Wednesday, 29 October 2025

 Katie HALL (Footscray) (10:03): I would like to raise today the issue of community sporting capacity in my electorate of Footscray after the disappointing decision in recent weeks of CitySide Sports to withdraw its social netball program from the Whitten Oval. This of course affects predominantly women. For a lot of women and girls in our community, social netball is the one opportunity they have each week to get out, run around, stay active, stay connected to members of their community and stay connected with their friends. This is another decision that highlights issues in the City of Maribyrnong in terms of their construction and their investment in community sporting infrastructure. We know, unfortunately, that the shortage of basketball and netball courts in the City of Maribyrnong has led to a situation where we have young people – around 100, I believe – waiting to play for the Westgate Basketball Association. I also know that the roller derby no longer has a home. These sports are predominantly impacting women, so the local netballers are running a petition seeking the council to invest in this infrastructure.