Joanne Ryan (Lalor, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I too rise to praise the Daniel Andrews Labor government in Victoria. I rise in support of a VFL club in my electorate of Lalor, the great Werribee Football Club. I welcome the Andrews Labor government's recent announcement that they will contribute $1.5 million towards the redevelopment of the Werribee Football Club's home, Avalon Airport Oval at Chirnside Park. This money will allow the club to build on existing services for young local people, particularly women and those from diverse backgrounds. The redevelopment will bring together facilities that will further enhance the great work being done by the club, as well as by its affiliate, North Melbourne. The club regularly brings local communities together through programs such as the multicultural schools program, which is designed to bring families from migrant and refugee communities across the electorate together through their love of sport.

Werribee Football Club has been lobbying for this development for 7½ years. So far they have $1.5 million from the state government, $5.5 million from Wyndham Council, half a million dollars from the AFL and VFL and $1 million from the club itself. They are, however, still seeking the last piece of this jigsaw—$3.2 million from the federal government—to make sure that my community and its elite football club have the facilities that they deserve so that young people in our community can get down to that club, support them and play football.

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