Thursday, 15 May 2025

 Anthony CARBINES (Ivanhoe – Minister for Police, Minister for Community Safety, Minister for Victims, Minister for Racing) (14:24): While some are still stuck at the barriers and other past frontrunners have somehow been banished to the pastures, I just want to say that I spent May in Warrnambool at the iconic May Racing Carnival with 30,000 of my closest friends and racegoers. The May carnival is one of the biggest multiday events. I want to make sure that the Minister for Tourism, Sport and Major Events knows that it is one of the biggest events in the country. We saw some 30,000 people at Warrnambool and the south-west coast across those three days. Over 80 per cent of those visitors are from out of the region, and they come and spend their hard-earned in Warrnambool and the south-west coast. Not only that, we know that $15 million in economic activity has been generated for Warrnambool and the south-west coast, a significant contribution to the local economy there.

I want to give a shout-out to the hospitality workers, to the small businesses that put out the welcome mat there, to member for Western Victoria Region Ms Ermacora and also to the member for Tarneit, who did their bit to support the south-west community across the races. We saw a great performance from Duke of Bedford, who backed up in the Grand Annual after winning the Brierly. It was a very exciting few days, and can I say also that it goes to the broader contribution that racing makes here in Victoria. The Allan Labor government knows that when you are backing racing in Victoria, you are backing racing jobs – 35,000 jobs in racing across our state. Nine thousand of those jobs are in regional Victoria. When we back racing, we invest some $72 million in the Victorian Racing Industry Fund and $15 million in our Major Racing Events Fund. That makes sure we continue to invest in racing, racing people and the racing jobs that make a massive contribution to our state – a $780 million investment in economic activity across Victoria. That is what our government invests in. We will back racing and back racing jobs across our state.