Thursday, 23 June 2022

 Ms SHING (Eastern Victoria) (10:23): Today I want to talk about sport, and I am talking about sport because I cannot really play it. But I do want to acknowledge the enormous impact that it has on communities, on participation, on mental health and wellbeing and also on community connectivity. In recent times across Gippsland we have seen a number of extraordinary projects come to life as they have been completed. The Hazelwood South pavilion, a $1.08 million investment, now ensures that people who play, who practise and who train at this amazing facility do not have to get changed in the car, do not have to go without in terms of all-access facilities and can now really make sure that this oval and its surrounds are able to be used to the very best possible capacity right throughout the year.

Further west we have seen the Longwarry and Thorpdale lighting projects come to life, with a 100-lux investment. That means that particularly girls’ and women’s teams can train and practise all year round. That is a $250 000 investment which has led to, again, further momentum by clubs and by project reference groups to continue those discussions around overall investments and upgrades to sporting infrastructure.