Paul Fletcher (Bradfield, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Government Services and the Digital Economy) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Lindfield Cricket Club and the Lindfield Rugby Club—and the junior rugby club—are very important institutions in the electorate of Bradfield, and both of them play at the oval at the Lindfield Soldiers Memorial Park on the corner of Tryon Road and Eastern Arterial Road. The clubhouse there, which is shared by the two clubs, was constructed in 1960, and I have to tell you, it's a little bit tired. It needs some improvement. It needs much better facilities for girls and women. There's been a dramatic increase, a very pleasing increase, in the number of girls and women playing both cricket and rugby, but the facilities are not up to the needs of the current club members.

The two clubs have done a lot of work to raise money to fund an upgrade. Just last Friday, I was very pleased to be with Gisele Kapterian, our hardworking Liberal candidate for Bradfield, along with Greg Cook, the president of the Linfield Cricket Club; Ben Dibden, who leads on special projects for the Lindfield Junior Rugby Club; and a number of others, to visit the clubhouse and the oval to announce that, if a Dutton government is elected, we would commit $1.5 million towards the redevelopment of the clubhouse. This is a very significant announcement.

The Ku-ring-gai Netball Association is another very important sporting institution in the electorate of Bradfield. There are some 11 clubs and over 5,000 members. They do such a great job making this wonderful sport accessible to every girl who wants to play, and there is a particular focus on attracting more girls of Chinese background and many other backgrounds because Bradfield is a highly multicultural electorate. There's a lot of work underway on plans to upgrade the facilities at the Canoon Road netball courts in South Turramurra, and just recently I was there with Gisele Kapterian, our hardworking Liberal candidate for Bradfield. Gisele was there to announce that, if a Dutton government were elected, we would commit $1 million towards 50 per cent of the cost of the upgrade of the courts and the facilities. There would be a new canteen and a redeveloped amenities block. There would be five courts that would be redeveloped for multisport use. It was great to be there with the President of the Ku-ring-gai Netball Association, Rod Jackson; the patron, Brenda Williams OAM, who's been such a stalwart; and so many others. It's great to see Gisele Kapterian, the hardworking Liberal candidate for Bradfield, getting around, identifying community needs and offering clear plans from a Dutton government. If a Dutton Liberal government is elected, there will be funding towards Lindfield District Cricket Club, Lindfield Rugby Club and Ku-ring-gai Netball Association, and Gisele Kapterian is working hard to deliver on that.