Wednesday, 2 August 2023

Western Victoria Region

Joe McCRACKEN (Western Victoria) (12:51): (308) My question is to the Minister for Regional Development, and it relates to the future of the site at La Trobe Street, Ballarat, which was the proposed site of the athletes village for the Commonwealth Games. The information that I seek is very simple. Minister, what is going to happen to the site given the government has cancelled the Commonwealth Games? On Wednesday 19 July the front cover of the Ballarat Courier read ‘Games over’ and a heading on page 4 was ‘Saleyards housing plan back to start.’ The article quotes Wendouree’s Labor MP commenting on the site, and I quote directly:

This creates an opportunity for us to really have a deep think … about what that fantastic location could be.

Wouldn’t it have been a bright idea to have this deep think about the site beforehand? Wouldn’t it have been a great idea to consider the remediation of the site, perhaps decontamination, how much it might cost, what sorts of chemicals are there or levelling of the site? So please, by all means have this deep think, but remember times are ticking, so let us get moving.