Southern Metropolitan Region
David DAVIS (Southern Metropolitan) (13:07): (208) My constituency question today is for the Minister for Creative Industries, and it relates to the Victorian Community History Awards, which have not been funded in this budget, particularly those through the Royal Historical Society of Victoria and the many small history grants that have been provided to my electorate. Particularly I note some of the grants provided to the small groups in Malvern and Oakleigh. These are important programs. The $350,000 per annum program provided through the Public Record Office Victoria has also not been funded. This program was originally established in 1997 and has in one form or another continued all the way through. Those local history grants have been cut. I call on the minister: will you reverse these savage, crude, ill-advised cuts to local history programs, including in the electorate of Southern Metropolitan Region? They are damaging to the community, particularly as it recovers from COVID.