Ben Morton (Tangney, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

And tennis—from the member for Bennelong.

The Willetton basketball stadium is very important to me. I'm sure many members are aware of the updates I've given to this House in relation to funding. There were plenty of nay-sayers along the journey, but there it is: $5.5 million of federal funding for the expansion of the Willetton basketball stadium, and that represents 50 per cent of the stadium expansion project. It was a special day when we made that announcement. There was a lot of excitement. This will mean four new indoor courts, new change rooms, meeting rooms, halls, offices and space for supporting health and allied health facilities. Those kids who are on the waiting list—150 or more of them—will now have an opportunity to play team sport that wasn't there because the infrastructure wasn't sufficient. I'm so pleased that we've been able to assist the Willetton basketball stadium. This is an association with over 300 teams and over 3,500 players, and it is supported by about 1,100 volunteers.

The federal funding is not the only funding. $2.2 million has been provided by the City of Canning and $1.5 million has been provided by the state government. Construction will get underway in the second half of this calendar year. The Local Sporting Champions grants are important, and I'm very pleased that there is an expansion of these grants in the budget. This is something that I've been campaigning for as a Western Australian member of parliament. There is a 56 per cent increase to this important program. That represents, on the existing funding models, 3,000 additional young athletes across Australia who will be able to receive federal government grants to support their attendance at their international or national competitions.

In Tangney, it's very popular. One of the recent rounds saw 53 applications for 22 grants. My job is to work with the minister to ensure that we can redirect some of that funding to make sure that it recognises the effort and energy that families go to to access these grants. When there is a sporting event in Sydney, for example, it costs somebody more to travel to that event if they're travelling from Perth or Cairns than if they were travelling from Canberra. This grants program should recognise those additional costs, and I'm sure many of the regional members of parliament in this House will support me in having that grant program readjusted to recognise those differences.

But what is really important for my electorate, the showcase, the show-stopper in the budget, is the funding there for row 8 and row 9. There is funding for infrastructure in this budget. There is actually $2.8 billion in new infrastructure funding for WA. As part of this budget, the government is working to reduce congestion to keep our roads safe and to help freight and people move from point A to point B. But what's important for my electorate is the $1.2 billion that is there in black and white, waiting on the state government to access those funds. Isn't it amazing? You have a situation where the federal government has allocated $1.2 billion worth of funding to a very important road project, yet the state government is refusing to access those funds. That would take 70,000-odd cars a day off Leach Highway in my electorate and over 7,000 trucks a day trying to access Fremantle port. This is also very important to the people of Fremantle, who are facing a by-election. They go into the by-election uncertain of whether or not federal Labor will keep that money there available for a future state government to construct the Roe 8 and Roe 9 projects.

This budget, in whole, continues this government's plan for a stronger economy. The government is funding priority nation-building infrastructure and guaranteeing essential services in a sustainable way. The funding's there to support our local community. I'm pleased to be part of a coalition government that's not only making important investments in our country but also managing taxpayers' money in a very disciplined way.

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