Julie Collins (Franklin, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Sport and Minister for Youth.

Tony Smith (Casey, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Anthony Smith interjecting

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The member for Franklin will resume her seat. If the member for Casey wants to do some research I can give him an hour outside to do that research. He will not interject.

Julie Collins (Franklin, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

As I said, my question is for the Minister for Sport and Minister for Youth. Will the minister outline the benefit of the government’s $300 million record investment in community sports infrastructure?

Kate Ellis (Adelaide, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Youth and Sport) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Franklin for her question but also note the support of the member for Franklin for the government’s $4 million investment in the Kingborough Sports Centre, a project which is supporting local sports, is supporting the local community and, importantly, is supporting local jobs. This is just one example, but in response to the question of the member for Franklin I am happy to share with the House some other examples, some good news stories about the benefits of this government’s decisive action—the benefits for sport, the benefits for community and the benefits for jobs.

Opposition Members:

Opposition members interjecting—

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The House will come to order!

Kate Ellis (Adelaide, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Youth and Sport) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The over $300 million which this government committed to sports infrastructure in the Nation Building and Jobs Plan has been the largest one-off federal injection into sporting facilities in our history. We know those opposite do not want to hear about it—because they did not want to vote for it—but we on this side of the House are proud that this is the largest single investment in sporting facilities in this nation’s history. It is providing tangible benefits for sports, benefits for communities and benefits for jobs right around the nation.

As examples to back this up, I can point to the $3.6 million for the Tambourine Mountain Sport and Recreation Complex that will be built in the hinterlands of the Gold Coast. I went and visited this site along with the member for Forde. The site is currently a cow paddock. It does not take too much imagination to realise that a huge number of jobs are created in the process of turning a current cow field into a state-of-the-art, multisport facility for the local community. These projects are providing real support for jobs right now, when it is needed for the community—but they are doing something else too. They are providing infrastructure that will deliver for our community into the long term. This is true of the $2 million which has been provided for upgraded lighting at the Bellerive Oval in Hobart and which will help to ensure that the oval remains a venue for One Day International and Twenty20 cricket matches—an outcome that is really very important for cricket and really very important for Tasmania. I know that my Tasmanian colleagues are looking forward to Australia taking on the West Indies under lights in their Twenty20 game in February.

Steven Ciobo (Moncrieff, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Small Business, Independent Contractors, Tourism and the Arts) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Numbers looking better, Julia? Numbers improving?

Kate Ellis (Adelaide, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Youth and Sport) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

But it is also true of the $36 million that this government is investing in the Gold Coast Stadium. This will ensure this significant project goes ahead and will support local jobs right across the Gold Coast. And I am not at all shocked to realise the member for Moncrieff is not listening, because the member for Moncrieff did not vote for this project. When you have a look at the data provided by the AFL you will be surprised to know that the member for Moncrieff did not vote for this project, because the data indicates that over a four-year period this project is expected to deliver over 2,200 full-time equivalent jobs each year and generate $415 million of economic activity.

But of course this is also very important for the long term for the Gold Coast, because we know that it will provide a home and a presence for the AFL on the Gold Coast on an ongoing basis and will also mean that the Gold Coast will be able to host significant sporting events in their upgraded stadium. So on this side of the House we are very proud to support this infrastructure, and we support it here in the parliament as well as out there in the communities. This investment in infrastructure is very good news for Australian sport, but it is also very good news for Australian communities and, importantly, for Australian jobs.