Kelly O'Dwyer (Higgins, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Sport and athletics hold a special place in Australian society. Participation in sport and the fostering of sporting ability in our children is something we pride ourselves on. All of our sporting heroes, from cricket to AFL, to our Olympic athletes, have succeeded because they have access to world-class facilities from a young age.

Open space is at a premium in my electorate of Higgins. Open space and great sporting facilities go hand in hand. Unfortunately, there are no significant athletics facilities available in the Stonnington and Boroondara areas for local sporting groups and schools to hold athletic meets and competitions. The Camberwell Malvern Little Athletics Centre, under John Michelmore’s leadership, has been advocating for a synthetic athletics track for its 400 club members and for the 80 or so schools in the area. The club has argued that the region is losing young athletes because they are forced to travel to more appropriate training facilities a long way from where the club is based.

With no appropriate training facilities nearby, schools and sporting clubs are forced to hold athletics carnivals and training at purpose-built tracks at Box Hill, Doncaster, Nunawading, Collingwood and Olympic Park. The closest athletics track to the Ashburton, Prahran and Malvern areas is the St Stephens Harriers Athletic Club in Mount Waverley and Olympic Park in Melbourne. The Camberwell Malvern Little Athletics Club uses the Nunawading Little Athletics Centre off the Burwood Highway in Burwood East. Next week I am launching a petition on my website to address this local issue. I encourage the people of Higgins to have their say.