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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, Second Session (54-2)
2021-10-27 Daily Xml
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Sporting Infrastructure

Ms LUETHEN (King) (14:45): My question is to the Minister for Recreation, Sport and Racing. Can the minister inform the house how the Marshall Liberal government has cemented South Australia's position as a premier destination for major sporting events through investment in the sports community across the state?

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Point of order: standing order 97, questions are not to involve argument or comments. That question involves a lot of argument and comment.

The SPEAKER: Standing order 97 states:

Such questions not to involve argument

In putting any such question, a Member may not offer argument or opinion, nor may a Member offer any facts except by leave of the House…

It seems to me, member for King, there was an opinion expressed in the question. I will give you an opportunity to rephrase.

Ms LUETHEN: Thank you, Mr Speaker. Can the minister update the house on the initiatives led by the Marshall Liberal government to position South Australia as a premium destination for major sporting events?

The SPEAKER: I am going to allow the question.

The Hon. C.L. WINGARD (Gibson—Minister for Infrastructure and Transport, Minister for Recreation, Sport and Racing) (14:46): I thank the member for King for her question and note how hardworking she is in her community, especially when it comes to sporting endeavours and building what matters for the people of South Australia.

As you would know, sir, we have an unprecedented record of investment in sporting infrastructure here in South Australia, across all levels, and it does continue to cement our place as a leader, a premier sporting destination amongst the cities in the nation when it comes to sporting events. Already we have seen a number of events secured here when we have invested money in infrastructure that actually delivers great outcomes for South Australia.

Our $50 million plus investment in Memorial Drive is just one example. We invested $10 million in the roof on Memorial Drive—the cover over that. Of course, that got us the Adelaide International Tennis event and drew some of the world's best men and women players back to Adelaide, which we hadn't seen for generations. It was a wonderful event. That led, of course, to another $44 million investment in the upgrade that we can see right now over at Memorial Drive.

I was there on the weekend, in fact, with Lleyton Hewitt having a look at how that development is coming along. He was over the moon. Of course, Lleyton is a doyen, an icon of South Australian tennis. I was lucky enough to have a hit with him and he was very kind to me and he was suitably impressed, not with my tennis but with the development, and he wished it had happened a long, long time ago.

He knows that we didn't have a venue in metropolitan Adelaide with a roof on it up until we put the roof on the main court at Memorial Drive. We are putting a roof on the show court as well and this is going to allow us to unearth our next Lleyton Hewitt or next Alicia Molik as well, so it is a great investment and it is delivering a decade of the Adelaide International here in South Australia.

Tennis is not the only place where we are making a splash. Of course, in the pool, the Olympians and the Paralympians are returning here to Adelaide, South Australia. We have followed that up with two events coming to Adelaide: the Australian Swimming Championships and the Age Swimming Championships, again making our pool the home of swimming in the nation. Kyle Chalmers, the big fish, the big tuna, we love having him as part of South Australia. It actually is the Matt Cowdrey OAM pool, I might add—

The Hon. L.W.K. Bignell interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for Mawson is called to order.

The Hon. C.L. WINGARD: —which is very notable and we know the great work he did in that Paralympic scene. That pool is of course home to Kyle Chalmers, the big tuna, but it's actually attracting other athletes here. It is great to see a new South Australian, Meg Harris, basing herself out of the SASI program there. So that is absolutely outstanding.

This $400 million investment that our government has made into sporting facilities in South Australia is actually filling my calendar. We are getting more and more events coming and we almost can't keep up. I recently had the privilege of joining the member for Black up at O'Halloran Hill at the new BMX facility that we are building—this is fantastic—the $6 million Sam Willoughby BMX Facility, which is going to attract events here. Again, we are delivering what the people of South Australia want, so it is wonderful.

The Hon. L.W.K. Bignell interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Mawson is called to order.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. C.L. WINGARD: I turn to soccer.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. C.L. WINGARD: There is plenty of noise on that side, but plenty of delivery on this side.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for Mawson is warned.

The Hon. C.L. WINGARD: It's all about delivering for the people of South Australia. Let's talk about soccer as well because we have put $97 million into soccer since coming into government. Of course, the investment at Hindmarsh Stadium ahead of the Women's World Cup, that will be absolutely outstanding. It has been a long time since we have had an investment like this in that facility. Of course, that will put us on the stage where billions and billions of people—it is expected that more than one billion people will watch the Women's World Cup, and 22,000 fans are here, and again we are delivering for the people of South Australia.

But it is not only on that stage but also in the community. Our Sports Vouchers program, one they had no money for, we invested an extra $100 per primary school-age child.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. C.L. WINGARD: We have expanded it up until year 8 and year 9, making sure we are developing those champions of the future and that they've got venues and destinations to play at right here in South Australia.

The SPEAKER: The member for Mawson is warned. The member for Reynell.

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