Andrew Southcott (Boothby, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Primary Healthcare) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I recently had the pleasure of attending the opening of the Marion Sports and Community Club extension. This was a project which the club committee had long had on the drawing board. One of my election commitments in 2007 was that a grant of $1 million be given to the club. This was matched by the Labor Party in 2007. Club Marion raised and spent an additional $2.1 million for the extension.

The club has been an important part of the community dating back to 1908 as the Sturt Recreation Reserve. It is an umbrella club which has 16 active sporting clubs: Marion Men's Bowling Club, Marion Tennis Club, two soccer clubs, the South Adelaide Basketball Club, Marion Swimming Club, Marion Cricket Club, Marion Football Club and many others.

I want to pay tribute to the chief executive, Terry Zajer, and the chairman, Darryl Gray, for the leadership they have shown in completing this facility. I also want to say that Club Marion does a lot for grassroots community sport in my electorate. I am very concerned about the proposal for mandatory pre-commitment, which Clubs SA estimate may impact on the revenue of their member clubs by 30 to 40 per cent. I, for one, will not be doing anything which will harm this important community club.