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

On Saturday morning the Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment visited my electorate of Swan. I took the minister to Lathlain Park to formally present the West Coast Eagles CEO and members with a cheque of $10 million in funding that I secured for the redevelopment of Lathlain Park, which is the traditional home of the mighty Perth Demons. This federal funding will go towards the construction of a new $65 million home for the West Coast Eagles, right in the heart of my electorate of Swan. The redevelopment has a focus on community use and supporting great organisations such as the SAS Trust and the Wirrpanda Foundation. It was a great opportunity to see how construction is going. I'm pleased to report that it's well underway and is due to be completed by this time next year.

I then took the minister to Perth's brand-new Optus Stadium to see the state-of-the-art infrastructure, which is already a major tourism attraction. Being the eve of the first Eagles' game at the stadium, the minister and I also caught up with Nic Naitanui and the team during their final pre-game training session. Although the Eagles weren't able to win against the Swans on Sunday I'm certain they have a bright future ahead, both at Lathlain Park and Optus Stadium.

Later that evening the minister took the first direct flight from Perth Airport, which is also in my electorate of Swan, on the QF9 Dreamliner straight to London. The 17-hour flight is the only direct flight from Australia to the UK and Europe, and is certain to boost WA's tourism. Already the bookings are showing that 70 per cent of the people who have booked are staying in Perth for an average of three days.