Rebekha Sharkie (Mayo, Centre Alliance) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the Raise our Voice Australia campaign and to share with you what Eden from my community had to say:

My name is Eden, I'm 16 years old and I live in the Mayo electorate. I live in a regional area and sport is a big part of our community, yet we don't have the correct facilities to use for our sports. For example, the basketball seasons are held in the gym of the public school on only one court. This means that some people don't go home until 9.15 pm on some weeknights. The idea of a new stadium has been proposed several times, but nothing has ever actually gone ahead. Strathalbyn is a growing town, and more people are playing sports—especially young people—with not enough space to fit them all. I know a lot of people that have moved to a different club because that club had more resources and a better training capacity. In ten years, I want my community to still have sport as a way to bring people together and to have the resources to facilitate that. If Strathalbyn could access funding and get support to build a new multi-sport stadium, it would benefit everyone, regardless of which sport they play.

Eden, I agree with you wholeheartedly. I have met with council. It will need all three levels of government to make this work. I am here fighting for you to make sure we can get a new sporting facility for Strathalbyn.