Steve Irons (Swan, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I want to record for the Hansard record this evening what transpired on a great day in my electorate of Swan: Saturday, 22 August. The Prime Minister, Tony Abbott, attended a stakeholders breakfast at Lathlain Oval, which was attended by the Perth Football Club, the West Coast Eagles, the Town of Victoria Park and others supporters of the Lathlain Park development project. It was he Prime Minister's fourth visit to Lathlain Oval in the time that he had been leader of the Liberal Party, and on each of his visits I had told him about a magnificent opportunity to develop the area. As a frequent visitor the Prime Minister was well known to those in attendance, and I place on the record my appreciation for the work he has done in my electorate. There was a keen sense of anticipation when the Prime Minister took to the podium and the excitement at the prospect of what he might say. He said the following:

Every time I come into the seat of Swan I come here to Lathlain Park because the redevelopment of this Park, the creation of something really special for the West Coast Eagles and for the wider community has been very much a part of your dream as the local member. This is a Government which very much believes in helping people who are having a go and the great thing about the proposed development here at Lathlain Park is that it is backed by a lot of people who are prepared to have a go. It's backed by the AFL, it's backed by the West Coast Eagles, it's backed by the TO VP, it's backed by the Wirrpanda Foundation, it will be backed by the State Government and I can say today that it will be backed by the Commonwealth Government to the tune of $10 million.

This sparked enthusiastic applause, and The Prime Minister then continued:

This has been a glint in your eye Steve since … 2010. I know this ground is a ground that'd been special to you and is still special to you because your son Jarrad plays here most weeks. And it's obviously going to be a continuing special place not just to the Perth Football Club but henceforth to the West Coast Eagles and all the other community groups that will be able to make the most of this area once this development goes ahead. There will be another oval here, there will be extensive community facilities here, there will be an SAS rehabilitation facility here, so yes it will be a great AFL facility, it will be a great sports facility but it will be an important facility for the whole community.

I then responded to the Prime Minister's words and I said the following:

Well, the Eagles have landed in Lathlain. Finally.

After 29 years of soaring everywhere around West Australia and a brief hiatus at Subiaco, they've finally found a home which will be here for at least the next 100 years. So congratulations and Prime Minister thank you and thank you to the Federal Government and the taxpayers for the $10 million which has been able to enable this facility and this project to go ahead. It was a long beaten path to the Prime Minister's Office over quite a few years but he listened, he heard and with his support for this project which is so important we were able to deliver the funding which will help get this project up and running and started.

So Trevor [Nisbett], the time we first talked about this back in 2009 it was a dream then but now it's an actual reality so it's fantastic.

The former PM would probably be the most popular West Coast Eagles man in Western Australia tonight, so he should take advantage of that. As I said, this was Tony's fourth visit to the site. I am actually very proud of what Tony does. He gets out in the community. To actually come to see this site and facility before he made the decision was a great fillip. It gave me and other people the opportunity to explain how important this site or development is to the community.

The government supported it because of the West Coast Eagles' focus on the community, and that is a very important part of this development. It was really important that Perth Football Club was not excluded from the focus of the redevelopment. All through the period of time I spoke with Trevor on this we made sure that Perth Football Club would not be left out in the cold. This was a fantastic day for my electorate and I look forward to continuing to update the House as the development gets underway.

Over the last four years many people have been involved in getting this funding together. I would like to thank the member for Brand, the member for Fremantle, the member for Maribyrnong and several other members from the opposite side who wrote to the Prime Minister in support of this development because it is such a great development for the community. Many aspects of this $65 million infrastructure redevelopment in a lower SES area in my electorate will give enormous benefit to the community. It will also house the Wirrpanda Foundation, which does extremely good work with young Indigenous people in my electorate and all parts of Western Australia. I thank Tony Abbott, the former Prime Minister, for making the decision to fund this community based development that will house the West Coast Eagles for the next 100 years. It has been a bonus to the community and my electorate. Once again I thank the former Prime Minister.