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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, Second Session (54-2)
2021-03-18 Daily Xml
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Sporting Infrastructure

Dr HARVEY (Newland) (14:18): My question is to the Minister for Recreation, Sport and Racing. Can the minister update the house on how the Marshall Liberal government is supporting South Australians and building what matters through key sporting infrastructure projects and the State Sport and Recreation Infrastructure Plan?

The Hon. C.L. WINGARD (Gibson—Minister for Infrastructure and Transport, Minister for Recreation, Sport and Racing) (14:19): I thank the member for Newland for his question. I understand his passion in sport and the infrastructure that we are building. We know that quality sporting infrastructure is crucial for sport to survive in South Australia. It's fitting that we have Marjorie Jackson-Nelson and also Bruce McAvaney here in the chamber today to understand how important sport is in our communities.

For far too long in South Australia we have been held back due to poorly planned, poorly managed and poorly funded sporting projects by those opposite us. The Marshall government is changing all this. That's why we did the hard work: we did the research, we did the planning and we put $214 million towards our state's sport infrastructure plan. That's why since coming into government we have committed more than $350 million to sporting infrastructure right across South Australia. We didn't waste any time. We had shovels in the ground—

Mr Szakacs interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Member for Cheltenham!

The Hon. C.L. WINGARD: —so we could build what matters for the people of South Australia: creating jobs, lowering costs and improving services for hardworking South Australians, and, gee, we've done a lot of sod-turns just in recent weeks. Let's start with the Women's Memorial Playing Fields, a development that will create 25 jobs in the process.

Let me begin by congratulating the member for Elder and also the member for Davenport, and give them a huge congratulations on their tireless efforts in campaigning for this project. Last week we were there for the sod-turning of the $9 million upgrade of these much-loved sporting facilities, which are home to the Sturt Lacrosse Club and the Cumberland United Women's Football teams as well. It's also home to a dedicated memorial for the women's memorial trust and their annual Bangka Day Memorial Service. The Marshall Liberal government is proud to be a part of this project that not only honours these women but also encourages girls to continue playing sport from childhood right through to adulthood.

Next, let's lob on down to Memorial Drive where, at its peak, more than 160 jobs will be engaged or contracted to work on the redevelopment for stage 2. For years, South Australian boys and girls have had to go interstate to see their tennis heroes. Well, that has changed under the Marshall Liberal government's savvy investment of $10 million to put a roof on Memorial Drive. Straightaway, we secured the Adelaide International, a men's and women's event, here for the first time at Memorial Drive. In the first year, Ash Barty did an outstanding job winning that tournament—the world number one.

From that, we of course had A Day at the Drive—a huge success—seeing some of the best players in the world playing at Memorial Drive, including Rafa Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Serena Williams, Naomi Osaka, Ash Barty and Simona Halep. These images were beamed all over the world: Adelaide, South Australia and Memorial Drive, and how well we have done to fight off COVID-19. They loved it so much here. The two winners of the Australian Open came from the Adelaide tournament: Naomi Osaka and Novak Djokovic.

To round out the summer we had another WTA event here in Adelaide, which was outstanding. We were the only venue outside Melbourne to have tennis this summer. In fact, we only had a women's event; we didn't have the men's event, and the men were very jealous of the women. We've also got stage 2 of the Memorial Drive upgrade, with $44 million going into that to ensure that we have 10 years of tennis events here in South Australia.

We are building what matters, and by example we can jog over to the Athletics Stadium, with $6 million going into that. That tired old track and tired old stadium will be upgraded. The old red track has gone and we are putting in a blue track—and we know blue is far better than red. The investments don't stop there. We put a couple of million dollars into improving the lights there just recently as well, half a million dollars into the Salisbury Bridgestone athletics track, which is sensational, and $24 million into the State Centre of Football. Of course, we know Football SA has been passionate about this project, and that will help us try to attract women's World Cup fixtures here to Adelaide in South Australia. Also, $12 million has been invested into Netball SA and $5 million into the advancement of Thebarton Oval. Again, we are building what matters to the people of South Australia.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The time for answering the question has expired.

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