Jill Hall (Shortland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I would like to bring to the attention of the House the plight of the Warnervale Community Centre, which is situated within the electorate of Dobell but is used by constituents living in Shortland electorate. The plight of this centre has been brought to my attention by one of my constituents. The Warnervale Community Centre is currently being forced to use its emergency reserves because, while funding was given to the centre just prior to the last federal election, the federal government has now refused to re-fund the centre.

I think it is only fair that I go through a little bit of the history of the centre. It was initially funded under the Family First program in New South Wales for four years and, as I just mentioned, just prior to the last federal election, the Prime Minister arrived on the Central Coast with his entourage, and announced ongoing funding for the next two years—note: half the time for which it was funded previously by the state government. Yet, on 30 June this year, the funding ran out.

What has happened? Nothing. The member for Dobell has said in the media that he has approached the Minister for Community Services and, at the beginning of July, there was a report in the paper saying that the centre would probably be reprieved because the member for Dobell had managed to secure 12 months funding under a pilot program. Well, this is nearly two months later and there has been no more news of that pilot program funding.

The centre is a vital resource for the community on the Central Coast. It services somewhere in the vicinity of 8,000 families and those families rely on it to ensure that they get the services that they need. The centre provides a wide variety of services and it plays a very vital role in this developing community. It also provides social ties in the area, in an area where there is very little infrastructure—one general store and a cafe. I believe that if this centre were to close down it would leave a real gap in the community.

I have a photo of the member for Dobell at the centre earlier this year. It is actually a beautiful photo of him with a number of children. I would argue very strongly that the children in the photo with the member for Dobell still need this service. I think it is very sad that this centre is in the situation that it is in today. As the member for Dobell has not made any further announcements about this pilot program, I am giving an undertaking to the people of the Central Coast that I will get in there and fight for them. I will write to the Minister for Community Services and maybe he will really consider the need for and the issues surrounding this centre. It is in an area of some disadvantage and definitely of isolation. I have to congratulate Councillor Warren Welham of Wyong council because he has been out there fighting the battle for this community centre. He has been arguing that the Warnervale community must be provided with ongoing funding for this service, highlighting the fact that the federal government has a large surplus and saying that it is important that this surplus be utilised for communities like that of Warnervale.

I say to the Prime Minister: it is not good enough just to arrive on the Central Coast when there is an election looming or to make these announcements on the eve of an election. The people of the Central Coast rely on this centre. It needs to be funded on an ongoing basis. I call on the minister and the Prime Minister to support the centre and at least match the state government by funding the centre for four years. (Time expired)