Members statements
Commonwealth Games
Harriet SHING (Eastern Victoria – Minister for Water, Minister for Regional Development, Minister for Commonwealth Games Legacy, Minister for Equality) (09:42): I rise today to talk about the Commonwealth Games and the impact that they will make throughout regional Victoria. It has been a delight and a pleasure to engage with regional communities, including in Gippsland as part of regional engagement forums that are talking about the opportunities and the processes associated with delivering road racing, rugby sevens, badminton and shooting to Gippsland in 2026. We have seen a range of stakeholder opportunities for input into the way that the games will be planned and the way that a range of infrastructure and facilities investments will be made. The commitment and determination of local communities and local governments to make sure that local jobs, skills and training opportunities, volunteer and social enterprise opportunities and indeed opportunities to showcase our beautiful region are front and centre.
With less than three years to go, we have released a goods and services procurement pipeline, and that is something which will deliver around 1200 opportunities for local companies to win contracts. This is about making sure that when we bring Victoria 2026 to life it is done with a call-out involving hundreds of millions of dollars, with everything from sporting equipment to medals, transport, security, catering, temporary infrastructure, marketing, telecommunications, IT, education services and so much more. Please do apply if you are interested in being part of this process.