Thursday, 5 March 2026

 Sonja TERPSTRA (North-Eastern Metropolitan) (18:03): (2388) My adjournment matter is for the Minister for Tourism, Sport and Major Events in the other place, and the action I seek is for the minister to provide an update on how successful the 2026 Australian Open was here in Victoria. Melbourne has a lot of excellent titles, be it one of the most livable cities in the world or the coffee capital; we are also the events capital of Australia and the sporting capital of the world, and at no time is that more apparent than during the Australian Open. Over January we saw hundreds of thousands of people descend on Melbourne and Olympic parks to enjoy the tennis, entertainment and culture that Melbourne Park offered. The Australian Open is the largest economic driver in sports in Australia, and it brought in $565.8 million to the Victorian economy in 2025. Anecdotally, many have said that this Australian Open broke many records in terms of attendance and economic activity and definitely in terms of the amount of fun had. I thank the Minister for Tourism, Sport and Major Events, or as we like to call him, the minister for fun, for all of his hard work in continuing to show Victoria in such a great light, not just to the rest of Australia but to the rest of the world, through events like the Australian Open. I look forward to his response.