Wednesday, 18 February 2026

 Melina BATH (Eastern Victoria) (18:19): (2321) My adjournment matter this evening is for the Minister for Major Events, and it relates to the shocking announcement today that the Phillip Island MotoGP is going interstate. It has been on Phillip Island – and indeed I have attended it in my younger years – for almost 30 years. It has been a supreme calendar event. It has created excitement, economy and vibrancy right across that whole Bass Coast area. Again we see another cancellation under this government of an international event through bungling and mismanagement. The action I seek is consistent with stakeholders and it is consistent with the Bass Coast mayor and deputy mayor and council, and that is for those key stakeholders, tourism industry and the council et cetera to meet with the Premier and the Minister for Major Events to set up an economic opportunity as to what to now? Now that you have ripped out thousands upon thousands of dollars of economic imperative. There have been calls from the Nationals and the Liberals. I raised this issue in January on the back of the whispers. I know my colleague the Shadow Minister for Tourism and Major Events David Southwick and my colleague Renee Heath have also drummed the beat against this death knell. It is about jobs, and this has been a result of this ineptitude.

Recent assessments by Ernst & Young found that the MotoGP delivered $54 million in economic benefits in 2023 – that was the most recent study – including almost $30 million in local spend and supported almost 300 full-time equivalent jobs. This will hurt this region, and this government is turning its back. Not only is the member turning her back but this government is just walking away. Around 90,000 people attend every year. Living locally I see the bikes go by. It is not only that area, but it is the other towns that radiate out from that area where people stay, play and enjoy our beautiful region of Gippsland and Bass Coast. You promised the Commonwealth Games, and you cancelled that too. This is a track record of diabolical proportions, and this is symptomatic of this government’s decline in care for this area. Will you convene this urgent meeting with those people I said and put the right people at the table to at least have the discussion about where to from now for the Bass Coast community?