Georgie CROZIER (Southern Metropolitan) (18:46): (2471) My adjournment matter this evening is for the Minister for Tourism, Sport and Major Events. It is in relation to the Albert Park grand prix precinct, and the action I seek is information on when full public access will be restored to the area. At the moment we have still got fences surrounding parts of Albert Park Lake, roads closed and grandstands in place, and it is a complete mess, with overgrown grass and all sorts of rubbish there. I note that when I was debating this piece of legislation after the government brought it in last year – on 14 October in fact – I said this bill allowed for the closure of Albert Park for up to 21 days, which is a significant impost on local residents and park users. For many in the community, Albert Park is their backyard – and it is. I was talking about how there has got to be a real balance between obviously the grand prix itself, which is a great event – we all love that and we understand it is fantastic for Melbourne and has a huge following – and the residents that live there and those that access the Albert Park precinct. But I did not realise just how hopeless this government is, that it cannot even get this right. This is weeks later. I was down there on Monday talking with residents because the period that we are talking about – that full 21-day lockout under the Australian Grands Prix Act 1994 – expired on 15 March. Yet to the residents’ frustration, which is now at fever pitch although they have just been so tolerant, they see these fences and all this go-slow that is going on with these people that are packing up the grand prix. They are really just going, ‘Well, what is going on?’ On Monday, two weeks after that deadline, I visited the site. You would have thought that the grand prix caravan would have moved on. We have had two international grands prix since then – one in Japan, the Suzuka grand prix, and one in Shanghai. They have already banked their cheques; they are moving on to the next one. Yet we are still packing up the grand prix from weeks ago.
This is an absolute joke – well, it is not for these residents. They are saying, ‘We are tolerant, we understand the grand prix, but we expect better from government.’ Why are they still locked out of these areas, having been restricted for eight weeks? In some areas where they are trying to pick up their kids from school, there are road restrictions where the lockout is. It is rarely opened at 3:30 pm, as promised. On Monday a week ago it was still closed at 4:20 pm; on Friday it was 5 pm. Families are facing long detours, extra tolls and fuel costs, while the park itself remains in a state of disrepair. This is completely unacceptable. Why did the government approve tripling the lockout if it has not drastically improved the set-up or pack down? Surely these workers, one of whom told me that it would be going on for another two weeks – it sounds like they are all on the government teat – (Time expired)