Tuesday, 13 August 2024

Bills

State Sporting Legislation Amendment Bill 2024

Second reading

Debate resumed on motion of Harriet Shing:

That the bill be now read a second time.

Georgie CROZIER (Southern Metropolitan) (13:58): I rise to speak on the State Sporting Legislation Amendment Bill 2024. This bill has been introduced by the government to amend the ANZAC Day Act 1958 to change the description of an area in which sports are held on Anzac Day, a very important day for this country and indeed for members in this place, who I know cherish that day and do so much around commemorating our past and current service men and women. There are also a series of changes being made to the Kardinia Park Stadium Act 2016, and as a Geelong supporter I am obviously very familiar with that magnificent stadium. The changes will also impact the Melbourne and Olympic Parks Act 1985, the Melbourne Cricket Ground Act 2009 and the State Sports Centres Act 1994 in relation to trust membership, leasing powers and other various amendments. This bill also amends the Professional Boxing and Combat Sports Act 1985 in relation to acting appointments and for other purposes.

There are a number of minor consequential changes that have no real impact in relation to the great sporting history of our state. We should be very proud of what this state does in relation to how we have had the very significant title of being the sporting capital of Australia. Unfortunately, that reputation was tarnished and trashed by the cancellation of the Commonwealth Games by the Allan Labor government. The Premier was the minister responsible for the Commonwealth Games and the Commonwealth Games debacle, and it has been really under her watch that this has all occurred. It was a huge impact – the cancellation of the games ricocheted around the world. That is what I am talking about in relation to the reputation of our state being trashed. The in excess of $600 million that it cost Victorian taxpayers to cancel the Commonwealth Games is now flooding over to Glasgow – off to Scotland – where they have announced that they are willing to have the Commonwealth Games that this government cancelled. It is quite extraordinary.

The government said it was going to cost $7 billion, but we have not got to the total amount of that. Mr Davis has done a magnificent job on the inquiry in pursuing these very issues around probity, what actually went on and what the government knew and did not know. We will never get the Premier to come before the inquiry – she refuses to. She is quite gutless actually. She will not step up and do what a true leader should do. She is weak on this issue. She is weak on many issues. But this issue –

Tom McIntosh interjected.

Georgie CROZIER: Mr McIntosh is interrupting over there, because he knows. You know, he is a member of the CFMEU; he holds that very proudly, and look at the corruption that has gone right through this state. I will get back to this bill and what this is about, but I do want to say that the reputation of Victoria and Melbourne being the sporting capital of Australia has been severely tarnished because of the actions of the Allan Labor government.

We have got this mounting, incredible debt that generations are going to have to pay. Part of that debt that is mounting and part of the issues around the huge amounts of money that have been wasted are due to the Allan Labor government and the Premier, who is a weak leader – she will not come before the Commonwealth Games inquiry – hopelessly inadequate, out of her depth, blowing up money left right and centre that the taxpayer deserves to have going into areas that it should, like health, education, law enforcement and other areas. Money has been wasted and blown – $600 million has gone out the door to Glasgow, which is going to hold the Commonwealth Games. The Premier has overseen so many debacles, including the Commonwealth Games, and the corruption across this state with the CFMEU. She will not stand up to those people either.

I want to say how disappointed I am and many Victorians are, Acting President, through you. I know those over there are very exercised about Victoria’s reputation being trashed by the Premier, who was responsible for cancelling the Commonwealth Games and costing Victorian taxpayers in excess of $600 million. We see that Victorian taxpayers are now paying Glasgow, Scotland, to host the Commonwealth Games. That is Victorian taxpayers money going out of the country, thousands of kilometres away, and funding the Commonwealth Games.

Even though this bill does a number of things, I think you cannot get away from the fact that the Premier – responsible for so much in this state – is a weak leader, is hopelessly inadequate and will be remembered for not only the CFMEU corruption –

Members interjecting.

Georgie CROZIER: but also the trashing, Ms Shing, of Victoria’s reputation given the debacle with the Commonwealth Games.

Sheena WATT (Northern Metropolitan) (13:34): Acting President Bourman, you know I am a big fan of sports, and today this bill before us is about one of my all-time favourite topics. All sports fans know that games are played best when the umpire – or the government in this case – protects the flow of the game as much as they enforce the rules. In the same spirit, this bill makes some minor amendments to legislation in the sports portfolio to make sports governance less confusing and more efficient. I could suggest other areas of sport that need to be less confusing and more efficient, like decisions of the umpires at the G.

Members interjecting.

Sheena WATT: I could discuss Raygun, but I understand there are others in this place that want to make significant contributions about the Olympics, and I will not take the air out of their tyres. I will come back to this and say that this amends the ANZAC Day Act 1958, it updates a unit of measure, it removes some really gendered language and it protects the Victorian sporting spirit for the next generation. How exciting is that? I wonder what the sports of the next generation are going to be.

Sonja Terpstra interjected.

Sheena WATT: Breakdancing – yes, probably that is true. At present our sports centres of excellence are managed by government-appointed trusts, who do quite an incredible job, and I need to pay respects to them for taking care of our Victorian icons – indeed they are our global icons – like the MCG. I love the G despite the result on the weekend. This bill before us streamlines the administration of those trusts by making them more flexible and more agile, allowing them to appoint acting members, or indeed an acting chair, when it is necessary. When members choose to resign – and that happens for a range of reasons – this bill allows them to resign directly to the minister instead of going through what is known as quite a bureaucratically arduous process: to resign via the trust. I do not wish that on anybody, so I am really glad that this bill addresses that quick smart.

Moreover, the bill maintains the minimum membership numbers for these trusts and allows an increase in their maximum allowed membership by one seat. How generous and good is that? This will enable greater diversity and skills on the board to strengthen their management. I will also say that it does delegate some of the ministerial powers to the trust so that they are able to approve small-scale and short-term leases on certain properties. I am thinking about the leasing of a small number of desks, for example. We are talking about some really minor issues here, so it is really good to see that this is being cleaned up with the bill before us. It means that both the minister’s and the trust’s administrative burdens will be reduced and there will be an extra degree of flexibility and certainty for the very capable trusts and their members, who have been entrusted to care for these really important sites. It does not in fact, though, reduce the minister’s control of these sites on behalf of the people of Victoria – sites that we love and care about very, very deeply. The minister may decide to delegate less power to the trusts than is provided by the bill, and the minister may still intercede in a deliberation process which has been previously delegated to a trust.

While I am talking about the minister’s powers, can I just stop for a second and acknowledge and thank the Minister for Tourism, Sport and Major Events in the other place, Steve Dimopoulos. This might be the first bill in that portfolio of his that I have had the opportunity to speak on, and I will take the moment to acknowledge him and his incredible work overseeing what are some absolutely stellar, international-grade, world-class events that happen right here in our backyard – events like the Formula One, the Melbourne Cup, the Australian Open and the FIFA World Cup. There was the basketball recently, which was an absolute hit. I know that when people watch these events they are watching Victoria. I do not know about you, but when I watch the Australian Open and on the ground it says ‘Melbourne’ I am bursting with pride. I know that we are on display to the rest of the world, and when they get that drone out that shows us what Melbourne looks like, I am like, ‘Ooh, it’s a good-looking city.’ I absolutely love it.

We have ensured, through incredible investments led by the minister, that we are known as the home of sport and that we are a state and a city that invests time and money and brings economic investments and jobs for countless Victorians. I worked in the sports industry before this job, so it is something that I care a lot about, I have got to tell you. This bill takes a really similar approach to event management declarations. Kardinia Park comes into this, and I know other members will talk a lot more about Kardinia Park. I have got some good childhood memories of that place. When we were faced with some challenges during COVID-19, the event scheduling needed to be adapted to become more flexible and work on some really short notice periods. The current system requires event declarations to be made within certain timeframes before an event is held, which does not always align with the fast-paced realities of sports scheduling. This allows for fair and free-flowing games, and it makes sure that we can stop play if we need to, which is a good thing.

It is time for our management of these iconic venues to become as agile as the sportspeople on the field. The bill gives the minister the power to make event management declarations at Kardinia Park, while the secretary of the department may make floodlight declarations at the G. In short, let us blow the whistle and play on. But there are also times when we have to slow things down and send the footage upstairs, as we say.

Members interjecting.

Sheena WATT: That is right – we send them upstairs. At the moment we have got a number of advisory committees which perform this function for our sports venue trusts. They do not have decision-making power. They do not get the sports overlay as we wait for a decision – yes, I am one of those people that shouts out while I am waiting for the umpire’s decision upstairs. They listen to the concerns of key stakeholders, these advisory committees, and they discuss management decisions and priorities. Can I just send my thanks to everyone that is on one of these committees. They are not easy gigs – incredibly thankless – and I am so pleased that some members of our community are stepping up to do that. These members of advisory committees jump through just too many administrative hoops to be appointed to a role that essentially has no decision-making power, and this has led to some difficulties in sourcing members for these committees. It is hard enough as it is.

As somebody who has been on all too many committees over the years, before coming to this place – at one time 15 – I am just going to tell you that these are very challenging roles. As someone who has sat on boards and advisory committees in the sports industry, I have got to tell you these are some really challenging decisions that we are making. There were challenging times in COVID, and the challenges will continue to come. Thank you to those members. It is not always easy. People think that it is just about going to the games and having a good time. It is not actually about that. These folks are making some really critical decisions about safety and health, risk and good governance, and our community benefits. Thank you to them. Let us just make it a little bit easier so that we can fill these committees with good, good folk. That is what this bill before us enables us to do. Good governance, particularly good governance in sport, is all the more important, and I am so pleased to see these changes before us.

I am going to talk, though, about the Olympics, because I love the G.

A member interjected.

Sheena WATT: Yes, I go there all the time; I do not know why they do not have some sort of frequent flyer system. I know that with our recent domination in the Olympics it is no understatement to say that we are the sporting and major events capital of not just Australia but the world, and to keep this title we need some investment in our sporting facilities. As much as we love the G, which was home to the 1956 Olympics – something that we often remember as we look at that site, as we walk around remembering how big it is – I am absolutely delighted to know that there is no better example of Olympic investment than the Melbourne and Olympic Parks precinct. It is a really special part of town. It is a place in our community that generated more than $740 million just in visitor spend over the last 12 months – an astonishing figure, and I am sure one we can all increase as we come into the finals season. The value of this –

Members interjecting.

Sheena WATT: No, we are not going to discuss our sports following. Can I make that really clear.

The ACTING PRESIDENT (Jeff Bourman): Order! On that note, can we keep the cross-chamber chatter about which football clubs we do or do not follow to zero.

Sheena WATT: Can I just thank you for that protection there in that moment. I really need that; I am quite vulnerable after the weekend.

The value of the precinct of Melbourne and Olympic Parks really cannot be overstated. We had the 2023 Australian Open, which boomed money through the doors every single day; in 2023 the total was $375 million for the state’s economy – just incredible numbers. I want to talk about Ash Barty, but I am not going to – but anyway, big love to Ash Barty. I am a certified member of the Barty party. Our venues include John Cain Arena, home to brilliant basketball; AAMI Park, home to my beloved Melbourne Storm; and Rod Laver Arena, home to all our various Australian Open winners all the time. There is also a little spot next to the precinct that you might not know about called Centrepiece, there at Melbourne Park. It is right next to Kia Arena and has hosted 100 events and 50 other entertainment events. More than 3 million people have come through the door right there at Centrepiece. It is a great venue. It probably needs a bit more knowledge amongst the Victorian community because, I tell you what, it is very, very popular indeed with our overseas visitors, and it is a place that many use in many of our very big sporting events. Can I just say, to put in numbers how many people are coming through Centrepiece, you could fill the MCG 30 times, AAMI Park 100 times and Rod Laver 200 times, just to give an understanding about how many folks are coming through that space. It is quite incredible. This is alongside our already star-studded collection of professional sports that we have over in that area – soccer, netball, basketball and my personal favourite there at Melbourne and Olympic Parks, which is Rugby League.

I could talk more about it, but beyond the packed calendar of events, the precinct’s businesses actually generated hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue – $880 million in fact – while the precinct’s supply chain delivered widespread benefits to local businesses, with $36.4 million in capital expenditure injected into the Australian economy and the trust alone spending $90 million with Victorian-based businesses. I do encourage anybody who finds themselves at the Australian Open to check out all of the brilliant Australian-owned businesses that get highlighted and showcased there. Some have gone on to some really big and better things from having that little spotlight on them from Melbourne and Olympic Parks, and it is pretty special indeed.

Apart from that, a lot of folks have jobs there. I want to highlight the fact that over there at Melbourne and Olympic Parks there are many thousands of Victorians who are employed and who receive a pay packet. In fact 4200 Victorians and an additional 1600 Victorians, directly and indirectly, have jobs across that precinct area. What brilliant numbers. The precinct’s activities are key contributors to our sports and live entertainment industries, with a 6 per cent share of Australia’s $14 billion sports industry and 9 per cent of the country’s $15.6 billion live entertainment industry – I would like to know what the Taylor Swift slice is – being a key enabler of Australia’s ability to attract so many international acts. While I am discussing international acts, I would like to say: Janet Jackson, I am very deeply disappointed you are not coming to Australia. I am deeply disappointed she is not coming, and I am very, very upset. That is okay; I will forgive her. I have only seen her six times.

Harriet Shing: I think the late 1990s just called and asked what you were talking about.

Sheena WATT: That’s all right – late 90s. It is fine. I love it.

Members interjecting.

Sheena WATT: Thanks. Wow, Carlton and now this; I am really copping it. With Labor governments investing more than $1 billion across the precinct since 2010, we have further strengthened the reputation of Melbourne and Olympic Parks as one of the best sporting and entertainment precincts globally. I did not even get to how much I loved seeing the Tillies there – absolutely loved it. It brought a new vibe to the city, one that I am not sure we will replicate anytime soon. It transformed our love of and respect for women’s sport in this country. We did it because we invested so very strongly in this precinct, and I am very, very excited about it. I commend the bill.

David DAVIS (Southern Metropolitan) (14:19): I am pleased to rise and make a contribution to the State Sporting Legislation Amendment Bill 2024. This bill is genuinely a relatively innocuous bill. It does not really change the situation with respect to sport in this state. It occurs under the umbrella of what has happened in our state with respect to the Commonwealth Games.

Harriet Shing: You have no idea what you are talking about right now, do you?

David DAVIS: I actually do. I have a very good idea of exactly what I am talking about. I am about to make the point that the Commonwealth Games was cancelled, as you well know, and we still have not heard adequate explanations about that and we still have not heard about the attendance of key people at those committee hearings –

Sonja Terpstra: On a point of order, Acting President, I struggle to understand what connection the cancellation of the Commonwealth Games has to the bill that is before the chamber. I ask Mr Davis to come back to the content of the bill.

David DAVIS: On the point of order, Acting President, this bill amends a number of different acts: the Kardinia Park Stadium Act 2016, the Melbourne and Olympic Parks Act 1985, the Professional Boxing and Combat Sports Act 1985, the State Sport Centres Act 1994 and the Melbourne Cricket Ground Act 2009 – all of which had close involvement in the Commonwealth Games. Netball, hockey and boxing are all Commonwealth Games sports that actually have direct involvement with these particular venues.

Members interjecting.

The ACTING PRESIDENT (Jeff Bourman): Everyone, cool your jets. Mr Davis, could you keep it a bit closer to the bill at hand. I do understand that some of those places had links to the Commonwealth Games, but this is not a reprosecution of the problems, so if you could just keep it on the bill.

David DAVIS: Further to the point of order, Acting President, we have also heard about the Olympics and other matters in earlier contributions, and I am responding to those points.

The ACTING PRESIDENT (Jeff Bourman): If I may, you cannot go further to the point of order when I have already made a ruling. If you want to make a new one, have at it. Just try and keep it close to the bill.

David DAVIS: As I said, netball, hockey and boxing are all Commonwealth Games sports. We have obviously had the Olympic Games just occur in this recent period. We have all enjoyed watching – sometimes later at night then we ought to – the happenings in Paris, and I compliment the French and the Parisians on a very successful Olympic Games. That stands in stark contrast to the impact on a number of Commonwealth Games sports, the very sports that are conducted at a number of the venues that are dealt with in this bill. As I said, this bill deals with professional boxing and combat sports and permits the minister to make acting appointments to the board. Boxing is an important sport and a sport that we would have seen here as a part of the Commonwealth Games, but we are not seeing it in the 2026 Commonwealth Games because the state government botched the process. When it comes to the State Netball and Hockey Centre and the State Sport Centres – there is a very significant point here – the state government is abolishing the advisory committee of those sport centres, and they are also abolishing other advisory committees, including the Kardinia Park advisory committee. Kardinia Park was also slated to play a significant role in the 2026 Commonwealth Games, which was meant to be a dispersed regional games, including places like Kardinia Park.

Harriet Shing: On a point of order, Acting President, one might be forgiven, listening to Mr Davis, for reaching a conclusion that he has broken ranks with the leader, who has heartily supported this bill. Mr Davis, perhaps you might come back to the substance of the bill and your emphatic support for it.

The ACTING PRESIDENT (Jeff Bourman): Ms Shing, that is not really a point of order. He was talking about the advisory committee. Mr Davis, could you continue and just try to keep it to a relatively narrow focus.

David DAVIS: Acting President, as you will understand, if this bill is passed, it will abolish the Kardinia Park advisory committee. There will be no more Kardinia Park advisory committee. It will be as dead as a dead parrot. Instead of the membership arrangements that would have been there before, the strength of position of the Kardinia Park advisory committee, and indeed the advisory committee for the State Netball and Hockey Centre, the replacement committees that are proposed here will be entirely creatures of the minister. They will be able to be appointed and dismissed at the whim of the minister. They will not have the legislative backing that these committees have had, and this is part of a broader sweep across government by the Allan Labor government as it seeks in the bill to sweep aside all of the advisory committees.

Members interjecting.

David DAVIS: I am indicating concerns I have with this bill. There are perfectly good things in this bill. I will come to those in a moment. I am starting with the problematic things. I have got 8 minutes, and I am dealing with that nicely, step by step, and you will just have to wait a little.

As I have indicated, we have seen the Commonwealth Games stripped out of this state. It was not analysed by the high-risk, high-value arrangements, which would have protected the state.

Harriet Shing: On a point of order, Acting President. Mr Davis, you have the luxury of some time to get to the things that you agree with, which you have indicated on your side of the benches you do agree with. You keep coming back to subject matter that the Chair has indicated is not within the remit of the bill. Again, Acting President, I come through you to ask that Mr Davis be drawn back to the subject matter of the bill.

David DAVIS: On the point of order, Acting President, this is directly relating to the bill. All of those are venues and sports that would have been here but are now not to be here, and I am making the very clear point – no matter how touchy the minister is given her previous involvement – that this is relevant. Advisory committees should be listened to.

The ACTING PRESIDENT (Jeff Bourman): Thank you, Mr Davis. You have had a fair bit of leeway. I know you have only been talking about the advisory committees and so on. I think it would be really nice if we could just keep it to the venues and the stuff in the bill rather than the wideranging frolics that we have been on.

David DAVIS: The advisory committees are part of a whole-of-government attempt to sweep aside advisory arrangements. We have heard this recently in other bills, and we saw the government backtrack on a number of those, but in the committee stage I am going to ask the minister to explain where the impetus came from for the abolition of these advisory committees. These advisory committees, I am informed, are part of a broader sweep across government where the government is seeking to remove legislatively backed advisory committees. I say that in this particular instance that is only modestly concerning, but in other instances it is becoming increasingly concerning and part of a pattern of stripping away legislatively backed advisory committees. I say that those committees have a stronger presence. They are not purely creatures of the minister.

Ministers can have advisory committees – of course they can. They can establish them at whim, and they can remove them at whim. This bill does not give a strong set of advisory committees in the way that has been there in the past, and that is one of my concerns about the bill. Whatever else is valuable – the gender-neutral language and all of those points that have been made by others – these are perfectly legitimate points, and they are supported by the opposition. I should say that there are other matters that we want to talk about.

The Commonwealth Games, as we have heard, was a very important opportunity for the state. We know that the legacy of the 2006 Commonwealth Games was a significant one, and I am going to make some points about the sports that were held then at a number of venues that are part of this bill.

Harriet Shing: On a point of order, Acting President, I do not want to have to keep getting my menchies up like this, but Mr Davis has flouted your previous guidance and, I would suggest, rulings by continuing to traverse subject matter which has no connection to the bill at hand – and you know this, Mr Davis; I can see the little twinkle in your eye.

David DAVIS: On the point of order, Acting President, I know the minister is very, very touchy about these matters, but I think when I am talking about venues I am entitled to talk about the history of these venues – what has been conducted. I heard one person mention the 1956 Olympics, and that is obviously –

Harriet Shing: Once.

David DAVIS: Well, that is fine. I am going to talk about the 2006 Commonwealth Games. I would have thought that that is equally appropriate. It was held in Melbourne, and I am going to read the list of sports that were part of it.

The ACTING PRESIDENT (Jeff Bourman): I will let you go, Mr Davis, if you can prove a link between the sports and the venues.

David DAVIS: As you will understand, with the Commonwealth Games – the ones that were held here in 2006 – the MCG was very important.

Sonja Terpstra interjected.

David DAVIS: Of course it was. This bill directly deals with the MCG, to amend the Melbourne Cricket Ground Act 2009. I would have thought that the Melbourne Cricket Ground is a very important venue. It was central to the 2006 Commonwealth Games. There were 16 sports in the 2006 Commonwealth Games: athletics, badminton, basketball, boxing, bowls, cycling, gymnastics, hockey, netball – they are in common with a number of these points that we are discussing here – rugby, shooting, squash, aquatics, table tennis, triathlon and weightlifting. Of course none of them will occur with the 2026 Commonwealth Games, and that is disappointing.

I come to another part of the bill, with respect to the State Sport Centres Act 1994. As I have said, the bill abolishes the State Netball and Hockey Centre advisory committee, and I have expressed my concern about that. It increases the maximum membership of the trust. Let me be clear: the maximum membership of the trust does not deal with a legislated advisory committee. It permits the minister to delegate approval of leases that are not major leases over certain land managed by the trust. In respect of the boxing and combat sports act, it permits the minister to make appointments to the board. With respect to the Melbourne Cricket Ground Act 2009, there is a change in requirements relating to resignation and members of the trust. It permits the minister to delegate power to make floodlight determinations – I can understand why some ministers might want to delegate that power. It permits the minister to make acting appointments to the trust, and it increases the maximum membership of the trust.

I want to also deal with this issue of the Kardinia Park advisory committee again. The changes to the act here permit the minister to make event management declarations; change the membership and procedures of the trust; delegate approval of leases that are not major leases over certain land managed by the trust; and, as I say, abolish the Kardinia Park advisory committee. All of these go to the matter of greater ministerial power, not lesser ministerial power – cutting out local input, cutting out the input from legislated advisory committees that have a strong legislative underpinning and giving more and more power to the minister. I would say that the issue here is that the community should be cautious about what is being proposed here. Whilst there are aspects of this bill, as I have indicated, that we support, there are others where there is an inherent caution in the way that we are approaching it.

I will ask the minister in committee about the whole-of-government report that seeks to nobble and remove advisory committees that are legislated right across government. These I believe are very much part of this grab for power – this search for greater power for ministers – and an overruling of that local community input.

Michael GALEA (South-Eastern Metropolitan) (14:34): I am enthused to join this freewheeling debate on what is an exciting, exciting bill of course, because it goes to the heart of one of the many things that makes Victoria such a great place to be, and that is our wonderful sporting culture, our sporting economy indeed as well and the many incredible athletes, administrators, fans and spectators, who all make that such a special thing. We are indeed blessed here in Victoria to be not just the undisputed sporting capital of Australia but indeed one of the world’s great sporting capitals too. You only have to look. Whether it is Taylor Swift or whether it is Liverpool Football Club, whenever they go to the MCG, there is one response you get: they are blown away. Never have either of those two international sensations – of equal measure, I am sure, Liverpool Football Club and Taylor Swift – had such big crowds as they did when they were performing right here in Melbourne, just up the street from Spring Street here, at our iconic MCG. This is a very exciting space to be in. I know that our minister, Minister Dimopoulos, is very excited as well and is leading from the front and doing some great things in this portfolio, as he is with major events too and indeed other areas. But when it comes to sports, as I say, Victoria is the undisputed sporting capital of Australia.

What these reforms will achieve through the legislation before us today is all about making sure that we can continue to do that in the best possible way. It is facilitating and streamlining so that we have the best possible outcomes and can continue to deliver the best possible sporting events for Victoria and indeed for Australia. We are privileged, as other commentators have said here today, that we have in the Melbourne Park precinct the incredible Australian Open, one of four grand slams around the world, right here in Melbourne. We have the Rip Curl Pro down in Torquay. We have the Melbourne Cup. We have Formula One.

David Davis interjected.

Michael GALEA: Indeed we have the Women’s World Cup, a huge success last year – and I am delighted to take Mr Davis up on that interjection in fact, if I am permitted to; I would be delighted to take up that interjection indeed. As Mr Davis well knows, he and I as well as Mr McIntosh were in some committee hearings last week where we heard from some academics based right here in Melbourne who have been looking at the impacts of the Commonwealth Games decision. The interesting thing that we heard, the evidence that we heard, was that there is no evidence at all of any reputational damage to the state of Victoria as a result of the Commonwealth Games. You were right there, Mr Davis; you heard it just as much as I did. That is exactly what the witnesses said to us – that there is none. That is because people in different sports across the world know that Melbourne is the place to do major events. That is why we have seen the ones that I have just mentioned and indeed many others in the major event space as well. Of course, once again, this gives me a great opportunity to mention the iconic Taylor Swift as well.

Add to that, of course, that we are the home of the AFL; we are the birthplace and we remain the home with the MCG. We have the best supported teams in the A-Leagues in the country – chief amongst them, of course, the sensational Melbourne Victory. We have Melbourne Storm, we have rugby clubs, we have the National Basketball League and we have cricket at the domestic level as well as internationally. They are just part of the array of sports that we are very proud to boast about in this great state, ones that this government continues to support. This bill is indeed one very big part of that.

What are the things that this bill will set out to achieve? As I say, it is about promoting good governance and reducing some of the administrative burdens across several key pieces of legislation. The bill will be amending the Melbourne and Olympic Parks Act 1985, the Melbourne Cricket Ground Act 2009, the Kardinia Park Stadium Act 2016 and the Professional Boxing and Combat Sports Act 1985. I do note that a boxer from, I believe, the Mornington Peninsula actually got gold in the boxing events just last week as well. I know Mr McIntosh will be very excited about that, as indeed, if I may say, I was when I saw a certain Thomas McIntosh competing for New Zealand in the rowing sculls, and I believe he did quite well as well. It was good to see that your namesake from across the ditch, Mr McIntosh, was performing in the Olympics, just as you are always performing here for us – and performing excellently, if I may say.

These changes are across a raft of existing pieces of legislation. Whilst they are relatively minor changes, there is a sensible rationale for doing this, and that is to make sure that we are, as I say, providing our sporting associations, grounds and other bodies with the support that they need to make decisions quickly and effectively as that pertains to government. Through things such as granting authorities to the minister, decisions will be able to be expedited, which will only serve to help that process.

One of the things that this bill will achieve is, firstly, the delegation of lease approvals. Under the existing framework ministerial approval is required for all leases over state sporting facilities. This process can be cumbersome and time consuming, placing an unnecessary administrative burden on the minister and their office. What this bill proposes to do is to amend that to allow the delegation of lease approval powers to be made by the relevant department, apart from major leases, which will still be subject to ministerial sign-off. It will streamline the lease approval process for these minor leases, reducing that workload on that office whilst maintaining oversight of significant leasing decisions. The delegation of these approvals will facilitate more efficient management of lease agreements, enabling quicker responses to routine leasing matters and freeing up other resources for more critical issues.

The bill also will address the need to update and modernise the legislation. As Mr Davis noted in his contribution, there are several instances of outdated and gendered language in existing acts, which this bill will seek to remove. Additionally, the ANZAC Day Act 1958 will be updated to modernise units of measurement and remove some obsolete references. These updates are critical for ensuring that our legislation is inclusive and reflective of contemporary standards. Modernising the language and references in these acts will make them more relevant and accessible, fostering a more accessible legislative framework.

Under this bill we also see proposals to adjust the membership of key trusts. Specifically, the maximum membership of the Melbourne Cricket Ground Trust will increase from eight to nine members and the membership of the State Sport Centres Trust will increase from seven to 11 members. These changes will enhance governance diversity and capability, providing these trusts with the additional resources needed to manage their expanded infrastructure portfolios effectively. By expanding the membership of these bodies we are able to ensure that the trust can draw on a broader range of skills and expertise, strengthening their overall governance and operational efficiency.

There are also provisions to dissolve the State Netball and Hockey Centre and Kardinia Park advisory committees. As we have recently been discussing, these committees will be replaced with less formal advisory bodies which will be established at ministerial discretion. I think the important thing to note in terms of the rationale for this change is that the current advisory committees are very much subject to onerous appointment processes which have deterred participation. By simplifying the appointment process and reducing some of those bureaucratic barriers, some of that red tape, we can encourage broader stakeholder participation and input, which when it comes to participation in these bodies and in our sports economy more generally can only be a good thing. This is a change that will foster more effective and flexible advisory bodies that are better suited to the dynamic needs of our sporting facilities.

In particular in relation to the Kardinia Park Stadium Act the amendments will aim to streamline event management and governance. One amendment transfers the authority to make event management declarations for Kardinia Park Stadium from the Governor in Council and vests that power with the Minister for Tourism, Sport and Major Events, which is again a simplification and expedition of the process which will enable quicker and more responsive event management. Additionally, the bill will abolish the Kardinia Park advisory committee, replacing it, as I say, with that flexible advisory body.

The amendments to the Melbourne and Olympic Parks Act aim to simplify administrative processes and improve governance flexibility. Some of the key changes affecting this piece of legislation include that resignations from the Melbourne and Olympic Parks Trust will now be submitted directly to the minister rather than the Governor in Council, again streamlining that process; the minister can appoint acting members to the trust, ensuring it is able to remain functional on an ongoing basis when regular members are unavailable; and lease approvals for the National Tennis Centre and Olympic Park will shift from the Crown Land (Reserves) Act 1978 minister to the Melbourne and Olympic Parks Act minister, thereby reducing bureaucracy and leveraging and maximising specific expertise.

In terms of the Melbourne Cricket Ground Act, amendments will include enhancements to administrative efficiency, including that members’ resignations will be submitted directly to the minister, expediting that process. The minister will also be able to, as we have heard, delegate floodlight determinations to the department for quicker responses, as is appropriate. The State Sport Centres Act 1994 will see the abolition of the State Netball and Hockey Centre advisory committee, as mentioned. When it comes to the Professional Boxing and Combat Sports Act amendments, there are provisions for the minister to appoint an acting chairperson and acting members to the Professional Boxing and Combat Sports Board. This is flexibility that will be crucial for maintaining the board’s functionality during those temporary vacancies as they may arise, ensuring that continuous capacity for oversight and governance of professional boxing and similar combat sports.

The benefits of this bill are quite simple and straightforward. Based on the commentary from those opposite I am hoping that we will see this bill passed today despite whatever reservations Mr Davis may have and the comments perhaps made by Ms Crozier. This is a very simple, straightforward bill that does really emphasise those changes which will make a big difference in a small but significant way and enable government to provide the best support it can to our sports, tourism and major events industry and to continue Melbourne’s reputation as the global heart of sport – one of many but one of a very few special number as well.

As we have seen, the Australian influence, whether it is from Melbourne or beyond, is a very special thing to see, whether it is in these sports I have mentioned or indeed in the Olympic Games. I will take this opportunity to briefly give a shout-out to our new queen of the Olympics – that is of course Raygun – for her incredible breaking at Paris just last week. As a member for the South-Eastern Metropolitan Region, the heartland of Kath & Kim, I feel well entitled to say that she is absolutely embodying our spirit of the south-east, embodying the spirit of Victorians and embodying the spirit of Australia. So I give a massive, massive shout-out to our new inspirational Olympic queen Raygun and of course all our athletes over in Paris, who have done us so very proud, and our para-athletes, who will very shortly be, if they are not already, engaging in their games too. We send our best wishes over to them from the sporting capital of Australia.

This is a very good bill – a very simple, straightforward bill. I would very much enjoy the chance to dive into further matters, but they have been blocked and closed off as a course of discussion in this particular debate. Nevertheless for the matters that we are discussing in this bill today I will leave my remarks there but to say that I do commend the bill to the house.

Gaelle BROAD (Northern Victoria) (14:48): I rise to speak on the State Sporting Legislation Amendment Bill 2024. I note that this bill seeks to make amendments to several acts, including the ANZAC Day Act 1958, the Kardinia Park Stadium Act 2016, the Melbourne and Olympic Parks Act 1985, the Melbourne Cricket Ground Act 2009, the Professional Boxing and Combat Sports Act 1985 and the State Sport Centres Act 1994. These changes are in relation to trusts, membership, leasing powers and other miscellaneous amendments, although we note that it does propose to abolish the State Netball and Hockey Centre advisory committee and also the Kardinia Park advisory committee.

I thank Sam Groth for his work as shadow minister and for the consultation with key stakeholders and the government on this bill. I note the advice received was that, while these committees will be abolished, they will continue to exist in a less formal capacity. I thank David Davis for highlighting some of the concerns around these changes. I also note that stakeholders have indicated that they are seeking further details regarding the establishment and the timing of it, the membership and the terms of reference for these groups.

This bill is a timely opportunity to highlight the value of sport. My family is a very big sporting family; we love it. Sports play a significant role not just in inspiring people to be fit and healthy but in bringing local communities together and providing people an opportunity to participate. You do not have to be brilliant at sport. There are so many ways you can be part of it in your local community: keeping score, helping with transport or with finances, or keeping the grounds. There is a very long list; just ask your local club. Our local communities are filled with people who give of their time behind the scenes, and we are so grateful for their contribution.

I recently hosted a party to celebrate the official opening of the Olympics. I was pleased to hear Mr Galea also refer to the Olympics. I asked everyone to come wearing either green and gold or dressed as their favourite sport. It has been very inspiring to watch our local sports men and women competing on the world stage, and I want to congratulate all the athletes from right across Northern Victoria who have been taking part in the Olympics or who will be taking part in the Paralympic Games in Paris.

Jenna Strauch won an Olympic silver medal in the four-by-100 medley relay team, having started her swimming career at the Bendigo East Swimming Pool. Bendigo’s Dyson Daniels was seriously impressive to watch on the basketball court. Other athletes from Northern Victoria include Bec Allen, in basketball – she is from Wangaratta; Benjamin Buckingham, in the 3000-metre steeplechase – he is from Myrtleford; we had Linden Hall – she did us proud in the 1500 metres – whose home town is Riddells Creek; Lauretta Hanson, in road cycling – born in Daylesford; Mitchell Iles, in the men’s trapshooting – his home town is Hurstbridge; Aislin Jones, in skeet shooting, from Shepparton; Ebony Lane, in the four-by-100 relay in athletics, from Echuca; Catherine Skinner, in women’s trapshooting, from Mansfield; Cortnee Vine, in soccer – or some like to say football – from Shepparton; and James Willett, in men’s trapshooting – he is from Yarrawonga. Some of the Paralympians competing include Col Pearse, in swimming – he is from Echuca; James McQuillan, in wheelchair rugby – from Echuca as well; Bridget Murphy, para equestrian – hometown was Healesville; and Patrick French, in archery, from Romsey.

At the Paris Olympics Bendigo’s own Andy Buchanan produced a wonderful run in the marathon, finishing in the top 50. He was not in the original team and was called up at the last minute. Friends and family and his running mates came together to watch him race, at the Lar Birpa athletics track in Bendigo. It was a good reminder to be ready – you never know when you are going to have to step up – and Andy certainly rose to the occasion.

The Paris Olympics has seen our best performance at an Olympics ever, with outstanding performances by our team, who achieved a record number of medals. The Olympics and the Paralympic Games in Paris provide a much-needed boost to morale. I know it has been a topic of conversation for people. I have enjoyed watching the athletes being interviewed and hearing their stories. Years of dedication, sacrifice and training – it makes them look like an overnight success.

But there is not a lot of good news around at the moment, especially in Victoria. Our state has the highest debt of any state in Australia, and like a house of cards, we are seeing services crumble after a decade of Labor. We have a health crisis. Our health system is under intense pressure, with ambulance ramping, a shortage of GPs, especially in regional areas, and continued –

Sonja Terpstra: On a point of order, Acting President, I am not sure that any of the matters that Mrs Broad just mentioned in her speech relate to the bill that is before the house. I would ask, on relevance, that she come back to discussing matters that are actually in the bill.

Gaelle BROAD: On the point of order, Acting President, given that the previous speaker mentioned Taylor Swift events and we have had other speakers mention the Olympics and the Commonwealth Games, I think this is all very relevant.

Sonja Terpstra: Just to clarify, I was not taking objection to those references. The references about an ambulance crisis and those cuts to services is what I am referring to. That has got nothing to do with the bill.

The ACTING PRESIDENT (Jeff Bourman): Mrs Broad, if you can keep it vaguely sporting-like, that would be awesome. There were some references to something that is not really to do with this bill, so if we could move along to sports or events-type stuff, that would be great.

Gaelle BROAD: That is fine. I will not talk about the massive, record state debt that we have, but I will get back to talking about –

The ACTING PRESIDENT (Jeff Bourman): Order! Mrs Broad, just move on, thanks.

Gaelle BROAD: The Olympic Games are a reminder of what we lost when the Labor state government cancelled the Commonwealth Games for 2026, where nearly $600 million of taxpayer funds were wasted, along with the damage to Victoria’s international reputation. Premier Allan was the Minister for Commonwealth Games Delivery. She failed to deliver the games and also failed to appear before a parliamentary inquiry into the cancellation of the Commonwealth Games. It was, as my colleague Joe McCracken has described, gold medal incompetence. Hopefully Glasgow and Scotland can salvage the Commonwealth Games and give our athletes and all of us something to look forward to.

Sonja TERPSTRA (North-Eastern Metropolitan) (14:55): I also rise to make a contribution on the State Sporting Legislation Amendment Bill 2024 that is before the chamber, and I note that the opposition and the Greens are supportive of this bill. It is a bill to make minor amendments to legislation in the sport portfolio to improve consistency in governance provisions and reduce red tape. I think what is really important to note is that it also amends the ANZAC Day Act 1958 to update a unit of measurement and remove gendered language.

In regard to the appointment of acting members and chairpersons, obviously temporary vacancies on trusts can arise with little notice, and currently across various sporting trusts there are no provisions to permit the appointment of acting members or an acting chairperson. The bill before us will ensure consistency across all government sporting trusts so that acting members and chairpersons can be appointed when required. That is a sensible amendment that will obviously be of great assistance to those trusts and boards when they need to make sure that they have got the appropriate level of representation on them to make the decisions that they need to in regard to those facilities that they might be charged with managing. This also reflects other proposals in the bill which are designed to improve consistency across trust appointments and streamline practical administration of the trusts and therefore reduce the administrative burden and support flexible responsive governance.

I read what was in the bill and want to make a contribution. I do want to talk about sports more broadly in a minute. But I just thought I would go to some of the things that are really important, and particularly this has an application in my own region. The Melbourne Cricket Ground Act 2009 currently requires the Melbourne Cricket Ground Trust membership to consist of a chairperson and not less than six and not more than eight members. The bill will increase the maximum membership by one member and will enable greater diversity and skills on the board, so a better mix, which is important. That will strengthen the management of this state sporting asset. It is not required that all nine positions be filled, but it provides a little bit more flexibility.

The State Sport Centres Act 1994 currently provides that the State Sport Centres Trust is to consist of not less than five and not more than seven part-time members. The trust has recently assumed responsibility for a new facility at the Knox Regional Sports Park and now manages four venues. I note that the Knox Basketball Stadium is an enormously popular –

Harriet Shing interjected.

Sonja TERPSTRA: It is a whopper. Thank you, Ms Shing. It is absolutely enormous. For example, I know there was the King’s Birthday tournament down there just recently, and it was just huge. Knox Basketball is the largest basketball association in Australia, and it has around a thousand teams competing every week across junior and senior domestic competitions. That just goes to show you why it makes absolute perfect sense for the trust to assume responsibility for a new facility at the Knox Regional Sports Park, so it will now manage the four venues. The demands of the expanded infrastructure portfolio created significant additional work for the trust, and the bill increases the maximum number of part-time members of the trust from seven to 11.

We have heard other speakers talk about advisory committees. Members of the Kardinia Park and State Netball and Hockey Centre advisory committees currently go through a very onerous appointment process that includes submission of personal identification documents, undergoing mandatory probity checks and being formally appointed by the Minister for Tourism, Sport and Major Events for membership of a committee that is advisory only, and members must also submit their resignation to the minister when they are wanting to exit the committee. These requirements have often deterred those asked to consider advisory committee membership.

In addition, the status of the committee as a statutory entity means that members are bound by the Public Administration Act 2004 and the Victorian Public Sector Commission’s code of conduct for public entities. We know that sports in the community, for example, do not happen unless they have got the strong support and involvement of local volunteers, like I was just talking about the Knox Regional Sports Park and the Knox Basketball Stadium. Again, volunteers are involved at all different levels of sports, whether it is administration of teams or organising uniforms or participating in discussions about how different competitions are arranged. We need to acknowledge the contributions of volunteers to all levels of sports.

The level of administration and regulation is and can often be excessive and onerous for an advisory body designed to be a forum at which stakeholders of the facilities can discuss management decisions and priorities but actually have no decision-making power or capacity. These mechanisms are more appropriate for those bodies that make decisions about state assets and must satisfy high standards of transparency and accountability, and therefore a non-legislative advisory body will be established by the minister under section 6A of the State Sport Centres Act once the statutory advisory committees have been abolished. Contrary to what some of the speakers on the opposition benches were saying, there will be a non-legislative advisory body established that will still give people involved in these facilities the opportunity to continue to have input on their very important facilities and stadiums.

This also follows the model set for Knox Regional Sports Park when the State Sport Centres Trust assumed responsibility for the management of the Knox Sports Park and the Knox Regional Sports Park land from 7 September 2022 – try saying that seven times really, really fast, it is quite a mouthful. Nevertheless, the Minister for Tourism, Sport and Major Events directed the trust to establish the Knox Regional Sports Park Committee to provide advice to the trust on the operations and management of the Knox Regional Sports Park and Knox Regional Sports Park land. The committee was indeed established, and its first meeting was held on 27 May 2024.

There is a lot in this bill, and as we have heard, a number of speakers have commented that Melbourne and Victoria are indeed – we will claim it – the major sporting and events capitals of Australia. That is what we all love to say and what we all love to embrace. Across the Allan Labor government and previous Labor governments there has been consistent government investment into sporting and major events over more than 25 years. Research commissioned by Visit Victoria in 2023 found that Victoria’s major events calendar contributed $3.3 billion to the economy and generated more than 15,500 jobs for Victoria every year, so that is why our major sporting facilities are thoroughly and widely supported by this government. As I said, major events drive interstate and international visitation and put Melbourne and Victoria on the global stage, filling hotels and supporting Victorian jobs. So it is very important, and we all know how important it is to ensure that we continue to support sporting activity in Victoria.

As we know, the 2024 Australian Open – we smashed those attendance records for the Australian Open this year. There were more than 1,020,000 fans passing through the gates during the competition, and 1,110,000 fans throughout all three weeks, including opening week. That was a sensational result, and that event alone created more than 1700 full-time jobs and contributed more than $387 million to Victoria’s economy. Over the past 10 years the event has contributed nearly $3 billion to our economy. Of course there are other events, like the Formula One Australian Grand Prix – again record-breaking crowds, with an estimate of over 452,000 people attending.

There are a range of other things – another impressive venue is the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre. We know that we have athletes training and attending other events there as well. There are also masters events held at the MSAC as well, and I know I look forward to competing at the Victorian masters swimming championships coming up on 25 August, so let us see if I can smash my records from last year. I think I finished in the top five for the 100-metre freestyle for my age group, so I hope I can hang onto that top five spot in Victoria – I hope I can hang onto that title. On the back of the Olympics that we have been watching, we cannot have a conversation about sport without mentioning Raygun. Only an Australian could turn up to the Olympics, represent their country in breakdancing and get absolutely zero but walk away as a national hero or a cultural icon in Australia. I think we have got more to see from Raygun. Who would have thought that we would see breakdancing as an Olympic sport? But there you go. That is what the Olympics is all about: bringing people from diverse backgrounds together to participate in all sorts of sports.

In weightlifting, for example – I did not know this, but I was looking at a bit of this because I also have an interest in weightlifting – it was only at the Olympics in 2000 that women’s weightlifting was first admitted to the competition. Weightlifting as a sport in the Olympics made its debut in 1896, so women only had to wait 104 years before they were able to enter the weightlifting fray. Some incredible athletes have participated in the Olympics this year in weightlifting. It is an amazing sport. Weightlifting as a traditional Olympic sport seems to be waning a little bit, which is a bit sad because it is such a traditional Olympic sport. But I am also really pleased to say that my cousin is an Olympic weightlifter. She competed in the Olympics and also in the Commonwealth Games; she medalled in the latter for women’s weightlifting. Only in Australia do we have such fond regard –

A member: Have you been lifting weights? Are you a bit of a weightlifter?

Sonja TERPSTRA: I am, and I guess at this juncture maybe I am –

Harriet Shing: Are you a lifter or a leaner?

Sonja TERPSTRA: I am a lifter, my friend. There are plenty of leaners about the place, but not me. I will give a bit of a shout-out to the weightlifting community and fraternity. One of the gyms that I train at, Accardi fitness – I will give a bit of a shout-out to them. I have to say, having a look at weightlifting as a sport, it is waning a little bit, but it is really interesting the amount of women that are starting to participate in weightlifting and showing an increased interest in that sport.

I have a namesake, Niki Terpstra, in the Netherlands who is a fantastic cyclist. I cannot claim any familial relationship to her, but nevertheless I can at least claim the same name. ‘Terpstra’ is not a very common name, as you probably all know, but there you go. Whether it is cycling, whether it is swimming, whether it is weightlifting or whether it is breakdancing, there seems to be something for everyone at the Olympics this year.

I have to say that one of the most exciting things I have seen – and I know this has happened in the past at the Olympics – is the spectacular sporting commentary of Roy and HG Nelson, which needs to be held in very high regard. I remember watching Roy and HG commentate on my cousin when she was competing in the Olympics and talking about her lucky socks. I thought that was spectacular. Roy and HG also commentated on the Olympics, and that is something that is unique to Australia – we can combine high-level sporting activity with our gold-standard comedic talents.

In the 2 minutes I have left on the clock, I might talk a little bit about the investment that we have had from this government in the Melbourne and Olympic Parks precinct, which has been the jewel in the crown of Victoria’s sporting and major events calendar, generating more than $740 million in visitor spend over the past 12 months alone. A recent study showed the unequivocal value of the precinct to the state in 2022–23. That is a really impressive thing. It just goes to show how much our Victorian economy benefits from our investment in sport – like I said, people come, whether it is to the Australian Open or whether it is to the grand prix or to any other premier sporting event. We have heard about concerts at the MCG, whether it is Taylor Swift or I think Robbie Williams has been here as well. There is a steady flow of international acts that come and participate at our sporting venues, because they are big enough. These acts are so popular that they need big enough venues to fill, and of course they do fill them. Some of those tickets sell out pretty quickly. Sometimes you think, ‘I won’t even try because I know they’ll be gone within a nanosecond.’ Nevertheless we have seen some fantastic international acts that have come to our fantastic state of Victoria.

I will give a shout-out again to all of the fantastic things that we embrace about sport, whether it is international sport, whether it is sport at a state or national level or even community sport. These local sporting venues, right up to our large state-based venues, are incredibly important to Victoria and Victorians. With that, I commend this bill to the house.

Wendy LOVELL (Northern Victoria) (15:10): I rise to speak on the State Sporting Legislation Amendment Bill 2024. This is a bill that will make a number of amendments to a number of acts – a bit of an omnibus bill. It proposes to make amendments to the ANZAC Day Act 1958, the Kardinia Park Stadium Act 2016, the Melbourne and Olympic Parks Act 1985, the Melbourne Cricket Ground Act 2009, the Professional Boxing and Combat Sports Act 1985 and the State Sport Centres Act 1994. By and large this bill is a bit of a tidying-up bill by the government. There is not a great deal of substance to what the bill will do, other than to modernise and correct some things in those acts.

However, there are always a couple of things that do concern us about any bill, and this bill does seek to make a number of changes to the way that a couple of advisory committees will be appointed and will work. That is a little bit of a concern to me because, as we know, this government does not like to take advice. This government thinks it knows best what is best for all Victorians, and it would rather not take any advice. It does worry me when it makes changes to advisory committees that they could go the way of the emergency services volunteers advisory committee, which was just abolished by the current minister. The government no longer takes any advice on those things; it just imposes changes on our emergency services. I fear that that might happen in some of our sporting bodies as well.

Sport is something that is tremendously important in Victoria. We are the sporting capital of the world. We are very fortunate that our forefathers had the foresight to have such a wonderful sporting precinct at Yarra Park with the MCG, the AAMI Park facilities, the tennis centre and all of the parkland down there as well as the additional ovals that make up the sporting precinct in that area. It certainly has put sport right at the heart of our community. I was very disappointed when they actually moved the Olympic pool from the site where it was in 1956, which was part of the precinct, because I had a lot of emotional connection to that pool, having grown up as a competitive swimmer. The new pool out at Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre is a vast improvement on the facilities that were available at the Olympic pool, so it was maybe in hindsight a good measure to relocate the pool. Of course the pool had been relocated prior to that as well, because it used to be just a little bit further along on Batman Avenue as the Olympic pool before it was moved to the facility that was built for the 1956 games.

As I said, it is not just that professional sporting precinct in the city that makes sport so important to Victoria, it is the grassroots sports that really are so vital to all of us. And it is the sporting grounds and facilities that support all of those grassroots and junior sporting clubs that are so essential to making sure that Victoria does remain the sporting capital of Australia and that we have young competitors coming through. Just yesterday it was announced that the Melbourne Victory would come to Shepparton and play an A-League soccer game against our local team, the Goulburn Valley Suns. That has created a lot of excitement in our community, because there are many in our community who see soccer as the premier football game in Australia. For me of course it is always AFL, although I do enjoy a good soccer game as well and I will go along and watch that event if I can possibly be there. For me it is AFL first and foremost, and that starts with the junior footy clubs in my electorate, many of which I actually sponsor. I follow a couple of them a little more closely than maybe some of the others.

One of the football clubs in my area that really needs some investment and assistance from government is the Murchison Toolamba Football Netball Club. This is a football–netball club that has a number of junior levels and senior teams as well. They have been planning a redevelopment of their facilities – it is a three-stage redevelopment – for many years. They need $4.1 million to make that a reality for their club, but we have not been able to get anything out of the state government to support them – or out of local government – and that is because the ground on which they play is Crown land. It is not land that is managed by local government. In order to qualify for any grants from the state government, that grant has to be auspiced through local government, and of course because local government do not manage their ground, they will not auspice that funding on behalf of the football club. So the football club has been put in a very difficult situation.

The current rooms were constructed in 1981, and they have not been renovated or upgraded since. The club officials have met with officers from the AFL who, after inspecting 3000 other football clubs, deemed Murchison’s facilities to be in the bottom 100 in terms of condition. So it is in the bottom 100 out of 3000 football and netball clubs. It is very, very depressing for the club. It makes it difficult for them to attract new players, particularly junior players, when their facilities are just so bad. I have seen their facilities firsthand, and I agree with the AFL – in fact, I would put it right at the bottom, but not having seen all of those other facilities, I respect the AFL’s view that they are in the bottom 100 clubs. But it is still a disgraceful position for that club to be put in, and the government needs to sort out how it can fund and assist the Murchison Toolamba football club to improve their facilities.

There are a number of other facilities in my electorate that need upgrading. Earlier in the year I fought very hard for the Kyneton netball club to get upgrades to their facilities, because they were actually getting changed in rooms that had mould in them. The rooms that they were using were actually used as the sheep pavilion for the local show, and there was mould growing in the area where the girls were forced to change; there were toilets that did not work, et cetera. We were lucky enough to get some interim funding for some temporary facilities out of that advocacy, and in the longer term there is funding for new facilities to be built at Kyneton for the girls on the netball team, and I am really pleased about that.

We need a lot more investment in female facilities. I have spoken recently about the need for investment in cricket change room facilities for females to participate in cricket throughout regional Victoria as well. In recent years there has been a huge focus on increasing the amount of change rooms and facilities for women participating in AFL, but not so much in other sports, and our cricket associations are desperately seeking investment. A couple of the clubs have got investment through recent funding grants, and the local cricket association wrote to me to thank me for raising those issues on their behalf, saying it felt that was part of the reason why the funding did come through. I was pleased to receive that from the cricket association.

We know that in the last couple of weeks we have had the Olympic Games. It has been wonderful. I always wonder why these countries overseas play sport in the middle of the night. It really upsets me because I get no sleep whatsoever for the two weeks of Wimbledon, the two weeks of the US Open, the two weeks of the French Open and the two weeks of the Olympic Games. It really does affect me operating during the day, because I am a sports fanatic and I just cannot stop myself watching sport, even if it is played in the middle of the night. It has been absolutely amazing to see the Olympic Games, to see the Australians competing. Whether they won medals or just competed, they were all winners. They were there. They are Olympians. Wow, imagine being able to say, ‘I went to the Olympic Games’ and ‘I am an Olympian.’ What a fantastic achievement.

There have been a number of young people competing from my electorate; Mrs Broad had a very, very extensive list of those who competed from our electorate. I would like to just make mention of a few of those people. Of course Cortnee Vine, who plays for the Matildas and who kicked that winning goal that we all celebrated earlier in the year that kept us in the world cup, is originally from Shepparton. She is the daughter of a Shepparton couple who now reside in Queensland I think or northern New South Wales. We still claim her as our own. Jenna Strauch, who won a silver medal in the women’s four-by-100-metre medley relay is originally from Bendigo. A fantastic achievement, Jenna. Aislin Jones, who was in the skeet shooting, now resides in Gippsland with her family. I knew that family when they lived in Shepparton. Aislin was just a little girl then, but she has gone on to be an Olympian and has represented Australia at world championships and Commonwealth Games over a number of years. She is absolutely amazing.

Andy Buchanan from Bendigo competed in the marathon. He actually got a last-minute call-up to replace an injured teammate, and he completed the marathon in a very respectable 2 hours and 12 minutes, just 6 minutes behind the winner, to come 45th in a field of 81 – an incredible effort for someone who arrived at short notice and who did not really have that time to put into training. Tess Madgen, a former Bendigo Spirit player and a veteran from the Tokyo 2020 games, plays for the Opals women’s basketball team. She actually captained them to a bronze medal against Belgium in the Olympic Games. In the men’s trapshooting Australia was represented by two country boys – James Willett, who was born in Yarrawonga, and Mitchell Iles from the Eildon electorate. Both did our country proud in trapshooting. James got sixth place, the highest finish by an Australian in an event since Michael Diamond finished fourth in London in 2012. Laura Paeglis, a 22-year-old woman who trains at Diamond Valley Archers in Yarrambat, made her Olympic debut this year. She did everyone proud by getting the highest score for 30 years by an Australian woman in Olympic archery.

So it is fantastic to have seen these young people – and maybe some of them not so young even – competing in the Olympic Games. It is great for young people to be able to see people they know. For our children to see people they know competing gives them the inspiration that perhaps one day they could go on and compete as well.

I want to talk about one last piece of infrastructure in my electorate that has desperately needed an upgrade for many years. I have advocated for this to the government for a very, very long time. And that is the Shepparton Sports Stadium. The Greater Shepparton City Council have a plan to turn that into the Shepparton sports and events centre. This is our basketball stadium that was built in the 1970s. It had a couple of extra courts added to it late in the 1990s but largely it has had nothing done to it since. The roof leaks, the facilities are terrible and it needs a complete rebuild. But this state government have continued to ignore that piece of infrastructure. In fact at one stage they said to me Greater Shepparton council can apply for up to $1.5 million in funding towards that. Well, that is a real insult when you look at some of the other things that are being funded, particularly in basketball around the state – $105 million for Knox basketball centre, $20 million for Mernda, $19 million for Traralgon, $50 million for Waurn Ponds.

Shepparton is a major sporting centre. We have a number of state competitions that come to Shepparton and state championships. In fact we have world championships for BMX and we deserve a better stadium than what we have. We have been asking this government for $20 million towards the upgrade of the stadium and they have not been forthcoming. They did recently put in $3 million for some minor upgrades to a number of facilities in Shepparton, which will help the stadium, but we need investment in our stadium.

John BERGER (Southern Metropolitan) (15:25): Today we are discussing the State Sporting Legislation Amendment Bill 2024. This bill really gets to the core of what the government stands for, and that is the community – uplifting the community through unique Victorian sporting pride. This bill seeks to improve the effectiveness of governance over sports in Victoria. It will do so by making straightforward but important reforms to acts such as the Kardinia Park Stadium Act 2016, the Melbourne and Olympic Parks Act 1985, the Melbourne Cricket Ground Act 2009 and so on. These reforms will strengthen and improve the nature of sports in Victoria.

No-one gets country sports more than Victorians. We are even beating the rest of the eastern states at their own sports. It was a privilege not so long ago to go to the State of Origin rugby game, where New South Wales absolutely flogged Queensland. I took great delight with a few of my friends who live both in New South Wales and Queensland, having been able to witness a stadium full of over 90,000 people while they had to watch at home on their TVs. It is stadiums like the MCG that are integral to the sports culture in Victoria.

Being an ardent Collingwood supporter like you, Acting President Ermacora, we have those opportunities to go to big sporting events on the biggest day, being grand final day in Victoria, to see all those people participate in those sports. For these reasons Victoria deserves a government that backs our favourite sports. The Allan Labor government has consistently proven itself to be a government dedicated to uplifting sport on every level. The State Sporting Legislation Amendment Bill is proof of this fact, and whilst reforms in this bill are largely very straightforward, there is a lot of substance in the bill itself.

I will now get to the individual reforms and amendments that this bill offers for this great sporting state. Firstly, the bill will deliver amendments designed for easier streamlining of decision-making relating to Kardinia Park Stadium and the Melbourne Cricket Ground. The bill amends the Kardinia Park Stadium Act to transfer powers that the government currently holds to the Minister for Tourism, Sport and Major Events, the power being transferred through the amendment to section 34 in Part 5 of the Kardinia Park Stadium Act 2016, which will allow for the minister to make event management declarations. Previously this power was held by the Governor in Council and was used at the recommendation of the minister for sport. This new model will allow for quicker and easier event management. This means quicker and easier decisions to ensure that Victoria continues to live up to its name as the sporting capital of Australia.

Before moving on I would just like to note that this reform also enables another key trait of the Allan Labor government that sets us apart from those across from me. Unlike the Victorian Liberal Party, the Allan Labor government backs regions. From sports to housing to public transport, this government is always looking out for the regions.

Ann-Marie Hermans: On a point of order, Acting President, I do believe that we are moving away from the point of this bill, and I do not see the relevancy in what is being said at the moment.

The ACTING PRESIDENT (Jacinta Ermacora): Please return to the topic of the bill, Mr Berger.

John BERGER: Specifically, the bill amends the Melbourne Cricket Ground Act further to dissolve and subsequently repeal the relevant provisions of the State Netball and Hockey Centre and Kardinia Park advisory committees. Additionally, the bill will make changes to a variety of leasing provisions. These leasing provisions span several acts. Finally, the bill also makes several significant reforms to legislative measures surrounding our many sports trusts. The bill addresses a lack of consistency within the trust appointments in Victoria, and it also addresses the appointment process for advisory committees, which contains onerous appointment requirements that often stand in the way of efficient functioning of advisory committees. Similar to other reforms to be made by this bill is the section that it will transfer – there are provisions to implement a shaving down of some of the outdated provisions relating to the prohibition of payments of Tennis Australia and Tennis Victoria employees as members of the Melbourne and Olympic Parks Trust.

I would like to acknowledge the minister responsible for this bill, Minister Dimopoulos in the other place. This bill is a great example of how the Allan Labor government’s Minister for Tourism, Sport and Major Events understands how important sports and sport culture is in this state. After all, we are discussing this bill in the sporting capital of Australia. Just over the Yarra from my great local community of Southern Metro and just a short stroll from this building is the huge monument to that fact. One part of this bill worth highlighting is the amount of red tape that we are going to be cutting, and for many local sporting clubs in my community this is overwhelmingly going to be a good thing. For bigger clubs like the Melbourne Cricket Club, the MCC, the bill amends the Melbourne Cricket Ground Act 2009 to change the requirements around delegating the power to make floodlight determinations. This is a straightforward change. The minister cannot be involved with everything, and there are no governance reasons that require the minister to approve small leases over small areas. These amendments give the trust the flexibility it needs. The bill reduces the administrative burden, and with floodlights it just cuts down that red tape.

We know the importance of floodlights to our community. The government already provides support via Sport and Recreation Victoria and the Community Sporting Facility Lighting Guide, which assists local clubs, organisations and councils with lighting projects for AFL, soccer and netball. It offers recommendations for planning designs, maintenance and operation of a variety of lighting systems. The guide is very comprehensive. It covers topics such as planning processes, power supply, maintenance and operation. It even helps councils and clubs to determine the types of lighting and design standards for training and competition.

Take, for instance, the Orrong Park tennis club redevelopment and the Orrong Romanis Reserve sports lighting upgrade, all thanks to the Allan Labor government. In fact I want to thank the Minister for Community Sport in the other place, Minister Spence, who gave me the opportunity to represent her at the official opening. What we did open was sports lights and floodlights. I saw firsthand the countless families walking around the park and the many children running on the ovals and the tennis courts playing sports all around, and it was dark until such time that the lights went on. Without these facilities our kids would not have the opportunity to participate. That gives them that, and I know firsthand the importance. I am from a sports family. My daughters all played netball, and I was the president of the Broadford Football Club for three years. I am sure my colleague Ms Lovell would know all about the local football clubs up that way. It is a great footy club.

The bill also makes changes to the ANZAC Day Act 1958 to change the description of an area in which sports are held on Anzac Day. We know how integral Anzac Day is to honouring the service of our diggers. It is our main form of remembrance in Australia. Sport has played an important part in this, and the AFL is a huge leader here. From local footy leagues to the big day, footy leads the way, and I am proud that the mighty Magpies can share that date with the second-biggest game of the season, the Anzac Day clash at the G. But it is more than sport. It is the way we educate the public on the sacrifice of our diggers. I am proud that the government can continue to do its part through this bill. The ANZAC Day Act is also outdated. It came into place in 1959, and a lot has changed since then. The act refers to miles, not the kilometres we use in Australia, and this law, which is still on the books, refers to the post office at the corner of Bourke and Elizabeth streets, which is strange as it has not been there for some years. In reality the bill will not substantially change the effect on sports captured by the provisions of the ANZAC Day Act. Sports that compete on the day within 48.28 kilometres radius of the city will still have to pay a proportion of their net profit to the Anzac Day Proceeds Fund, and the reason for that exact kilometre radius is because back in the day it was based on miles.

It is a really straightforward bill, as you can see. Before I end I want to address some of the concerns. It is my understanding that most members are supportive of the legislation, but I understand there are some notes around advisory committees and the number of members of the State Sport Centres Trust. Regarding the trust, we know that not everyone can attend every meeting of every committee. I know myself, being on Legislative Council committees, that sometimes I cannot attend and require a proxy vote. On top of that I have been a proxy vote for many Council members. This is straightforward governance. Temporary vacancies on a trust can arise with little notice. Currently the mechanism across the various sports has no provision to permit the appointment of acting members or an acting chairperson. This bill ensures that there is consistency in government sporting trusts so that acting members and chairpersons can be appointed when required. Where members across a number of trusts are required to resign via written notification to the Governor in Council, it creates a lot of issues. It means that resignations will only take effect when considered at an executive meeting, and they are sporadic and not necessarily consistent. In a practical sense this has presented difficulties to members, whose resignations needed to take effect on the day they were made, and this has not happened a lot. Resignation to the minister is consistent with other sport legislation and consistent with good practice.

I know from my time at the Broadford football club about what rules are in place and the internal rules of the footy club itself. You have got to deal with committee meetings and annual general meetings – things of that nature – and of course there are account-keeping records. We all know from our experiences that they all need to be kept in reasonable form, and sometimes in country or regional areas that attention to detail is not always there. Then you might have the VFL rules, the Victorian Football League rules and the local rules from the Heathcote District Football League, so all of those things come into play as we are going around.

There is a lot of work that goes into local footy clubs in trying to reduce the red tape, and we know even with local volunteers that some of the requirements they have in terms of some of the certificates to do a few things in the medical area are often overlooked. But I want to give a shout-out to the volunteers of local football clubs because of the work they do and how many people are involved to ensure that local sport gets recognition from people like us in parliaments and the general public and to make sure that they operate successfully. It is a very difficult task, I know, in regional areas to make sure that those things take place. In reality the bill will not substantially change the effect on sports captured by this provision. On top of that, it is pretty straightforward in terms of governance, so I commend the bill to the house.

Ann-Marie HERMANS (South-Eastern Metropolitan) (15:37): I too rise today to speak on the State Sporting Legislation Amendment Bill 2024. As has been mentioned previously, this bill has been introduced by the government to amend the Anzac Day Act 1958 to change the description of an area in which sports are held on Anzac Day. When this act was originally made it was only 13 years, roughly, after the end of the Second World War, so Anzac Day still had a tremendous number of diggers and people that could remember what it was like to live through two world wars and to have lost family members. In fact I still remember lining up in primary school and discovering that I was one of the few people that actually had grandfathers in the line, because so many people had lost family members in different wars that Australians had sent out their troops to.

I think about this and I think about the change that we are making, and I just want to start by saying this first of all: I want to thank every one of our service men and women that have actually served our nation to protect our rights and freedoms. How incredibly important it is to continue to remember Anzac Day. I would not want, in the purpose of this bill going through, for us to end up having anything that could be disrespectful to our diggers and to our Australians that have put themselves on the front line and have given their lives and their time in service for our nation. That is something that I just wanted to start by saying, because I do really appreciate the many men and women who have gone out on our behalf. It is a wonderful thing in the south-east to be able to go to so many commemorative services to remember these people and to still have some that are alive that can actually remember the friends that they have lost. It is incredibly important that we are respectful in the changes that we make and so would ask those who have the opportunity now, with the changes that will go through with this bill, to remember the importance of being respectful of our service men and women on Anzac Day.

I go to go back to points held in the bill. There are a series of changes made to the Kardinia Park Stadium Act 2016, the Melbourne and Olympic Parks Act 1985, the Melbourne Cricket Ground Act 2009 and the State Sport Centres Act 1994 in relation to trust membership. I will come back to that one in a minute. I want to also note, though, that when we are changing powers in relation to the appointing of acting members to a trust we are also, in this bill, in terms of the Melbourne and Olympic Parks, allowing the minister to have discretionary powers relating to fees, allowances, remuneration of members of the trust et cetera et cetera. I just say I hope that this is going to be done in a way, again, that is going to be fair, reasonable and respectful. I am sure it will be, but I just wanted to throw that out there.

While we are on the point of sport, I could not help but notice that Mr Berger mentioned that we are the sporting capital of Australia. I would like to say that we might have been the sporting capital of Australia should we have had the fulfilment of the Commonwealth Games that were promised by this –

John Berger: On a point of order, Acting President, I do not see the relevance of the comment to this debate. It is not relevant at all.

The ACTING PRESIDENT (Jacinta Ermacora): Mrs Hermans, stay with the legislation.

Ann-Marie HERMANS: Thank you. I was just commenting on an actual quote that Mr Berger made in his speech on the sporting capital of Australia being Victoria. I do want to, though, shout out to our wonderful, wonderful athletes. I had the great privilege of being able to meet some of our Olympic medallist hopefuls who have been out and have competed and represented our nation. I would like to shout out to Kate McDonald from the Cheltenham Youth Club. It was a wonderful thing to see her training on the bars and getting ready for the gymnastics team and wonderful to be able to watch her compete. I also want to shout out to Brock Batty, a 17-year-old who was representing Australia in trampolining, also from the Cheltenham Youth Club. I was really disappointed to see that this club is in desperate need of millions of dollars and has not been funded for the things it actually needs. So these people are training in facilities and in situations and circumstances where they need upgrades.

That brings me back to the whole point of this bill and the acts in terms of stadiums and opportunities to change how certain things are governed. I do again want to say it is wonderful to watch our athletes. It is wonderful to watch them in the Olympic Games. It was wonderful to be able to watch Brock Batty of Frankston. It was wonderful to be able to watch Kate McDonald, and it was wonderful to be able to watch a number of our Australians and our locals. I want to mention a few others. Brock Batty we know is from Frankston, but he does his training, as I said, at the Cheltenham Youth Club. There are a few others that have trained nearby or have had something to do with the south-east. I want to shout out to Stephanie-Elise Catley, who I believe has had some connection to Carrum football and competed in Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020. The women’s football 12-team tournament is the one that she was in for this Olympic Games. Sadly, she did not make it to the final. Hopefully she will make it in the future at the next games, which unfortunately will not be the Commonwealth Games here in Victoria, and will have an opportunity to compete.

We have Brooke Buschkuehl, with, I believe, a connection to Cranbourne athletics, in long jump. She also competed in Rio in 2016 and Tokyo in 2020 and has the Australian and Oceanic record. Elena Galiabovitch, I believe, trained at the Oakleigh Pistol Club and therefore has connections in and around the south-east area with shooting. She also competed in Tokyo in 2020 in the women’s 10-metre air pistol and women’s 25-metre pistol as well. There are so many. I have to say that it was wonderful as well to have Sergei Evglevski from Berwick in terms of shooting, who also competed at Tokyo in 2020, shooting in the men’s 25-metre rapid-fire pistol. In fact there were so many things worth watching. I do not know how many of you had the opportunity to see Kelland O’Brien in the cycling, who also competed in Tokyo in 2020, cycling in the men’s track team pursuit and, according to our shadow minister, has some connection to Mordialloc and was able to compete and bring home a gold medal.

Also my daughter and I were thrilled to watch some really interesting sports. We loved the women’s skateboarding. I do want to shout out – even though we are looking at a really young 14-year-old – Arisa Trew. It was exciting to watch. It is exciting to support sport, and that is what Victoria wants to do. Victorians love their sport, so making amendments that allow us to be able to enjoy our sport is really, really important. But how we go about that and what framework we use for that are also incredibly important.

I notice that this bill seeks to make changes to appointments and functions of the advisory committees. I have to take the point that my colleague Ms Lovell mentioned, of this government not liking to take advice, which is why we had those budget blowouts with the Commonwealth Games and therefore our games were cancelled in Victoria. I also want to mention that, certainly in the south-east, we are a people who love our sport. One thing about the south-east is you do not have to go far to find team sports. You do not have to go far to find individual sports. Victorians and people of the south-east, whom I represent, understand the incredible importance of playing sport for our health and wellbeing, whether it be football, netball, cricket, gymnastics, skateboarding, swimming, hockey, soccer – the list goes on and on for us in the south-east. It is wonderful that we have some areas where we can play, but I do again take the point that we do not have enough facilities for women. We need to continue to help women with their change rooms and their facilities in a variety of our local sports. We perhaps might not be suffering as much as some of the regional areas, but we definitely are in need of continual upgrades to allow people to be able to have the facilities that they need.

I want to go back to looking at some of the specifics of this. I want to mention, first of all, that they are going to be abolishing the Kardinia Park advisory committee. They seem to be okay with it, but it always concerns me when we get rid of advisory committees.

I also note that this is going to amend the Melbourne Cricket Ground Act 2009. One of the things that the minister is going to be able to do with this particular bill, I note, is be permitted to delegate the power to make floodlight determinations. I again want to stress that I hope that in making these determinations local residents will be consulted about whether they actually want these floodlights on on Anzac Day. I just want to put that out there, because it is a day when we are meant to be respectful and mindful of people who have laid down their lives in acts of service. I am not quite sure whether the residents want the floodlights. I think it is something to make sure of – that that is going to be respectful – and be mindful of when that determination does not currently have to be made by the minister.

This bill is going to amend the Professional Boxing and Combat Sports Act 1985 to, again, permit the minister to make acting appointments to the board. This is going to favour whoever is the minister and whoever is in government at the time. When we are under a government that is not able to budget for the Commonwealth Games, I am always feeling a little bit nervous about permitting the minister to make acting appointments to any board. I also notice that it is going to amend the State Sport Centres Act 1994, abolish the State Netball and Hockey Centre advisory committee – once again, another advisory committee disappearing – and permit the minister to delegate approval of leases that are not major leases. Let us hope that that discretion is going to be done in a way that is tasteful and fair and reasonable for all Victorians.

I notice that throughout this there are powers transferred to the minister in so many cases. I always cannot help but get a little bit prickly when I see that under this current government. This is a government where we have a health crisis. This is a government where we have a running debt. This is a government where we have budget blowouts. This is a government where we have record state debt and we are paying millions of dollars every day simply in interest.

I want to start to wrap up. I noted that one of the members mentioned the Knox basketball centre and the thousands of people who have the opportunity to play at Knox basketball centre. I also want to acknowledge that in Frankston there has been a significant need for a redevelopment. In fact initially I do believe it was Liberal locals that actually drew this to the attention of the government by their wanting to find funding for that. It is great that this government has been prepared to match and even find significant funds, but I am looking forward to seeing further developments in the area of sporting for this state.

Going back to some of the amendments, I think I want to mention one more sporting person, and that is Keegan Palmer, also from skateboarding. It was wonderful to see us receive so many gold medals in so many different areas. We are a people, in Victoria, that love our sport. We know that it is incredibly important for our state. It is incredibly important that people are always given a fair go as well in their local areas and that when we make changes like this, which can look like they are just cleaning up, tidying things up and allowing other people to be able to have more sporting access, we are always mindful of the fact that there are local residents that live around these areas and that we need to be careful in how we implement these. That is just a word of encouragement that I would like to throw out there to this current government, because we had 100 Victorian athletes from 26 different sports at the Paris Olympics. I want to thank all of them who have gone and competed and made us all so very proud. We thank them for their dedication and their discipline, and we thank them for the way they have represented Australia. We are so proud that so many came home with medals, but we are just so proud of the many that actually were able to compete. We had 53 medals; we had 18 gold. It was a wonderful Paris Olympics, and I want to thank all of our sporting heroes.

Melina BATH (Eastern Victoria) (15:52): I will be brief this afternoon to speak on the State Sporting Legislation Amendment Bill 2024. Really in essence it is a tidy-up bill. It is a modernisation bill, and the Nationals, as my colleague and a member for Northern Victoria Region Gaelle Broad has said, will take a not-opposed position. I do just want to correct the record there, because in listening intently to most of the speeches I heard the government member Ms Terpstra say that we were supporting it. I just want to correct the record and put on record that the Nationals and the Liberals are taking a not-opposed position. My colleague Mr David Davis certainly has outlined many of his concerns, which need to be addressed in relation to the changing of powers and the need to continue to have fair and good oversight that is not seriously ministerially driven but still provides for local governance and context.

This bill certainly has been introduced and amends the ANZAC Day Act 1958, the Kardinia Park Stadium Act 2016, the Melbourne and Olympic Parks Act 1985 and also the Melbourne Cricket Ground Act 2009. This is certainly hallowed ground if you are an Australian and a Victorian. Both the MCG and indeed the Melbourne and Olympic Park precinct are places that many of us have been to in our lifetimes. The whole Melbourne and Olympic Park was established for the 1956 Olympics only a short distance from the hallowed MCG, which served as the stadium. We certainly have been a part of it, and I know I was from a distance. I had small children when the Commonwealth Games of 2006 came to Melbourne. It very successfully came to Melbourne. Indeed it ran on budget, it was very much a friendly games and it was noted for –

David Davis: 2026 wasn’t friendly.

Melina BATH: No, it was not. I am getting to that, Mr Davis. It certainly set a new standard in relation to Commonwealth Games from an events point of view. We have heard from a very learned and considered gentleman, Simon Thewlis, who is part of the events – I will say – knowledge and content that is Victoria. He has worked in the events industry for 40 years, and when he spoke at our Commonwealth Games debacle inquiry, he came and spoke about how the 2006 Commonwealth Games was on budget, set a new record and was so supported. Of course we woke the other day to see that the 2026 Commonwealth Games are now going to end up in Glasgow, and that money that is going to come will come from –

John Berger: On a point of order, Acting President, I am not sure of the relevance of where the member is going with her speech now.

Melina BATH: I am making the speech. You can make your point of order.

John Berger: I think you are talking about the Commonwealth Games. I think the bill makes no reference to the Commonwealth Games.

Melina BATH: On the point of order, Acting President, Mr Galea spoke about Kath & Kim, and no-one from that side decided to jump up and call him to order. So to the point of order, there has been wideranging debate and I feel that I have the opportunity to make comment.

The ACTING PRESIDENT (Jacinta Ermacora): Ms Bath, please return to the topic of the bill.

Melina BATH: The topic is sport and indeed the importance of those facilities, both in the Melbourne and Olympic Parks space and the MCG. We have heard from all sides; indeed we heard from Mr Galea talking about rowers from New Zealand competing in the Olympic Games recently. I would like to throw in my comments about the Olympic Games and the importance that sport has in our state and regions. I very much commend the Gippsland Sports Academy for preparing both current and future stars on the stage, whether it be in Commonwealth Games of the past or Olympic Games of the past or indeed current Olympic champions, who I am so very proud of.

We saw the most amazing and talented people from the Eastern Victoria Region. We saw Eleanor Patterson win the bronze medal – a Leongatha girl and the most wonderful person, as so many of our Victorians are as ambassadors for sport and ambassadors for unifying our people but also encouraging young sports men and women. We saw Aoife Coughlan do amazingly well in the judo. We saw Paige Barr in the rowing, and she was a previous champion of the Gippstar Awards. Aislin Jones – now, I think my colleague Mrs Broad claimed Aislin for the north, but actually she lives in Leongatha at the moment. She grew up in Bairnsdale as well, so we will share celebrations of her. She was the youngest ever Olympic shooter, and what a star she is. Skateboarder Keefer Wilson is from Nyora. Emily Beecroft – I was so very proud only last week on Thursday at the Gippstar Awards to present her mum and dad Lauren and Garry with her champions award from the Gippsland Sports Academy, because she was preparing for the Paralympics. Also we cannot go past acknowledging the most amazing and talented Jade Melbourne from the Latrobe Valley – I know her mum, dad and family were over there, and what a superstar she is.

But I also acknowledge that this bill in its endeavours to formalise and modernise some of these acts very much encompasses the importance, throughout the sports and sporting organisations – the very fabric of the mechanism of these sports – of coaches, sports psychologists, sports nutritionists, managers, volunteers and umpires and the role they play.

I would just like to make some comments about the speeches that we have heard today. I heard Ms Terpstra make a comment saying how much Victorians have benefited from the government’s investment in sport. Well, it is true, it invested almost $600 million to not hold a sporting venture. Indeed we know that, across the ditch, Glasgow will be holding a sporting venture that we could have had. I also want to acknowledge –

David Davis: We are helping to fund it.

Melina BATH: We are helping to fund it – how wonderful is that? – and not holding it. And I say that with a terrible pain in my heart for the people in my region, who should have been celebrating local sporting heroes in 2026 in Gippsland, with the infrastructure, while the members across the way talk about them benefiting from this investment. We also heard that international sport is incredibly important to Victoria. Very sadly, there are missed opportunities with those ventures in and around the Melbourne and Olympic Parks precinct that this bill seeks to modernise and alter. It is a spring-cleaning piece of legislation. My colleague David Davis certainly has spoken to his concerns, and I know he has got questions for the committee of the whole.

I will halt my contribution there. We have certainly had wideranging debate, from Taylor Swift to rugby teams to rowers in New Zealand to a whole range of people. What I want to say is that this government has taken Victorians for a ride in not holding the Commonwealth Games – giving the carrot of what was going to happen for our communities and our regions and then taking it away. We wish Glasgow well, but it is also a bitter pill to know that it could have been us for a whole lot less than the $7 billion that it was supposed to cost, apparently, according to a former Premier.

Gayle TIERNEY (Western Victoria – Minister for Skills and TAFE, Minister for Regional Development) (16:02): I will reinforce comments that have been made on this side and on the other side as well as in the other place that this bill is about making minor amendments to the legislation in the sports portfolio to improve consistency in governance provisions and of course also to reduce red tape. It also amends the ANZAC Day Act 1958 to update a unit of measurement and remove gendered language. All of this is pretty straightforward.

I understand that some members in the other place and in the debate that we have had this afternoon have raised concerns about the abolition of the advisory committees. Certainly this government has no intention of the abolition being permanent. I would like to reassure members that have concerns, and I hope to answer any questions that members may have in this regard. Members of the Kardinia Park and State Netball Hockey Centre advisory committees currently go through an onerous appointment process. This process includes submission of personal identification documents, mandatory probity checks and being formally appointed by the Minister for Tourism, Sport and Major Events for membership on a committee that is advisory only. Members must also resign to the minister. These requirements have often deterred those who may want to consider membership of these advisory committees. In addition, the status of the committee as a statutory entity means that members are bound by the Public Administration Act 2004 and the Victorian Public Sector Commission code of conduct for public entities. This level of administration and regulation, the government believes, is excessive for an advisory body designed to be a forum in which stakeholders can discuss management decisions and priorities without holding any decision-making powers. These mechanisms are more appropriate for those bodies that make decisions about state assets and must satisfy high standards of transparency and accountability. A non-legislative advisory body will be established by the minister once the statutory advisory committees have been abolished.

This follows the model set for the Knox Regional Sports Park when the State Sport Centres Trust assumed responsibility for the management of Knox Regional Sports Park and the Knox Regional Sports Park land from 7 September 2022. The Minister for Tourism, Sport and Major Events directed the trust to establish a Knox Regional Sports Park committee to provide advice to the trust on the operations and management of Knox Regional Sports Park and Knox Regional Sports Park land. The State Sport Centres Trust invited nominees from the trust, each tenant of the Knox Regional Sports Park and Knox City Council to be part of that committee. The trust may also invite nominees from additional organisations where it considers they have significant interest in the operation and management of the Knox Regional Sports Park. That committee has now been established and its first meeting has already been held; that was in May this year. Meetings are open to community groups and other users of the Knox Regional Sports Park. No formal appointment process is required. No change in the powers or ongoing purpose of the committees will occur. In fact these advisory committees will operate more efficiently and more effectively once these reforms take place.

I can advise the house that this change is supported by both trusts and the current advisory committees. Consultation occurred with all advisory committee members in December 2023 and no objections were raised. Under current legislation the probity checks and paperwork required are onerous for various stakeholder organisations, of course including volunteers. Some nominees have declined to be formally appointed due to the onerous nature of the appointment process. Committees will continue with more flexibility under ministerial direction relevant to each act. The minister will no longer be responsible for formally appointing members to each advisory committee.

All relevant entities will be invited and encouraged to participate in advisory committees. Terms of reference will follow the model used to establish the recent advisory committee that I have just indicated – that is, the Knox Regional Sports Park committee. The committees created under ministerial direction will enable participating bodies to be more flexible about who attends meetings, ensuring that entities can easily substitute attendees, resulting in continuity of participation and representation.

Consultation occurred with the following stakeholders: Kardinia Park Stadium Trust, City of Greater Geelong, Sports House tenants, Geelong Football Club, St Mary’s Sporting Club, Kardinia senior citizens club, Geelong netball league, Geelong Football Umpires League, Leisure Networks, Barwon Sports Academy, Geelong Cricket Club, State Netball Hockey Centre, State Sport Centres Trust, City of Melbourne, Netball Victoria, Hockey Victoria, Zoos Victoria, Royal Park Protection Group and Urban Camp. I also should indicate that I am aware that the opposition has not opposed this bill in the lower house. The indication, from what I have heard today in this place, is that the opposition and the crossbenches will also not oppose this bill.

In respect to criticism of membership levels, the current membership provisions of the Melbourne Cricket Ground Act 2009 require the Melbourne Cricket Ground Trust to consist of a chairperson and not less than six and not more than eight members. Increasing the maximum membership by one member to nine will enable greater diversity and experience on the board to strengthen the management of this important state sporting asset. It is not required that all nine positions be filled.

The State Sport Centres Act 1994 currently provides that the State Sport Centres Trust is to consist of not less than five and not more than seven part-time members. The trust has recently assumed responsibility for a new facility at Knox Regional Sports Park and now manages four venues. The demands of the expanded infrastructure portfolio have created significant additional work for the trust, and the bill increases the maximum number of part-time members of the trust from seven to 11. It is not required that all 11 positions be filled. This change will see more effective operations of the trust to deliver better outcomes of these important facilities.

Temporary vacancies on trusts can arise with little notice. Currently across various sporting trusts there are no provisions to permit the appointment of acting members or an acting chairperson. This bill will ensure consistency across all government sporting trusts so that acting members and chairpersons can be appointed when required. This reflects other proposals in the bill designed to improve consistency across trust appointments and streamline the practical administration of the trusts. Therefore this amendment will reduce administrative burden and support flexible and responsive governance.

The current legislation provides that any lease granted by the Kardinia Park Stadium Trust, the Melbourne and Olympic Parks Trust and the State Sport Centres Trust over land on a number of trust sites must be approved by the minister. While it is important that the minister controls long-term leasing arrangements over major state assets, there is no compelling reason to require the minister to approve minor leases over small areas – for example, short-term leases over a small number of desks. A major lease is for a term of 21 years or more or, for example, a lease over the whole of Kardinia Park Stadium Trust land. The Geelong Football Club’s agreement in relation to the use of Kardinia Park stadium is an example of a major lease, and major leases will continue to be subject to appropriate ministerial scrutiny. An example of a minor lease is the lease of a room within a facility to a sporting club for the purposes of administration. Such a minor arrangement certainly would not inherently require close involvement of a minister. The amendment will give the trust flexibility and certainty and will reduce administrative burden.

The minister will have absolute control over whether to make a delegation and the scope of any delegation to approve a lease which may be narrower than the delegation power. Despite making a delegation, the minister may choose to exercise statutory approval power at any time with respect to any lease. The final settings for lease delegations will be determined in consultation with the Department of Jobs, Skills, Industry and Regions. These settings have not been embedded in their legislation to ensure that they can be reviewed regularly and adjusted as appropriate.

Event management declarations enable the Kardinia Park Stadium Trust to take control from the Geelong city council over the majority of Kardinia Park for the purposes of holding events and staging necessary equipment and infrastructure. The events which are commonly subject to an event management declaration at Kardinia Park or floodlight determination at the MCG include AFL and AFLW matches, Big Bash League cricket matches and A-League soccer matches. Currently event management declarations are made by the Governor in Council on the recommendation of a minister. During the COVID pandemic many organisers of these events moved to floating schedules, in which the dates of matches were only released a few days or weeks before they were to occur. Major sporting organisations have retained some forms of flexible scheduling. This makes it difficult to have declarations and determinations made in time and frustrates the objectives of the legislation in supporting major events at these stadiums. Enabling the minister to make event management declarations at Kardinia Park and the secretary to make floodlight determinations at the MCG will provide greater flexibility and allow these orders to be made more quickly when events are announced.

The other thing that I want to mention is resignations. Currently members across a number of trusts are required to resign by written notification to the Governor in Council and resignations will take effect only when considered at an executive council meeting. This has presented difficulties for members whose resignations needed to take effect on the day they were made, for example, when a member was appointed to become a court judge. Reforming this requirement so it will be a direct resignation to the minister is consistent with other sport legislation and adequate to give effect to the members intentions. It will also reduce the administrative burden on Governor in Council.

At the beginning of my contribution I also mentioned the Anzac Day amendment. That is in relation to changing ‘miles’ to ‘kilometres’ – it is, again, a very minor amendment to what is before us today – and of course there is also an update to include gender-neutral language. It is important for the legislation to be written in an inclusive and accurate way. In closing, can I say that this bill will reduce, we believe, the administrative red tape for various sporting trusts and improve consistency of language and governance. We understand that this bill will not be opposed by those opposite. I believe that I have covered off most, if not all, of the questions or issues that have been raised in this debate, but I am happy to entertain further discussion in committee if required.

Motion agreed to.

Read second time.

Committed.

Committee

Clause 1 (16:16)

David DAVIS: Can I begin by thanking the minister for her summing-up just a moment ago. I appreciate the fact that she did address a number of the issues that we had raised, which are around the abolition of these advisory committees. With respect to those committees, in clauses 1(b)(ii) and 1(f)(i) – the Kardinia Park advisory committee and the State Netball and Hockey Centre advisory committee – they are dealt with in the purposes clause. I understand the points that the minister has made that it may be more flexible and easier in terms of administrative load for both the government and the authorities and indeed some of the members of the advisory committees.

My concern in the longer run is that once these committees are abolished – and I am not impugning the government’s motives here; I can see that there can be some administrative ease that can result –not necessarily this minister but for a future minister in one or two or three ministers’ time there will be no legislative requirement. How is it that the government can guarantee that there will be advisory committees constituted by a future minister?

Gayle TIERNEY: In respect to that question, there are a couple of answers. First of all, in terms of some of the things that I have put on the record, it provides people with a clear understanding of the intent of the legislation. The second thing is that in terms of whoever the minister might be when a situation that Mr Davis has indicated may occur, the minister has a number of things that he or she may do. One would be a ministerial directive, another would be a ministerial statement of expectations. But can I say that it is our understanding that those that have been consulted, those on the ground that have been party to a range of advisory groups over a period of time, have indicated their support for this. They believe that what is being proposed is an advance on where things are at, and they believe that the work of the advisory groups can be added to by not having so many hurdles that are constantly preventing or are stagnating the operation of the advisory groups.

David DAVIS: I thank the minister for her response. Certainly Sam Groth, our shadow in this area, has consulted widely on this, and it is true that many of those who are currently on the committees are not unsupportive of a simpler system. My concern is – perhaps this is just a comment at this point rather than anything further – that in the longer haul, whatever the intentions of the current minister, there will be no legislated requirement to ensure that these advisory committees exist and are established. I just make that by way of comment. My second point is that, as I understand it, there is – and the information comes from recent bills in this chamber, one of which was amended, which saw the abolition of an advisory committee – in fact a whole-of-government consultancy report that recommends the abolition of advisory committees with legislative bases. You are not aware of that?

Gayle TIERNEY: All I am concerned about this afternoon is this piece of legislation. It is my information from the discussions that have been held by government with various groups that are involved in the different sporting facilities that this is a way of making advice to government more workable than what the current situation allows.

David DAVIS: My question then is very simply to the minister: does such a consultancy report exist which applies across the whole of government, including in the sport portfolio?

Gayle TIERNEY: My role this afternoon is dealing with this piece of legislation and dealing with questions arising from the advisory committee and the consultations that have gone on that have brought this matter to the chamber this afternoon. All I can say is that I am aware of the discussions that have led to this piece of legislation. I am not in a position to make comment on other discussions that may or may not have occurred within government.

David DAVIS: Is there such a consultancy report that makes commentary about advisory committees across government, including in the sport portfolio?

Gayle TIERNEY: I am personally not aware of it.

David DAVIS: I thank the minister. I accept that she is not personally aware of it. She may thereby be able to take that on notice and to establish whether there is such a consultancy report that makes recommendations about the removal of advisory committees with legislative underpinning across government, including in sport.

Gayle TIERNEY: In some ways I understand your intent, Mr Davis, but I am not going to go off and create some extra work or extra investigations beyond what is before us today. As I said, I was not aware of said piece of work. I am not going to deal with what in my view potentially is a hypothetical.

David DAVIS: I will note what the minister said, but I will place on the record that the information that has been provided to the opposition indicates that there is such a consultancy report recommending the removal of advisory committees across a wide front in government, including sport, and that where there is legislative underpinning those committees should be removed and that ad hoc committees established by ministers should replace them. I am just going to leave it at that and note that this is a broader piece of work, but it does include the sport portfolio, as I am informed.

Gayle TIERNEY: Again, the government is dealing with the legislation that is before the house this afternoon, which has been brought to this house on the basis that all those involved are pretty well convinced that this is going to make advice to government more workable, more flexible and more directive. I understand what Mr Davis is trying to do, and all I am concerned about is making sure that this piece of legislation is adopted by the Council and that the true intent, as opposed to potential conspiracy theories, of what is before us today is to, as I say, make advice to government a lot more accessible. It cuts out the red tape and makes it more workable.

Clause agreed to; clauses 2 to 58 agreed to.

Reported to house without amendment.

Gayle TIERNEY (Western Victoria – Minister for Skills and TAFE, Minister for Regional Development) (16:28): I move:

That the report be now adopted.

Motion agreed to.

Report adopted.

Third reading

Gayle TIERNEY (Western Victoria – Minister for Skills and TAFE, Minister for Regional Development) (16:28): I move:

That the bill be now read a third time.

Motion agreed to.

Read third time.

The ACTING PRESIDENT (Michael Galea): Pursuant to standing order 14.28, the bill will be returned to the Assembly with a message informing them that the Council have agreed to the bill without amendment.