George Brandis (Queensland, Liberal Party, Minister for the Arts and Sport) Share this | Hansard source

As my distinguished colleague Senator Abetz pointed out, all of them were decisions supported by the Australian Labor Party when they voted for the budget. An integrated sports and aquatic centre in Lithgow will provide year-round sporting and aquatic facilities as well as social, health and sporting benefits for the entire community. The construction of the lighting towers will allow the Bathurst Rugby Union Club to host night games and will further Bathurst’s development as a sporting hub in the central west. It is important that on occasions, on a case-by-case basis, the Australian government makes contributions to the development of major sporting infrastructure. We have done so in capital cities with funding for facilities such as the Sydney Cricket Ground, the Adelaide Oval and, as the Prime Minister announced recently, a new Australian National Rugby Academy for Ballymore Park in Brisbane. It is the view of the government that, just as people who live in capital cities are entitled to investment in sporting infrastructure from the Australian government—