Wednesday, 22 June 2022

Wyndham indoor leisure and aquatic centre

Dr CUMMING (Western Metropolitan) (17:56): (2010) My adjournment matter is to the Treasurer in the other place, and the action that I seek is for the Treasurer to explain why no funding was provided in the 2022–23 budget to enable Wyndham City Council to build an additional indoor leisure and aquatic centre. Australians love being active. They love their sport, they obviously need recreation facilities and they need those opportunities, so it is vitally important that we have those individual community health centres. Access to community and sports infrastructure is vital. These are important settings for developing social connections with others and the community in which we live, especially at this crucial time.

However, the development of housing in Wyndham has outpaced the development of community and sports infrastructure. Wyndham has a population of over 300 000 residents, and almost half of these residents were born overseas, from 162 different countries. In 2015 the council prepared an aquatic strategy, and planning for a new aquatic centre at Tarneit has been undertaken. Their long-term capital works program states the future indoor leisure and aquatic facility will cost about $100 million. Council are intending to fund half the cost of the facility, and they are advocating for the government to help with funding so they can meet the diverse needs of their growing community.

We all know that community facilities such as sporting facilities are needed for people’s mental health. They help them get connected to their community, they help them to make friends and they help them to get out and about, especially in this Melbourne weather, where it is constantly four seasons in one day. When they have these facilities that can withstand the weather, the community can get out and continue to be active and have the social supports to make sure that their mental health and wellbeing are being looked after. I do hope the government looks at finding the funds, especially the Treasurer to help his own electorate, for Wyndham City Council.