Aaron Violi (Casey, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

There's no doubt, not just across the community of Casey but across all communities in Australia, that investing in sports infrastructure, particularly to drive female participation, is so important and so needed. It's something that I've been speaking about for the 2½ years that I've been a member of parliament.

I've spent my life playing sport in my community. Over the years I've seen the facilities that are not up to standard, but I've also seen the positive impact that those facilities can have. One facility in particular, the Mount Evelyn Recreation Reserve, was recently upgraded, finalised and opened. That was funded in a joint partnership between the federal and state governments and the local council. Tony Smith, the former member for Casey, was a strong advocate and secured that funding. I remember, when I was playing cricket at Healesville against Mount Evelyn, that the club rooms were old and they weren't welcoming. But, when you look at the new clubrooms, they are welcoming and they are fresh. They are revitalising the sporting community in Mount Evelyn.

The Mount Evelyn Football Club has led the way in women's participation in many ways, particularly in AFL, and their junior program is strong. In fact, it is so strong that the Mount Evelyn under-16 girls won their premiership yesterday. I want to send a shout-out to the Mount Evelyn under-16 girls team who won that premiership. I've seen the facilities that they get to enjoy. I know it makes their participation a lot easier.

That's why so many people are frustrated with the delays of the Albanese Labor government and the time it has taken to implement the Play Our Way program. We need to be honest and we need to understand that this announcement was not in the works for the government. They weren't looking to spend any money on female sporting infrastructure until the coalition's $250 million dollar announcement for female sporting community infrastructure across the country.

While the Prime Minister and the Minister for Sport were happy to attend the soccer and cheer on the Matildas, the coalition was actually putting forward policies to deliver on that momentum that was being built. And what did we see a week or two later? The government announced their own $20 million fund. But we know that the fund was an afterthought for the government, because we saw through Senate estimates and different processes that they rushed through a release to the department asking for a fund to be spun up in a week or two. That was the first time that the department had heard about this program. Again, the coalition is leading the way on policy. It is good the government followed us and announced $200 million—$250 million would have been better—but it's taken over 12 months for anything to happen. Not a dollar has been spent despite that fanfare. As David Peel, the secretary of the Seville Cricket Club and a good friend of mine, said recently in the Herald Sun:

If we weren't successful in our application, which is fine, we'd rather know so that we can move on with planning … That's probably the frustration with this one.

And that is the frustration for many community groups across my electorate and many other electorates that have got this growth in female sport but don't have the facilities to match—and they're still waiting.

I was lucky enough to visit two of my old clubs on the weekend: the Monbulk Rangers Soccer Club and Lilydale Montrose United. I've still got a connection to Lilydale Montrose United; my two children, my eight-year-old daughter and my 11-year-old son, play at the club, and I get to referee their games on the weekend when time allows. To see the young boys and young girls running around as equals on the field, enjoying all the benefits of sport—teammates, learning the rules, learning the pain of defeat and the opportunity to grow—is so valuable. That's why we need to continue to invest in female infrastructure.

This is a first step but a delayed step. There's more that needs to be done. While I'm the member for Casey I'll continue to advocate for female sports facilities because every person, every young man and every young girl and woman, should be able to go to their club and participate on an equal playing field, and we know facilities make a big difference to that.

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