Questions without notice and ministers statements
Mildura riverfront development
Rikkie-Lee TYRRELL (Northern Victoria) (12:00): (973) My question is for the Minister for Regional Development. During the winter recess I did a road trip to the beautiful regional city of Mildura. During my visit I met with the mayor and the CEO of the Mildura Rural City Council, who both during our meeting expressed the importance of the Mildura riverfront development to the town and the region’s tourism sector. Can the minister confirm the government’s commitment to the prosperity –
The PRESIDENT: Sorry, Mrs Tyrrell, can I interrupt you for 1 minute. The Minister for Regional Development is on her way. Here she is now, so I will get you to start your question again.
Before you do that, I acknowledge that a previous President of this house, Monica Gould, is in the chamber.
Rikkie-Lee TYRRELL: My question today is for the Minister for Regional Development. During the winter recess I did a road trip to the beautiful regional city of Mildura. During my visit I met with the mayor and the CEO of the Mildura Rural City Council, who both during our meeting expressed the importance of the Mildura riverfront development to the town and the region’s tourism sector. Can the minister confirm the government’s commitment to the prosperity of the Sunraysia region with the development of tourism infrastructure projects such as the Mildura riverfront development?
Jaclyn SYMES (Northern Victoria – Treasurer, Minister for Industrial Relations, Minister for Regional Development) (12:02): I thank Mrs Tyrrell for her question and the opportunity to talk about the wonderful tourism mecca that is Mildura and the many, many investments that we have made over the last decade in Mildura. In fact when I was previously regional development minister, I had the opportunity to announce and promote investment in riverfront projects. But in relation to the continued investment and the advocacy of Mildura city council, there are certainly conversations that I have had as a local member, such as you have, in a similar type of advocacy receipt. I have not had the conversation with them since being back in the seat of the regional development portfolio, but as the interjections have noted, we have announced Lenny Kravitz, a massive drawcard, who will be going into Mildura.
What I think I would like to do for you, Mrs Tyrrell, is give you a list of some of the past projects that have been completed, particularly through tourism and the regional development portfolios and particularly those that have been done in collaboration with the council. Also, you and I can talk about the future aspirations of the area.
Rikkie-Lee TYRRELL (Northern Victoria) (12:03): I thank the minister for her response. Whilst I acknowledge the role the state played in developing the riverfront development, the third and final stage of the project, which includes the construction of a new adventure playground at Jaycee Park, still has not yet been completed. Will the minister give a commitment to provide funding to the Mildura Rural City Council of $1.8 million to complete stage 3 of the Mildura riverfront development?
Jaclyn SYMES (Northern Victoria – Treasurer, Minister for Industrial Relations, Minister for Regional Development) (12:04): I certainly appreciate your advocacy on behalf of this project. Again I think I will come back to my answer to your substantive question. There are quite a lot of projects that have been funded in Mildura by the Minister for Regional Development, both during my time and in between my time, and we are obviously looking at future projects. But a lot of the questions that you have asked also particularly fall within the remit of the minister for tourism, and so Minister Dimopoulos’s office will have a bit of an update on some of their projects as well. So it is a good opportunity for us to have a stocktake of all of the regional development investment and all of the Tourism Victoria investment, because there is a lot that has gone into Mildura. We will have a bit of a look at that, give you a brief and talk about the future.