Thursday, 15 August 2019

 Ms PULFORD (Western Victoria—Minister for Roads, Minister for Road Safety and the TAC, Minister for Fishing and Boating) (09:48): The stage is set. Ballarat now has the infrastructure to attract leading sporting events to the city. Along with many passionate Ballarat people, I have been involved in this project for the best part of a decade, and I am proud to say the Ballarat Sports and Events Centre is complete and open.

The recent completion of the state-of-the-art sporting complex, which includes six new courts for multisport use—basketball, netball, volleyball and badminton—a 3000-seat show court, multipurpose learning rooms and sports medicine facilities, became a reality through a jointly funded $24 million project. The Ballarat Sports and Events Centre has the capacity to host state, national and international games. The centre will host the 2019 under-14 national club basketball championships and the 2019 national Basketball Australia coaches conference. The added benefit is an estimated annual injection of $1.5 million to the economy. Our government has invested $9 million into the expansion project through its $500 million Regional Jobs and Infrastructure Fund, which ensures regional Victoria is a great place to live, work and visit.

I would like to congratulate Peter Eddy, Ballarat Basketball’s CEO, for pursuing his dream of a sporting city and driving this project. I would also like to recognise the great effort of Nick Grylewicz and Mark Valentine and recognise the contribution of the federal government and the Ballarat City Council, with honourable mentions for Matt Dent and Mark Powell from the council for their work on this project. The Ballarat economy will benefit enormously from the inclusion of this facility in the community landscape. I would also like to thank Tayla Sleep, my work experience student, for her assistance in preparing this members statement as part of her program.