australian Open, the grand prix, the comedy festival – these events only make up about just over 5 per cent of the events industry in economic terms. Much of what government refers to as major events – the art exhibitions at the NGV, theatre productions – actually have little to do with the event industry as a whole. Our events drive innovation and change across organisations and the community. They educate, they train, they motivate, they bring communities together and they create social cohesion. They fund and support the work of a large proportion of for-purpose organisations, and they give many people their most cherished experiences of this state, both socially and economically.

Coming out of the last few years the world has gone through unprecedented change, and these events are probably needed more than ever. It is really hard going in the events industry at the moment. There was little support for this industry through the pandemic period, because a lot of the people who work in the industry are self-employed. They did not have the ability to work during that time, and they did not necessarily have the ability to leave. We have got to make sure that our organisations like Visit Victoria, Sport and Recreation Victora and Creative Victoria support the tourism, sports and arts very well, but we have got to make sure they are also supporting the events sector.

On this side of the house we have a very, very rich and proud history of supporting our events sector and our event venues, including the one mentioned in this bill, the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre. The genesis of the Victorian government’s continual support for these major infrastructure endeavours has focused on making us globally competitive. That all started back with the Kennett government in the mid-1990s, and we so often hear the convention centre referred to as Jeff’s Shed. When the Melbourne Exhibition Centre Bill 1994 was brought before this house then Minister Gude described it as an opportunity to:

… attract both important Australian and international exhibitions and trade shows to Melbourne.

There can be no doubt that we all in this place can agree that it has certainly achieved that mission. It was administered by a department of the government that had a relentless passion for the events sector. It brought trade shows and an expansion of what has become a key industry for Melbourne and Victoria as a whole. It was major reform aimed at supporting that industry, and it was a development that was:

… extremely competitive, with modern centres in Sydney, Brisbane, Singapore and Hong Kong vying for an increased market share.

I am sure everyone can agree that today we are still fighting with those other markets. I think this is why it is important that this new exhibition centre is brought on in Geelong, but it is also important that we support the sector as a whole. It was the spirit of competition and opportunity back then – it was industry led and government backed – that created the thriving events and exhibition market we saw in Melbourne through the 1990s and into the 2000s. But it is often said that complacency can be the greatest killer of competition and enterprise. We see now that the sector is suffering under what I believe is the complacency of this government after they have been in power now for 10 years. Even with this piece of legislation they are just dabbling around the edges of legislation instead of introducing real reform that could benefit the sector. We on this side will always continue to champion our events and tourism sector and bring meaningful reforms, and we are going to have a lot more to say in this space.

We have done that here; we have done it at times with our federal colleagues in Canberra. We have also done it whilst maintaining the support for private industry for those people who are having a go in the events sector – all those people that I mentioned – and making sure that they are properly supported, because when we are competitive like that with our government venues, it will continue to pump up the sector, pump up those people and bring the economic benefit to the state.

As I said, this government has done little to nothing in the events space. And I am not talking major events, I am talking about this events space that I have defined. They have done little to nothing in that space and have been more focused on housekeeping around the edges of the legislation. After COVID the sector demands and deserves more from this government than focusing on just the administrative minutiae of this place. They need a government that comes to the table with reform, helps deregulate and helps with investment and opportunity and consultations. I just think at the moment these are qualities that are missing from those on the other side of the chamber – a real vision for this space for Victoria.

This bill may seem inconsequential to some, and the fact that it is seen as inconsequential shows that there is a lack of focus from the minister and the Premier and the departments on the revival of our tourism and events space. We should be talking about proper reform, a restructure of our agencies that help administer these events. We should be talking about bodies that have a real focus on tourism, have a real focus on our major events and have a real focus on business events here in Victoria so we can best utilise our assets and show the Victorian people and the world that we truly are the events capital of Australia but also keep selling ourselves globally.

There is no doubt that the development of regional events centres is commendable, and it is something that we have also been proud of on this side. However, building and administering these centres is not the end of the government’s responsibility in these areas. You cannot just have a ‘build and run’ mentality, leaving things like the convention centre or sporting events or tourism centres with developments that just sit there. Every time a bill in the events space comes before this house, we do see missed opportunity after missed opportunity. Geelong itself is one of the fastest growing cities in Australia, but thanks to this government’s focus on Melbourne and inside the tram tracks, we have seen that a number of projects – and I will touch on some of those – that have been listed for Geelong have been cancelled in recent times. We need to make sure that we are delivering not just for Melbourne and the people here but also for regional Victoria.

The biggest one that comes to mind in recent times is of course that promise for regional Victoria of the Commonwealth Games, where people in Geelong and in other regional centres were promised a games for regional Victoria. They were promised a games that was going to bring the eyes of the world to those centres. But all we ended up getting was a $600 million bill for the Victorian taxpayer, for a games that is going to be held possibly somewhere in Scotland using Victorian taxpayers money, and projects that now will be delivered because the government feels like they have to deliver $1 billion worth of infrastructure for, in some cases, something that is not actually needed. We do not want to see that happen with this centre, so I hope the government does have a plan for how they are going to increase the events sector and bring events to Geelong, because we do not want to see it just sit there.

I did mention earlier that there are a couple of concerns in and around the bill. One of those relates to the membership of the new trust being moved from seven to nine members. This was raised in the bill briefing by me and colleagues, and it has been raised by a number of stakeholders. We know the appointment to public boards and trusts is an opportunity to diversify the experience, both professional and lived, being brought to the table to address new issues and challenges. But with the Victorian Convention and Event Trust it is clear that with this new challenge and with the launch and integration of the Geelong Convention and Event Centre into the trust, we need to make sure that – and this has been raised, as I said – those two extra trustees have some sort of a link to the Geelong area or to the events sector as a whole. I think the stakeholders locally would like to see probably the first one as much as the second one. I know it has been mentioned that there is one member with a link to Geelong, currently, in the seven that sit there now, but we do want to make sure that the people who are going onto that trust do have the best interests for Geelong and a connection to that space, and we have addressed that with the minister and his office. When we did ask, the government sidestepped and did say they did have one member of the board living in Geelong, so we do continue to encourage them to look at that when they make those appointments. I am sure they will receive people from the Geelong area wanting to be put onto this trust once it looks like opening.

When you talk about the Geelong community – the government do hold seats down there, and we hope they are not neglecting that community – we want to make sure that there is an assurance that the Geelong community is going to be involved in probably what is going to be its largest tourism asset in the area. This is going to bring a lot of people to the Geelong area, and we want to make sure that they are having that engagement with local communities down there. We know that with the Commonwealth Games there was very, very limited local consultation, and we have been out there many times in that community and gone and seen a lot of the local sports, a lot of the venues and a lot of the people involved who said they were just told that this was going to happen, that there was very, very little consultation and then even after the cancellation very little consultation to make sure that the assets that were being delivered as a result of the cancellation, as a result of the government’s spend in the future are actually what is needed by those local communities and that they are not just getting assets that are being delivered because the government promised them for the games. So we want to make sure that consultation continues.

Another one of the concerns I think that Geelong is facing when it comes to a venue of this size and the people it is going to deliver is actually making sure the connectivity of that city is matching the demand of the people who are going there. So things like public transport and access to Geelong become a lot more important. We know that Melbourne Airport is slated to get a third runway, and we now see that Melbourne Airport rail is going to go ahead after a number of years of fights and probably ‍– well, we know – an extra cost that is going to be put onto delivering that as a project now. But once people fly into Melbourne or into Avalon we have got to make sure that they can then get from those airports out to this big convention centre and make sure the accessibility for those people when they are going there is applicable.

When you talk about that, it is probably disappointing to see that Labor’s commitment to Geelong fast rail has been shelved or cancelled. It was another election promise to the people of Geelong or Victoria that was in all honesty probably nothing more than an empty commitment that was designed to win a bunch of votes in regional Victoria – a little bit like, I keep mentioning it, the Commonwealth Games was – and we know at the time then Premier Daniel Andrews and the now Premier who was the Minister for Transport Infrastructure, Premier Jacinta Allan now, declared that the 250 kilometre-an-hour trains were set to be the fastest in Australia and would slash travel times, and less than 18 months later the project was scrapped. There was little to no substantial work commenced on that, and it seems it was just another empty press release from this government.

The fast rail commitment came along with other promises for Geelong – yes, the convention centre and a children’s hospital. At the moment it looks like only the convention centre will be delivered, and as I said we hope that that is on time, but I guess the question that comes from locals now is: will it be delivered, when and for what price? This government are happy to focus on their massive metro projects, and we have heard more about it today with the metro rail, and it does not matter that it is a secret letter that is going to reveal another $888 million in cost for the people of Victoria just to try to get that delivered on time, but when it comes to regional Victoria and to Geelong they have only been too happy to announce things and then scrap or shelve them, and the Geelong fast rail is an example of that.

The success of any events centre is dependent on the ability for attendees to access the centre readily from anywhere in the state or interstate or internationally, so I would hope that there is a focus on understanding by 2026 how we are going to get all these people out to Geelong in the best way possible and not just putting more buses on roads out through western Melbourne and out to Geelong. We want to make sure there is investment in rail connectivity to Geelong. We want to see an expansion of the road network, and also I think some private-sector investment absolutely will be critical in trying to get this done. We also want to make sure that when people are in Geelong – and we actually heard a little bit of this around consultations prior to the Commonwealth Games being cancelled, that the Geelong bus network needs a complete rework as well.

As the biggest growing regional city here in the state, at the moment you catch a bus out in the suburbs, you go into the city interchange and then you go back out again. There is going to have to be more bus connectivity around Geelong, because once people get down there, they are not going to be stuck inside the convention centre. They will want to make sure they are going to get out to the rest of the area. I do say there needs to be a real debate about how this government has pushed our regional centres to the side. I think the other point that we want to see in terms of infrastructure, to make sure that this is successful, is Bellarine link – the Geelong Ring Road extension – which was announced in 2017 and is still not funded beyond initial planning and scoping works. That was seven-odd years ago, and we still have not seen that go ahead.

Another thing that was raised in terms of questions about this bill was how the reporting for each convention centre will be presented. The addition of the Geelong convention centre does really give the government a monopoly on large conferences and the large conference sector here in Victoria, but it also means there will be more competition than ever between these two venues, I would hope. I know on this side of the house we believe that competition is a good thing. Some of the stakeholders and members on this side have queried whether there will be separate annual reporting for each venue to make sure that we can actually see that commercial performance and competition between these venues is taking place and that there is transparency around that as well.

Unsurprisingly, there are questions about the statement of expectation from the minister related to these venues. We know that the minister will provide his written expectations for the trust overall, as we were told, but with such important venues under its purview it seems clear that a statement of expectation for each one would be enormously beneficial. That is maybe just something for the minister to think about. Obviously he will write that for the trust, but if he can do that for both and set clear guidelines for what each of these convention centres want to achieve, I think that would be beneficial to all Victorians. They are complex venues. They are operating in a tangled web of commercial competition and bureaucracy. As I said, the minister should be outlining the government’s expectation in relation to each facility – or will this minister shy away from setting those specific KPIs? We just want to see that he does that. These are important projects for Victorians. I think Victorians deserve to know that they are working properly, and I just think reporting procedures for these venues ‍– separate reporting – will be important.

This convention centre has already, in line with most other government projects here in Victoria, seen its share of blowouts. We have seen $160 million in blowouts already through the build of this convention centre, and we are still a couple of years off opening. It is not the only blowout the government has tried to distract us from or has seen since its time on the government benches over there in the last 10 years, but by $163 million so far has the cost of building this new Geelong convention centre gone up. We also know there is a whole list that the Shadow Minister for Finance, the member for Kew, found in a recent FOI document – a whole range of government blowouts across a number of smaller projects. We all know the major projects in Victoria that have blown out and the more than $40 billion of cost blowouts across those, but I think that it is these smaller blowouts – I say smaller, but $163 million is not a small amount of money – that are starting to really add up in this state. I think that people are starting to question, especially with what we have seen recently with the CFMEU and the industrial action today: are the Victorian taxpayers being taken for a ride?

When you go through the more than 100 government contracts for capital works that have been varied over the last couple years, just to name a few – I do not want to go through these; I have got pages and pages of these blowouts – there are things like the Victoria Police commissioner office refurb; the Sunshine law courts redevelopment; the Ballarat station upgrade; the glasshouse replacement in Horsham; Balnarring Primary School in your electorate, Acting Speaker Mercurio, had a cost blowout; the recycled water in Kyneton; and the Shepparton youth prevention hub. We have got $1.4 million for facade upgrades and restoration at Little Malop Street in Geelong. It just continues to add up. All of these cost blowouts continue to add up. So another $163 million – we just hope that we do not see that number going up as we go through and get closer to this being delivered.

I have mentioned it a couple of times, but if you want to discuss broken promises and cost blowouts, one that is directly related to Geelong is the $600 million wasted on cancelling the Commonwealth Games. That has to be right at the top of that list. We know that the Auditor-General described the significant waste of taxpayer money and the government’s costings as being overstated and not transparent, and that is not something uncommon for this government – overstated because it double counts costs relating to industrial action risks and cost escalation risks. We just want to make sure that, as we move forward, the tourism, sporting, major events and events sectors are all supported properly and the government does proper work on business cases, on planning and on building. We do not want to see another white elephant out in regional Victoria like the Commonwealth Games. The Premier has described herself as one not to cut and run when challenges get hard, but as I said, she has bungled airport rail. The Suburban Rail Loop keeps going up and up and up, and we have no idea how the government is going to build that. The Commonwealth Games is a debacle. We just want to make sure that our tourism and major events and our events sector as a whole are being supported properly, but after 10 years of this government I just struggle to see how.

I did mention before that the government will have a monopoly on the major convention and events industry now with the building of this, and there has been some concern raised by the hotel sector. We know most of our major hotels here in Melbourne have convention spaces and have conference spaces mostly in that 100- to 400-person range. They are in direct competition already with the government when it comes to the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre, and there is some concern from the industry, from that private sector, that now they are going to be outbid on a lot of these smaller events. They are hoping that the government will stick in their lane and the MCEC will stick in their lane when it comes to those larger style events and still allow the private sector, who are going to see 28 per cent more hotel stock come online in the next year or so here in Melbourne, the opportunity to bid and not be outbid consistently by these larger event centres. They hope that they will continue to try to attract larger conferencing events to Melbourne and to Geelong but that the hotels can keep doing the work that they do, because the CBD is struggling, and that private sector is important.

We need those hotels online. We need them for when our major events do happen. We do need them during the tennis and we do need them during the grand prix, but they survive through Q2 and Q3 by running these smaller style conferencing events. I also think that the government needs to do more in trying to work with that private sector, with those hotels, to make sure in Q2 and Q3, those winter months when less people are coming for our major events – yes, footy is going on, but it is people coming in and out from the suburbs, going to the MCG or to Marvel Stadium – that we have got events happening within those hotels. It is a concern that the monopoly on conferencing events with those multiple venues now may drive some of that private sector investment or competition into the ground.

I also just want to say another thing this government needs to do. It is one thing to build an asset, but you need to make sure you keep funding the industry properly. We saw in the budget this year a huge cut to the tourism, major events and events space: 60 per cent of that budget was cut out, more than $280 million from last budget for that sector. Make no mistake, it is an unprecedented cut caused by the financial mismanagement of the Allan Labor government. It is an absolute disgrace that we have money being cut out from destination marketing at a time when we have fallen behind Sydney and we have fallen behind Queensland in terms of our tourism numbers, those numbers coming to Victoria. We are recovering slower than every other state in terms of pre COVID. We are falling behind. Other than the Northern Territory, we are recovering slower than every other mainland state in Australia. We have got to make sure we keep investing properly in our tourism, our major events and our events sectors, and that is through destination marketing.

We also know that Western Australia made in its most recent budget a huge investment in this space, a record investment, and we do not want to see anything going interstate. We want to make sure that people keep coming here and events keep coming here, but when you have got Western Australia going and investing $200 million-plus in destination marketing and major events funds and you have got Queensland, who have spent more in the last three months on their Bluey campaign around tourism than we are due to spend in the next three years on our destination marketing, you have got to be concerned about the future of our tourism and our events in Victoria because, when that investment is being made elsewhere and not here, people have options.

We can spend a lot of time and this government spends a lot of time talking about the events that we retain, but we have got to spend more time thinking about how we can keep pushing forward, because if you are not going forward you are going backwards. So while we will not be opposing this bill, we just want to see the government doing more in this space and investing properly in our events sector.

Colin BROOKS (Bundoora – Minister for Development Victoria, Minister for Precincts, Minister for Creative Industries) (17:50): Acting Speaker Mercurio, can I say you look so presidential in that chair as Acting Speaker, and your command over the house is something to behold. I am really impressed that the member for Nepean was able to do the full 30 on that contribution – well done. I do not know if I agree with everything that has been said, and I will run through that as I make my contribution. But as the member has said and as the minister quite clearly set out in his second-reading speech – and I think if you read the bill itself it is pretty easy to read – it is a bill that does expand the functions of the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Trust. It also modernises the governance of the trust and the operational provisions. It is a pretty straightforward bill in terms of the mechanics.

Importantly – and this is what I want to focus on as well – it does reflect the trust’s new role as the operator of the Geelong Convention and Event Centre. A really important part of what this bill does is allow the trust to do that. The new Nyaal Banyul Geelong Convention and Event Centre will be fantastic when it opens in 2026. Of course this is a really important piece of our infrastructure for tourism, for the hospitality sector and for our economy and jobs.

Listening to the member for Nepean talk about a lack of focus on this sector and his concerns about all of the issues to do with visitations and the events sector in Victoria you would be forgiven for thinking things were pretty gloomy, but those opposite tend to run Victoria down at every opportunity they get. Whether it be in the media or in this place, everything is anti-Victorian. But let me tell you, the Minister for Tourism, Sport and Major Events is doing a great job in promoting tourism in this state and attracting visitations to Victoria. In 2023 Victoria recorded $37.8 billion in tourism spending. That is bigger than the 2019 figure. So we have smashed through the COVID period and we are now seeing $37.8 billion in tourism spending in Victoria. That is good for jobs and it is good for Victorians. We know some people opposite do not like good news for Victoria, but that is what we are doing – delivering economic growth for Victorians and great jobs for Victorians right across the state. Global travel has generated $6.4 billion of that figure as well, so that is not just about attracting people from within Victoria to visit things or people from interstate, it is also about people coming from overseas ‍– $6.4 billion worth of global travel generation.

As I said, I acknowledge the hard work of all the people who work in that sector, the people who work in private enterprise and the people who work in the government sector, in Visit Victoria, in the department and right up to the minister himself, who does a great job. I want to acknowledge the fact that creative industries do play an important role in this space as well in terms of attracting visitations and generating jobs in that space.

In those figures I just mentioned, total domestic expenditure in Geelong and Bellarine in that period was up by 72 per cent compared to 2019. So what we have seen is not just a Melbourne-led recovery but a Victorian recovery. As the member for Bellarine knows, that is important for regional centres like Geelong and Bellarine as well – 72 per cent up on 2019 figures. So Victoria is back. Victorians got through COVID, and now we are back in a really, really big way, and people want to come to Victoria to experience our natural beauty in Victoria, the natural wonders of this great state, but also the great events that are put on through the hard work of many, many people.

That takes me to the Geelong Convention and Event Centre that is being constructed – Nyaal Banyul. It is funded as part of the federal Geelong City Deal, but it is important to note, I think, the contributions being made to that project. The Victorian government is contributing $416 million to that project. The Australian government is contributing $30 million, and we welcome that. But there is a significant investment by the Victorian government in that significant piece of infrastructure. I acknowledge the City of Greater Geelong – $3 million. That total commitment is important, but it again shows that the Victorian government is driving that investment in regional Victoria because we know that places like Geelong are so important and that we have to drive that visitation experience when people want to be able to visit Geelong.

That venue will see a purpose-built convention centre, exhibition spaces, a 1000-seat venue, two large exhibition spaces, meeting rooms, facilities, flexible event spaces – some 3700 square metres of event space. This is going to be a massive boost for the Geelong region and for Victoria. I think it is a really good thing to celebrate and not to run down. It includes a 200-room Crown Plaza hotel, adding to the accommodation offering in Geelong and that region. It is just fantastic, transforming what is about 1.5 ‍hectares of waterfront car parking into a world-class convention centre. It is a wonderful investment in our state by the Labor government here in Victoria. Those opposite I think described it as dabbling around the edges. That is not dabbling around the edges, that is solid investment in Victoria from this government.

I want to acknowledge in that particular project the Wadawurrung Traditional Owners Aboriginal Corporation, who gifted the name to the convention and event centre there. That of course means ‘open your eyes to the hills’, Nyaal Banyul. I think we should recognise the generosity of the Wadawurrung Traditional Owners Aboriginal Corporation with that name but also their cooperation and collaboration in working with the development partners around the design of that particular facility and in incorporating some of the culture and history and heritage of those people in this important project.

One of the parts of that project that I want to touch on is that the Nyaal Banyul Geelong Convention and Event Centre has a great social procurement program that engages people in a 12-week training program. I understand that 12 of the workers through that program have already started and that 16 more are coming through. By the time that program is completed there will be 28 people who will have received 12 weeks of fully funded training, which will count towards a certificate II in construction pathways through Gordon TAFE. So not only is this great for the jobs that are involved in that project now and the tourism jobs that it will generate for that region, but it is also providing opportunities for people in the construction sector who might not otherwise get that opportunity.

This project is coming hot on the heels of the Geelong Arts Centre redevelopment, an incredible project opened in August last year by I think Jessica Mauboy amongst others. I was not at the event, but I am told it was a cracking night.

Chris Couzens interjected.

Colin BROOKS: The member for Geelong was there, I am sure. It is a fantastic, wonderful addition to Victoria’s creative industries but also a great addition for Geelong – a $140 million development there on Little Malop Street: a 550-seat theatre, the Story House; a 250-seat theatre, the Open House; a wonderful foyer and design; and bar facilities and restaurants. It is a wonderful addition to the whole state, not just to Geelong. It is something that Geelong should be very proud of. When I was there recently, one of the things that I was struck by was the fact that they attract not just international and Australian stars and great performances to that venue but local school kids and the local community as well, so it serves a great purpose. It is in a great precinct there in Geelong; Back to Back Theatre is literally next door. Of course we should recognise that Back to Back Theatre won the Venice Biennale Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement, a really important achievement for that wonderful local arts organisation.

In the time I have got left it is worth just pointing out that the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre itself continues to kick goals here in Melbourne. Anyone who has been down to the Lume exhibition at the centre will I am sure have enjoyed that. It is a great creative experience as well. I think Leonardo da Vinci is still running; it is a great program. And of course there is news that Melbourne will be hosting the 2025 World Chambers Congress.

That will see about a thousand business leaders from around the world – it is one of the big events – come right here to Melbourne in 2025. Despite the naysaying of those opposite that everything is doom and gloom, people are coming back to visit Victoria. Victorians are seeing a booming visitor economy growing again. This is all good for jobs, it is great for our economy, and it is great for Victoria.

Peter WALSH (Murray Plains) (18:00): I rise to make a contribution on the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Trust Amendment Bill 2024. I suppose in responding to the member for Bundoora, who believes that we are all gloom and doom, can I tell the member for Bundoora that there is actually light at the end of the tunnel: there will be a change of government in November 2026, and Victoria will be much better off. The member for Bundoora can look forward to that happening and to seeing Victoria start to really blossom again after that election.

The Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre, Jeff’s Shed as it was when it started – I think we owe a lot to the vision and the drive of Jeff Kennett when he was Premier to actually get this –

Members interjecting.

Peter WALSH: Those on the other side can heckle. They will never, ever give credit where credit is due. Jeff’s Shed is an important part of the convention centre down there. It was expanded under Steve Bracks. The last expansion was started under Louise Asher and continued on after we lost government. Big projects in Melbourne like that owe their existence to successive governments and quite often a change of government if they are good for the state. And the exhibition centre has been good for the state. As I understand it, it is the largest exhibition centre in Australia, seating 5500 people in the plenary hall and 70,000 square metres, so it is an important part of Melbourne and of Victoria. I think the renaming of it to Victoria instead of Melbourne is a great thing from a regional Victorian point of view. It is a pity some more things like that would not happen.

But I want to spend my time actually talking about some of the events that have been run down there. If we go back to the time when Ted Baillieu was Premier, this state had a $1 billion Regional Growth Fund – imagine what would happen to the regions if we had a $1 billion Regional Growth Fund again. That did a lot of things in regional Victoria. But one of the things that did for regional Victoria in Melbourne was fund the Regional Victorian Living Expo. That was held down at the convention centre in Jeff’s Shed there. It was put on. There was money provided to each of the 48 regional councils to take stands there. From memory I think they got $20,000 to fund the cost of their stand, fund the cost of staff and fund the cost of councillors coming down to man those stands to sell regional Victoria to Melburnians who might want to shift out there. Over 10,000 visitors went through most years. There were other exhibitors, including real estate agents and those people that wanted to attract workers out ‍– something like 130 exhibitors, including those 48 rural and regional councils.

It was a success. It was a huge success. I can remember at that stage Warracknabeal was in my electorate. Warracknabeal is in the Yarriambiack shire. The Yarriambiack shire had a stand there, and they had some particular trades they were short of in the town. One of those was there was no panelbeater in Warracknabeal – a large town without a panelbeater. A panelbeater and his family were walking through; they stopped and talked to the people from the Yarriambiack shire and realised they would not mind shifting to regional Victoria. Out of that expo Warracknabeal got a panelbeater. That example flowed on in lots of other towns and lots of other trades.

In 2013 the Loddon shire, which is partly in my electorate, won the best council exhibition award. They had information about housing availability in the shire, work and education opportunities for people and the lifestyle factors as to why people would want to move to the Loddon shire. I know they got people to relocate to the Loddon shire out of that. As part of the Murray River Group of Councils, they had a $4000 houseboat package as a prize for the people that came through and put things in the box at the regional expo. The regional expo was not a huge amount of money, a small component of the $1 billion Regional Growth Fund that was there for the regions, but an important way of marketing regional Victoria to people in Melbourne to move out and live and work in regional Victoria.

On coming to government the Andrews government under Jaala Pulford, the minister, ran the event for one more year because there was still some money in the pot, and then they chopped it. They just not did care about regional Victoria. It is just another example of, on coming to government, what the Andrews government did and what the ministers did to effectively ignore regional Victoria. The $1 billion Regional Growth Fund is no more. Regional Development Victoria is effectively no more because they have no staff anymore. They have no money to administer other than through the Tiny Towns Fund. So tragically, after the first year under Jaala Pulford and the Andrews government, the regional living expo was scrapped. I think that is making the state poorer both for the regions and for the city.

The other thing I wanted to touch on is the Melbourne Boat Show. Those that have got electorates on the bay will be going to the Melbourne Boat Show because they know how big boating is right across Victoria, but particularly in the bay. The member for Mordialloc would know how important it is for his electorate to have all those fishermen down there and all those boats that are tied up down there. I have been to the Melbourne Boat Show for quite a few years, and one of the guys I have got to know there is Charlie Micallef, who is a fishing charter operator further down on the peninsula than the member for Mordialloc. Charlie used to run the stage show there and get people up, get kids up, and have competitions up on the stage to get people involved in fishing. The kids absolutely loved it. I have not gone, but for those who have the opportunity to go down there, Charlie runs a great fishing charter business for those who do not have their own boat but want to go and actually do some fishing. For those that have not been to the boat show, I would encourage them to go, but when you walk around the boats that are there, when you see the options to buy and you then look at the prices, they are rather expensive. There are some great boats made here in Victoria. There are some really key manufacturers out Dandenong way that display every year, and some people in Geelong, because it is a great recreational industry.

The boat show, again, is utilising the original vision that Jeff Kennett had to have a world-class exhibition centre here to showcase whatever the particular issue is. No doubt many of the other MPs in this house have been to functions down there. I have had the opportunity over a number of years to go to the Bus Association Victoria annual dinner down there, an event in a place that is really in competition in some ways with Crown Casino. It is a very different venue but provides an opportunity for major events. For the bus association, they have their conference and their displays and then take a different escalator up to a different part of the building and have their big dinner that night and do that there.

This bill, as has already been said, is a functional bill that changes the name, changes the size of the board, changes some of the reporting and incorporates the Geelong convention centre as well into this particular piece of legislation.

I would just like to finish off, again for the other side’s benefit, by saying thank you, Jeff Kennett, for what you did in actually getting this going.

Members interjecting.

Peter WALSH: I am just being Charlie Micallef, throwing a lure out and catching some people on the other side that have come hook, line and sinker into the boat. They have jumped in the boat. I do not even have to get a net to get them in, they have jumped in the boat so much. But thank you, Jeff Kennett, for what you did to start this off. Minister D’Ambrosio at the table might laugh, but credit where credit is due: he had the vision; he had the drive. We would not have the Tullamarine Freeway; we would not have the Bolte Bridge. We would not have had a lot of the infrastructure that we have in this state without Jeff Kennett.

Members interjecting.

Peter WALSH: We would have actually had an east–west link.

Members interjecting.

Peter WALSH: I know. I am enjoying it, because you have got no respect for other people that actually do things. I wish this bill a speedy passage, and I must admit, I am going to enjoy pulling the fishhook out of those on the other side that actually got caught.

Paul HAMER (Box Hill) (18:10): It was good to reflect on the halcyon days of the Liberal–National party. I think they could have actually governed as the Liberal Party in their own right back in those days when they actually built infrastructure, because clearly at the moment the Liberal–National party do not want to build any infrastructure. Before I get on to the bill, I do hope that some of our large contingent of regional MPs take up the Leader of the National’s point of debate about what this government has done for regional Victoria. Obviously I am a metropolitan MP, but I can see all the discounted public transport fares, the investment in infrastructure, the investment in health and the investment in schools. So I do hope that I am joined by my regional colleagues, who can just espouse how much this government over 10 years has been investing in regional Victoria.

As has been said, this is about the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Trust Amendment Bill 2024. It has some minor but important changes in terms of changing the name of the act and the trust that it established and modernising the trust membership and governance. One of the major reasons for that is to expand its role, particularly as it becomes the operator of the Nyaal Banyul Geelong Convention and Event Centre. I think this is a really important step in the events space. Melbourne traditionally has been known as an events capital for quite a long time, and I think that we have worked as a government to broaden that appeal. It should not just be Melbourne as the events capital, it is Victoria. We even see this with the motorbike grand prix, which is not in Melbourne; it is in Phillip Island, in a regional area.

I still remember the old Tourism Victoria ad, which was ‘You’ll love every piece of Victoria’. It is not just about showcasing Melbourne; Victoria is a small and compact enough state that it is fairly easy to get around, with access from our main international airport if you are coming particularly from overseas or interstate, and obviously we have got another airport in Avalon. That access and that compactness lends itself to being able to have events, promoting the state right across the state and bringing those benefits right across the state. Exhibition centres such as these provide a huge economic boon to the state and to the state economy. I will agree with what the member for Nepean mentioned in this case. Some of the events, whether they are international or national events, are attracting a lot of visitors. They are really driving the visitor economy. Then there are other events which are bringing in people primarily from the metro area, or if it is in the Geelong region it will be bringing in people primarily from the Geelong area.

Each of these events and these events centres are massive employers of people. If you have an event on or a function on for three days, you will have a slew of speakers. You have people catering through that time, setting up the event, taking down the event. You will usually have a formal dinner, a gala dinner during that period of time, so caterers and restaurants get involved. There is a whole set of event infrastructure that connects to this industry. It is a real strength of our state. As the member for Nepean also said, this is an area where we connect sport knowledge. We have such a great strength built up over so many years of working in the event space that it is something we are really good at and as a state we should be promoting and extending.

I was looking at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre’s latest report, which was from 2022–23, and just having a look at some of the positive impacts that it is having on the economy. It generated more than $805 million in economic impact to the state. That is almost $1 billion. That is a huge impact that events are having in the state. It is doing a lot for community organisations and also in terms of its environmental footprint. It has started the journey to net zero, and it has invested more than $2.2 million, which it has donated in kind to charities and community organisations just in that last year alone. I also looked at what it has on the calendar for 2024, and it is a jam-packed calendar, as you would want. If the government makes an investment in event infrastructure, you want the facility to be fully utilised, and I am sure that when the Geelong facility opens in 2026 there will be exhibitors waiting at the door wanting to sign up and use that facility.

Chris Couzens interjected.

Paul HAMER: As the member for Geelong says, they already are, which is fantastic news. So from day one of opening it is going to be full, which is going to be fantastic news not just for all of the workers involved using that facility but also then for the accommodation and flow-on benefits that that provides.

In 2024 the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre has been registered for 103 events. Often these are multiday events, so there would be hardly a day that goes by that there is not an event, or if there is not an event, they are either preparing for an event or cleaning up from a previous event. I was just looking – you could go every month and go to a fantastic event. In January and in fact over the entire summer, they had the BBC Earth Experience with David Attenborough, which was a show or a film, I guess. I am sad I missed that. They are always fantastic documentaries – what a fantastic documentary maker. In February there was Australia’s largest baby expo, and if you did not get there, do not worry; there is another one in October. There is another baby expo coming to the Melbourne exhibition centre in October.

The International Women’s Day Longest Lunch was in March. April saw the police career expo. We have the largest police force in the country, but we still need good people out there to join the police force. It is a challenging but rewarding career. What an opportunity if you are thinking of joining the police force to go along to an expo and see what it is about. Now, this is very Melbourne: in May was the Melbourne International Coffee Expo. I am not the biggest coffee drinker, but I think that would have been the place to be in May – the Melbourne convention centre at the Melbourne International Coffee Expo. In June was Comic-Con. Again, that is probably not my sort of thing.

Steve McGhie interjected.

Paul HAMER: Comic-Con, where you do a bit of cosplay and dress up as your favourite character. I did see there was another exhibition on the weekend. I saw when I was doing my street stall on Saturday there were a number of people dressed up, going on the train and getting out to the Melbourne convention centre for another exhibition. It was really terrific. In July we saw the bridal and wedding expo – I know I have passed that – as well as the National Food Waste Summit. That is such an important topic at the moment, so again that is bringing people from across the country, minds across the country, to ponder how we are going to tackle that. The home show was on just last weekend. I did not manage it last weekend, but that is always a favourite of mine and you always get great ideas for how to do some home improvement. Next month is the Australia–China Economic Trade and Investment Expo, which I am really looking forward to, and I have been invited in my capacity as the Parliamentary Secretary for Economic Growth to attend that event. China is a massive trade partner, and I really look forward to that. I could go on and on, but my time is up. I commend the bill to the house.

Cindy McLEISH (Eildon) (18:20): I rise to make a contribution to the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Trust Amendment Bill 2024. It is a fairly light-on bill because it is fairly simple, what needs to be done. Essentially the establishment of the Nyaal Banyul Geelong Convention and Event Centre needs to be rolled into the existing Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Trust, so with that pretty well brings a change of name and a lot of references that get changed throughout the act. You will see that where there is a reference to ‘Melbourne Convention and Exhibition’ the words ‘Victorian Convention and Event’ are substituted. It is all very much to bring the Geelong Convention and Event Centre in line with what is already existing.

We know that the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre has conferences. It can have over 5000 people at plenary sessions. They have concerts and entertainment. There is the Lume, and I imagine a lot of people have been to the Lume; it is absolutely fantastic. There are gala events and exhibitions. I know that most people in this chamber would certainly have been there for a number of different types of occasions. I want to mention Natalie O’Brien, who is the CEO. She has been there a little while, but previously Peter King had been there for quite some time. I commend them on the work they have done, because it really is a fabulous area.

Of course this is overseen by the trust. The minister’s own second-reading speech refers to the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre as the ‘premier convention and exhibition facility’, and now it is looking to have a little bit of competition perhaps from the one in Geelong – although it will not be quite so sizeable. The bill establishes that the trust will oversee the functions and operations of the new Geelong convention centre and, interestingly, meet the emerging needs of Victoria’s tourism and events industries. I am not quite sure what that means, but I will come back to that a little bit later.

I want to first of all outline a little bit of the history in this space. We started with the World Congress Centre down at the western end of town, and in 1996 the then Premier Jeff Kennett built the exhibition centre. It was then and probably still is known as ‘Jeff’s Shed’ and it has been remarkably successful. There have been so many different types of exhibitions there, and different sizes of exhibitions as well, from very large to quite small and niche.

In 2004 the then Premier Steve Bracks planned to add the convention centre as we know it. This is quite interesting because it was costed at $367 million. That was the total estimated investment in 2004, then it grew a little bit with $43 million from the City of Melbourne. But when it opened in 2009 it actually cost $1 billion, so it more than doubled. I am glad that the Labor DNA is actually well and truly what we are seeing. These cost blowouts now have been established for the last couple of decades. When you see that go from $370 million to a billion-dollar blowout, it is really quite extraordinary. We had the expansion of the convention centre announced in 2015 and completed in 2018, and now most recently we are seeing the establishment of the Nyaal Banyul Geelong Convention and Event Centre. It is intended to be the pre-eminent regional venue.

The funding details of this are also quite interesting. The government is contributing $416.1 million to the project. The federal government is kicking in $30 million – that is not terribly much – and the City of Greater Geelong $3 million. So the total commitment is about $450 million. I am adding another 30 per cent for the cost blowouts, which is another $135 million. We can see that there was an article in the Geelong Advertiser on 18 December 2023, so very recently. It says:

The cost of the Geelong convention centre precinct has ballooned, with the state government expected to fork out a further $163m for the project than initially anticipated.

What a surprise, a blowout on another Victorian government project. The convention centre was set to cost $294 million in July; however, now the state government has had to pour more than $400 million into the project. Goodness me. We certainly know that this government cannot manage projects of varying scales, whether it is the Metro Tunnel, the Big Build, the Suburban Rail Loop – whatever it is. And we see it here with the Geelong convention centre.

The bill establishes a number of details around the governance and operating arrangements, and we see that the number of trust members has gone from seven to nine. One of the things that is concerning there is: now that it has Geelong attached – and it will – are those two additional trust members going to be Geelong-specific? Because you need somebody who can really advocate for the needs of that convention centre there. The bill outlines the role of the deputy chairperson and the acting chairperson. It also talks specifically about vacancies and meetings. That is pretty well it, but there are certainly a number of queries that I have in relation to this bill.

If we are bringing the Geelong Convention and Event Centre under the same umbrella as the Melbourne convention centre, I would expect that there are two very separate financial statements. It is unclear whether the CEO will be the same person and whether that CEO will have oversight of both centres or just the one. That is unclear. And I think if they are having the two separate centres, there are going to be times when they are possibly competing for the same exhibitor. We know certainly that the exhibition centre that we have at the moment down on Spencer Street is really quite large. It can have over 5500 people at the plenary sessions. There are 26 exhibition bays. Those bays can be small and they can be large, and you can have multiple exhibitions at the one place. There are going to be two large exhibition spaces down at Geelong, so I do not know whether that means they are competing and how it is that the trust, as they are overseeing these two centres, are going to decide ‘We’re really going to push this one for Geelong’ or ‘We’re really going to push this one for Melbourne’. They will both have their KPIs, but it is very uncertain how that will work.

I do not know how easy that is going to be, because we know that the one in Melbourne has three plenary areas, with a couple that hold 1400 people. We have got another one that is 2400, and collectively that is over 5500 people that they can seat there. The Geelong centre is around about 1000, so it is slightly different. Then there would be plenty of sessions at Melbourne that are less than the capacity. I know that I have been to some that are less than the capacity. It is going to be interesting how they juggle that. If the finances of one are not looking as good as they should be, are they going to say, ‘We’re really going to push this one down to Geelong,’ or not? I think that is something that really needs to be looked at closely.

I want to come also to the second-reading speech, because I am not 100 per cent sure what it means. It mentions that there may be a broader role for the trust to support the sector to address existing and emerging issues and challenges. What exactly does that mean? It gives a couple of examples that there are potential opportunities – developing training to support the sector. How is this going to work with Visit Victoria, with the Victoria Tourism Industry Council, with existing bodies? It is looking at becoming a registered training organisation. This is there for a reason. It is not just popped in there as a ‘maybe’. These are opportunities that are being flagged, but we really do not have any information about it. Also there is showcasing the industry or strengthening career pathways through, for example, a centre of excellence – there is nothing in the bill, obviously, about that except for the second-reading speech. I am really unsure exactly what that means and how that is going to work.

I also just want to flag that the importance of these types of convention centres, whether they are in Melbourne or Geelong, is the flow-on effects into tourism more broadly, because we have the delegates. When you are at an event there are excursions organised, and we want those excursions to come into regional Victoria. If they are in Geelong, they should be heading down the Great Ocean Road. The ones in Melbourne – I want them out at Healesville. I want them in the Yarra Valley. There is so much to do there, whether it is ballooning, the Healesville Sanctuary, Blue Lotus Water Garden, the chocolaterie or Phillip Johnson’s recreation of his award-winning Chelsea garden show at Olinda. We have got redwood forest, Four Pillars – there are Puffing Billy historic rail rides out of Healesville. There is a lot to do. It is important that when you have delegates going on excursions, especially internationals and partners, they get out into the regions, but more importantly, we want to be encouraging them to get out into the regions and stay the night. If they have got an international conference, make sure they are tacking on these really great opportunities so regional tourism can thrive.

Kat THEOPHANOUS (Northcote) (18:30): Along with my colleagues I rise to speak in support of the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Trust Amendment Bill 2024, and I want to begin my remarks by commending the trust for its work over the years in steering a very important economic and cultural asset for the state of Victoria. In particular I acknowledge the leadership of the Honourable John Brumby, who was appointed chairperson of the trust in 2017 and who has brought an enormous level of skill and expertise and wisdom to the trust. I have had the opportunity to know the former Premier for many years across different intersects, including in his role as chancellor at La Trobe, and I know that his guidance has been key in elevating the standing of the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre (MCEC) but also navigating the next exciting phase of the trust with the establishment of the Geelong Convention and Event Centre.

These two centres working together in collaboration will cement Victoria as a premier global destination for events and exhibitions, and that is what we are here to formalise in legislation. We are expanding the functions of the trust to meet the changing needs of Victoria’s tourism and events industries, we are modernising its governance and operational provisions and we are of course changing the name of the act and the trust to the much more reflective Victorian Convention and Event Trust. I will not dwell on the semantics of an event versus an exhibition; it is clear to me that the role and scope of the two centres is better captured by the broader umbrella of ‘event’. To me that makes sense.

What is more salient is the important role the trust has to play in our state’s economy and in Victoria’s presence nationally and on the world stage. As the body responsible for the development, promotion, management, operation and use of convention and exhibition facilities in Victoria, it provides a platform for our state to host a huge variety of events and showcase Victoria as a destination – and what a destination we are. Honestly, scarcely a week goes by in our great state of Victoria that we are not at the forefront of hosting enormously popular major events that bring excitement and prestige to our state. Whether it is the Australian Open, the AFL Grand Final, Taylor Swift, Always Live, the Pharaoh exhibition at the NGV, the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, White Night, Formula One, the Rip Curl Pro, the flower and garden show or the mighty Eighty-Six music Festival in Northcote, there is always something wonderful happening in Victoria. We are the major events capital for so many reasons, but not least because of the continued investment across successive Labor governments into unrivalled infrastructure, like the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre and the soon-to-be Nyaal Banyul Geelong Convention and Event Centre.

Although I do not hail from Geelong, and there are others upon our government benches who will speak more directly to and more sensitively to the impact the Geelong centre will have on their communities, as a Victorian I am immensely proud that we are creating this huge, new event space to bring conferences, entertainment and live music to Geelong. The stats on this centre are actually quite remarkable. There will be a 1000-seat venue, two large exhibition spaces, meeting rooms, conference facilities and flexible event spaces. There will be retail for food and beverage, a large public plaza facing the waterfront, a hotel – it is going to be outstanding. Not only that, but the construction is supporting 1450 jobs, and once it is opened it will include 3700 square metres of event space and support another 700 jobs ongoingly.

We know from the success of the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre how these sorts of investments in infrastructure have the potential to draw large-scale business events and the flow-on benefits that those events have for visitation, knowledge sharing, industry connections, profile raising and ultimately for our economy. In the year ending March 2024 Victoria’s visitor economy hit a record high of $39.3 billion, reaching the government’s 2024 tourism target more than a year ahead of schedule.

Business events play a big role in this. Our last budget invested again in the Business Events Fund to secure that pipeline of international business events which generate such valuable economic returns. Some of the events supported by the fund in recent years were the Global Entrepreneurship Congress 2023, the International Congress of Genetics 2023 and the World Indigenous Cancer Conference 2024. These sorts of events put Melbourne and Victoria on the world stage and allow us to demonstrate our strengths across an enormous range of sectors, from science and medtech to public policy, agriculture and innovation. They fill hotels. They get people into our restaurants and bars and shops. They support Victorian jobs and elevate our profile.

But it is not just international events. Just a few months back I was able to attend the MCEC for the first Victorian Pelvic Pain Symposium, hosted by the Victorian Department of Health and the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners. It was a groundbreaking event, focused on understanding, treating and supporting women with pelvic pain. For a whole day it brought together experts and advocates in the field to share knowledge and drive better models of care for a very wide range of conditions – conditions that impact women’s daily lives. The venue and the spaces allowed for keynotes, breakout rooms, TED Talk-style presentations and a closing plenary, which I was able to contribute to as a speaker. The utter professionalism of the setting gave the event that added gravitas, and it set the stage for collaboration. Just like in the many, many schools that the Labor government has upgraded, the spaces meant that it was conducive to learning and to knowledge sharing. To have a government-owned asset like this is quite remarkable, and we are immensely fortunate to have it.

Just to cover off on some of the technicalities of the bill, I want to reiterate that we are contemporising the governance arrangements for the trust to bring it into line with comparable statutory authorities. Governments have a responsibility to modernise and strengthen corporate governance in entities like this to improve accountability and afford people engaging with the facilities or services of the trust better protections but also to bring the professional and ethical duties of the members of the trust into line with contemporary practices and community expectations. To that end, the bill will increase the maximum number of members of the trust from seven to nine part-time members to reflect the additional responsibilities of the trust as the operator of the Geelong centre. It will enable the minister to appoint a deputy chairperson or an acting chairperson to ensure better coverage should the chair be absent or unable to perform duties. It will expand the scope of conduct that may allow a member to be removed or suspended, including if the member fails to disclose a conflict of interest, and other sorts of provisions. The bill will also amend the automatic member vacancy provisions to reflect more appropriate terminology.

I think it is clear from what everyone has said already that we all value the role that events play in our economy and in our cultural life. Just last sitting week we had our wonderful Minister for Tourism, Sport and Major Events stand up and remind us about the packed winter calendar that we have. I think we all take a fair amount of pride in that and in being such an outstanding and sought-after destination for so many iconic events. Yet it is no secret that the events sector did take an enormous blow during the pandemic years and is still in the process of recovery. As the member for Northcote I did see this firsthand in the inner north, where large-scale music venues and event halls felt the real brunt of the public health measures. Northcote lives and breathes music. It is a major hub for culture and artistry, with more live music venues along High Street than I think any other street in the country. Every week we are buzzing with local, national and international acts, drawing crowds to our local businesses and generating jobs in the creative industries and other industries.

We are a destination precinct, and we know and understand the cascading impacts that can occur when these vital industries are put under pressure but also the immense benefits that can be imparted when they are supported to thrive. That is why, coming out of the pandemic, one of my immediate priorities was kickstarting our events again, so last October we hosted the Eighty-Six music festival, drawing an audience of over 29,000 and activating more than 200 businesses. These events demonstrate why supporting this bill and the events sector is so important. I commend the bill to the house.

Annabelle CLEELAND (Euroa) (18:40): I rise today to speak on the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Trust Amendment Bill 2024, a bill that I have no opposition to. This piece of proposed legislation is largely uncontroversial and is in place to address and reflect changes to the operations and scope of the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Trust. This includes adding the new nearly $500 million convention centre in Geelong under the trust administration, as we have heard. This centre is expected to open in 2026. While Jeff’s Shed was able to home several events in the 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games, it is a shame the Geelong centre will not have the same chance when it opens.

But back to Jeff’s Shed, I do fondly the remember attending Equitana Melbourne when it was held at Jeff’s Shed, where I was fortunate enough to participate in the showjumping event as a young teenager. I can still recall riding my beautiful horse Grace as we practised on the lawn with Polly Woodside nearby, adding a touch of history to our practice arena.

A member interjected.

Annabelle CLEELAND: Absolutely. Walking my horse into the grand arena inside Jeff’s Shed still gives me nostalgic butterflies, even when we when we visited the Melbourne convention centre when it was transformed for David Attenborough’s BBC Earth experience recently.

Jade Benham interjected.

Annabelle CLEELAND: Because the member for Mildura, who can pipe down, is entertained by my interest in showjumping, she would be interested to know that the little girl from the country dazzled by the bright lights of the city was eliminated in the first round, but I still look back on that moment as one of the highlights of my showjumping career, even if I peaked as a 13-year-old.

When it comes to this legislation the main purpose of the bill is to amend the existing Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Trust Act 1996, and this includes changing the name of the act and the trust established by the act from Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Trust to Victorian Convention and Event Trust, which is an excellent idea, and expanding the functions of the trust and modernising trust membership in governance arrangements. The other particularly noteworthy provision increases the number of trustees from seven to nine. There are also provisions throughout the bill which amend the legislation to remove powers from the Governor in Council and transfer those powers to the minister for convenience. The bill will also make minor housekeeping amendments to other acts that refer to the trust to ensure the language is up to date. Additionally there are further governance changes that are aimed at modernising the trust’s structure.

In a more general sense the government also aims that this legislation is a response to the growing need of the tourism and events industry across Victoria. With the regional tourism industry continuing to grow there are several projects in towns across my electorate that deserve recognition. Just last week I had the pleasure of seeing the best of what our local equine industry has to offer at a stallion parade in Seymour, which I am sure the member for Mildura would like to hear. Locally based breeders including Yulong Stud, Swettenham Stud, Darley, Godolphin and Lovatsville opened their gates for hundreds of visitors from across the world, demonstrating why the Euroa region is regarded as a premier location in Australia’s thoroughbred breeding and equine industry – well, in my eyes.

The impact this industry has on our local economy cannot be overstated, providing hundreds of jobs at studs, racing clubs and the equine hospital with a flow-on impact to the agronomists, farm suppliers, shed builders and many more associated industries. Tourism from our racing clubs also continues to be a major drawcard, with local events bringing huge crowds and getting people to our regional towns where they will stay in local accommodation, eat at our restaurants and drink at our pubs. This is not the only drawcard to my electorate, with several other major local events continuing to bring people from across the country. The Seymour Alternative Farming Expo is a premier agricultural event in our state, bringing businesses and customers alike into our towns for multiple days and has an epic whip cracking event. For car nuts we have the Euroa Show and Shine, which year on year has thousands join for the best when it comes to classic cars, bikes and other exciting events for the entire family. More recently we have seen Benalla turn into a cultural hub for regional Victoria too. Now home to a world-class gallery, Benalla also hosts a street art festival that includes many of the incredible murals on walls across town.

Making sure these events can attract as many people as possible is incredibly important for the economic future of our towns and local organisations; it is essential that they are supported by this government. We want to attract more people to visit regional Victoria, have them stay locally and increase the amount of money spent in our local communities. It will be great to see as many communities as possible benefit from more funding to ensure our regional towns continue to get the support that they deserve.

To summarise, this bill is little more than spring-cleaning legislation designed to tidy up obsolete or inefficient governance practices, change names and allow some modernisation. Stakeholders have been considered and local voices were included, particularly those in Geelong, to make sure the new centre is represented in decisions relating to the trust.

Sarah CONNOLLY (Laverton) (18:45): I most certainly will not be cutting my 10 minutes short when I get to talk – I know the member for Euroa needs to sit down and take some time, so nothing to you, member for Euroa – but I am really excited to stand and speak on the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Trust Amendment Bill 2024. It is a bit of a mouthful, isn’t it. There have been some great contributions on this side of the house, and I think we are all pretty well acquainted with just how fabulous the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre (MCEC) is, with it being just over 2 ‍kilometres away across the Yarra. We recognise the incredibly important, valuable role that it plays for our city here in Victoria, and not just for Victorians but indeed for other folks interstate that are visiting our wonderful city or indeed those who are lucky to be jetsetting into Melbourne.

Since the MCEC – I was going to say MCG; it just rolls off the tongue as a Victorian – was built and opened by the Victorian government in 1996 as the Melbourne Exhibition Centre, this building really has been at the forefront of culture and events here in Melbourne. We have had members across the chamber talk about some of those wonderful iconic cultural events that we hold here in Melbourne that really make us proud to be Victorian. It is something that our government has recognised and supported over the years, and during the Bracks government – another very proud westie – we invested over $370 million to revamp the centre as the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre. It was part of a major precinct redevelopment that took place in and around this part of Melbourne. In 2015 our government, the then Andrews now Allan Labor government, further supported the centre’s growth, which was really important, with a really big expansion. It was $205 million, that expansion, and it was completed in 2018.

The history and the impact of this centre is not limited to government investments alone. Over the last 10 years the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre has been the home of the Good Friday Appeal, something that I know Victorians feel very passionate about and that raises money for a very, very, very good charity indeed. It is something I know that everyone on all sides of this chamber supports.

In 2019 the centre’s contribution to Victoria’s economy exceeded $1 billion. It is not just a cultural asset, it is an economic boon for our state. Now we are hoping to build upon this success with the Nyaal Banyul convention and exhibition centre, which is being built in none other than Geelong and is expected to open in 2026. I am lucky enough to sit next to the member for Geelong, who I know cannot wait for this centre to open, and the benefit that her community will be able to get from this centre will be immeasurable – as well as other Victorians who will be making their way down to Geelong to attend different things there.

Juliana Addison interjected.

Sarah CONNOLLY: I will not be saying go Cats, member for Wendouree, it will be go the Doggies. Nonetheless, given how successful the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre has been for nearly 30 years, it is no wonder that there is significant demand for another centre, which is what this new one that is going to be carved out in Geelong will cater for. As it stands, the project is supporting a total of – and I should look to the member for Geelong when I say this – 600 jobs in construction and will create a further 280 jobs after the centre opens. That is huge – absolutely massive. As it currently stands, the MCEC is governed by a board of trustees and headed up by former Premier the Honourable John Brumby.

We know that by and large this group of trustees do an absolutely fantastic job of managing the MCEC, and we want them to be able to do the same for the Nyaal Banyul. What we actually want is for these two centres to be able to work in collaboration, not in competition with each other, and that is what this bill absolutely focuses on.

To begin with, the bill will rename the current Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Trust to the Victorian Convention and Event Trust, which reflects their new responsibilities. This was a decision that our government made based on extensive stakeholder consultation, particularly with those in the Greater Geelong region who wish to work with the trust members to bring this project to regional Victoria. In addition to this, the bill will allow for the minister to expand, by determination, the powers and importantly the functions of the trust. This will allow them to meet the ever-changing needs of Victoria’s events industry, because as this sector grows in our state – let us not forget that Victoria is the events capital of Australia – it is actually really important that the role of the convention and events trust in meeting this type of demand is flexible and adaptive. An example of where this might require additional functions would be the training of events staff – whether to manage Nyaal Banyul or elsewhere.

Another small but equally important change is that this bill is going to expand the number of members on the trust from seven to nine. This change, I think, is a no-brainer. We are expanding not only the responsibilities of this trust body but also its functions and powers, and it simply needs more people on the board of trustees to share these responsibilities. I also think it really does create a new opportunity for some new voices to be heard, especially and most importantly from regional Victoria, which this new venue is designed to cater for. As it stands there is only one member of the trust who actually lives in Geelong and has extensive local knowledge of the area. I know, being a member of Parliament here and representing Melbourne’s inner, middle and outer west, it is really important to have extensive local knowledge. In talking about how there is only one member of the trust who lives in Geelong and has that knowledge, we are making these changes to make sure we bring more of that knowledge, like that particular member, to the table.

Further to this, the bill is going to allow for the appointment of a deputy chairperson and acting chairperson to allow for better coverage of the board’s duties in the event that the chairperson is absent or otherwise preoccupied. Like I said, these are small changes, but they are important, because they are making sure that the board and the trust will actually be working in the practical reality where, if the chairperson is absent, it is still able to run, which is really important. Whether it is in relation to health or other commitments, the acting chairperson, the deputy chair, can step in. We know that currently the chairperson role is held by former Premier Brumby. In addition to this role he also serves as chancellor of La Trobe Uni and as an honorary professor at the University of Melbourne. I will briefly say it is so wonderful to see former parliamentarians, especially former leaders in this place, who have a wealth of knowledge, go on to further their contribution to the public good. I know that many of my colleagues in this place have very fond memories of serving with him, but as we all know, members who sit on these trusts have competing duties. This is a small change, but what it will do is ensure that if those duties are competing at any given time, another member is able to seamlessly take the seat and fill in for them if needed.

In the last 45 seconds I have got, I will say that it will be absolutely amazing when this new centre in Geelong opens. I think I said earlier in my contribution it will be in 2026, a very important year. It will be a wonderful year to open a very important centre that really is about our further investment into not just Victoria and Melbourne but really regional Victoria. It is something that I know the member for Geelong has worked very hard on, and she is very excited to be with her colleagues down in that region to cut the ribbon in 2026 and celebrate another incredible investment by the Allan Labor government. I commend the bill to the house.

Roma BRITNELL (South-West Coast) (18:55): I rise to speak on the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Trust Amendment Bill 2024, a bill that will effectively put into the remit of the current trust’s roles the Nyaal Banyul Geelong convention centre, which is slated to open in 2026. As it says in the second-reading speech, these convention centres actually are important for the tourism and events industries, which make an important contribution to Victoria’s economy through direct spending, employment and investment. In the second-reading speech it is highlighted that that is something that these convention centres should complement. As the member for South-West Coast, which is obviously 2 hours west of Geelong, South-West Coast begins at Terang and then goes right through to the South Australian border, and we have so many festivals and events that this government needs to recognise as part of the remit for Victoria and should be supported. Can I begin by saying we are very excited to have Triple J coming to South-West Coast on the weekend of 14 to 15 September. They have certainly recognised that country towns do need to be supported. That event sold out within 24 hours, and we are very excited to have them come to Warrnambool.

But we have many tourist attractions, like Tower Hill, a place that has been at the heart of my family’s Sunday afternoons since I was a little girl, where we always take international visitors because they are guaranteed to see a koala, an echidna, an emu, a kangaroo and often a snake. It is just a wonderful part of the world where you can really be guaranteed to entertain anyone. Certainly the international visitors love the Australian wildlife there. A lot of it closed – the Robin Boyd centre, which is architecturally renowned there. Having money invested into it is great, but we are really looking forward to hearing and I would like to hear from the government what its plans are to get that visitor centre back up and running. I would like to also see the weeds being managed much better. The Friends of Tower Hill do an extraordinary job out there on weekends once a month to pull weeds and spray, but they need more support. The government needs to recognise that it has a responsibility to these areas to keep them up to a standard where they remain a pleasure to visit and are not overrun by weeds like we often see at Tower Hill.

We have also got the beautiful coastline in South-West Coast. It is a whale nursery and migratory pathway, where especially at this time of year, in the winter months, we see the whales coming and giving birth. It is an attraction where many people come from right across Victoria and South Australia to see those whales. Let us keep those areas pristine. They are not places for offshore wind farms. There are plenty of places for them, but certainly not in a whale migration pathway, which has not been seen anywhere else in the world. We are not able to know what the consequences will be on those whales and what the future of bringing more whales to the area, which we have been seeing, since it has been a pristine area and protected.

We also have the iconic Melbourne-to-Warrnambool bike race, which has got a long history and recently brought women into the competition as well. Every year they go to the government, cap in hand, to be able to run these events, because these events are expensive to run, with all the regulations that keep being put on these volunteer organisations. Every year I see many people just go and stand on the corners to make sure the route is safe and people are kept away from the bikes – stopping cars, stopping pedestrians and making sure it is safe. We need to support those volunteers, make sure they can see a future for iconic races and events like Melbourne to Warrnambool and make sure that the government is giving a clear message to that particular iconic event that the women’s event will be a part of the future by giving them the security of funding.

We also have many festivals, like in October we are going to see the spring music festival at Port Fairy. That brings people from all over the place. It is a wonderful festival. There are those sorts of events which bring varied music like the spring music festival does with the types of music that come with that. It is very different to the Port Fairy Folk Festival, which has been going for decades now, and again, many, many volunteers –

Business interrupted under sessional orders.