Wednesday, 3 June 2026

 Chris CREWTHER (Mornington) (19:18): (1683) My adjournment matter is for the Minister for Community Sport. The action I seek is for the minister to urgently visit Narambi recreation reserve in Mornington to meet with Mornington Junior Football Club to discuss funding towards the redevelopment of its desperately inadequate facilities. Mornington Junior Football Club is one of the great local sporting success stories. It is growing quickly, it is inclusive and it is doing exactly what we want junior clubs to do, getting young people active, connected and involved in their community. But the facilities at Narambi recreation reserve are simply not keeping up. In 2019 the Mornington Peninsula shire prepared a master plan for Narambi. At that time the club had around 120 junior players. Today it has 381 junior players, including 120 girls playing from under-12s through to under-18s. That growth should be celebrated. This year the club fielded its first ever under-18 girls team, with special commemorative jumpers with pink trim to mark the occasion. I am pleased that some of those under-18 girls are here tonight in the chamber, along with one of the boys, parents, club officials and committee members. That includes Sam, Logan, Natalie, Isabelle, Simon, Zoe, Matilda, Ruby, Melissa, Cam and Kennedy.

They should be proud of what they have achieved, but they should not have to keep achieving it with facilities that are clearly not good enough. At one oval, the club is relying on outdated clubrooms that are no longer fit for purpose. At the other oval, where many of the girls teams train and play, there is a tiny transportable, two plastic portaloos, no running water and no proper lighting. That means young girls are expected to use portaloos in the dark. There is no running water for them to wash their hands. If players want to fill their drink bottles, they have to walk down to the bottom oval and use the tap also used to fill dog bowls. That is not safe, dignified or acceptable. The club is not asking for a luxury, it is asking for basic, modern and safe facilities that match the size and the needs of the club.

I acknowledge that Mornington Peninsula shire has supported work such as irrigation and drainage at the bottom oval, but the immediate problem remains. The capital works pipeline does not appear to address the portaloo and no-running-water situation at the top of the oval in the next four years, let alone the facilities, which are perhaps some of the worst facilities I have seen in the whole of the Mornington electorate. That is why the state government needs to step in. This government needs to find funding so that junior female footballers in Mornington, and footballers generally, do not have to use portaloos in the dark. Minister, please come to Narambi Reserve, see the conditions for yourself and help deliver the facilities that these young players here deserve.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: I reiterate my reminder of the standing orders, member for Mornington. Please follow them.