Wednesday, 2 April 2025

 John PESUTTO (Hawthorn) (14:56): (1088) My question is to the Minister for Education and is regarding the leasing arrangements for newly upgraded sporting grounds at Fritsch Holzer reserve under the care of Swinburne secondary college. Up until 2022, when works began, Fritsch Holzer was the home ground for the South Yarra Football Netball Club, and there was an implicit understanding that this would be the case after the works were completed. In June 2022 then Premier Daniel Andrews said of the government’s multimillion-dollar investment that ‘community sport is the big winner’. On 19 March this year South Yarra Football Netball Club informed me that their bid to lease the grounds and facilities had been rejected. I understand that the club was well off the mark, being around $80,000 behind the successful party. As I am advised, the school’s decision was based on commercial grounds that I can certainly understand but which raise broader questions about the capacity of community and volunteer-based organisations to compete with independent schools and associations that also need facilities for sporting and recreational purposes. Given such – (Time expired)