Thursday, 18 May 2023

Boxing Day test

Sam GROTH (Nepean) (14:30): My question is to the Minister for Tourism, Sport and Major Events. Will the government commit to securing a long-term agreement to keep the iconic Boxing Day test at the MCG?

Steve DIMOPOULOS (Oakleigh – Minister for Tourism, Sport and Major Events, Minister for Creative Industries) (14:31): I thank the member for his question. It is the first question I think I have had from the member.

Members interjecting.

The SPEAKER: Order! I am having trouble hearing the minister.

Steve DIMOPOULOS: I have got to say that the best test deserves the best ground, and it is very, very clear to everybody in the cricket fraternity in this country and globally that the best ground for cricket is the MCG. We will continue to work with the MCG Trust, the MCC and Cricket Australia to –

Daniel Andrews: We’re not negotiating on the floor of Parliament.

Steve DIMOPOULOS: Exactly right. We will continue to work with them. I have got to say I appreciate the member had to ask the question.

Jacinta Allan: Why?

Steve DIMOPOULOS: Because there is a relevance deprivation syndrome, not necessarily from the member but from the opposition –

The SPEAKER: Minister, through the Chair.

Steve DIMOPOULOS: Thank you, Speaker. When you run such a compelling major events agenda as this government does, the other side of politics sometimes may feel that they are not landing some blows. But I have got to say to them: when you take a government that invests $1 billion over 10 years in the Olympic Park precinct – $1 billion – and when you have the best sporting facilities situated in the CBD accessible by public transport –

James Newbury: On a point of order, Speaker, on relevance, will the government commit to a long-term agreement to keep the Boxing Day test? Full stop.

The SPEAKER: The minister was being relevant to the question. I remind the Manager of Opposition Business that a point of order is not an opportunity to repeat the question.

Steve DIMOPOULOS: What I will not do is flag our negotiating position on anything on the floor of the Parliament and in the media. The reason we are so good at what we do is not just the infrastructure and not just the sport- and culture-loving community, it is because we have the best negotiating position. And the evidence is incredible. We have secured two global events for decades – the Australian Open and the grand prix. We are the only city in the world to have both. We have secured them for decades. Add to that that we have secured the grand final until 2059. Those three iconic events in themselves are worth a mint to the economy and a mint to the cultural capital of this nation.

Daniel Andrews interjected.

Steve DIMOPOULOS: That is exactly right. We are not going to do negotiations in the media. We have good strategic partners. We speak to licence holders all the time about content, but they also know we have some of the best infrastructure in Australia right here, in fact globally right here. Can I just give you one example? The reason the Australian Open this year was the best attended event of all the opens was because of the infrastructure, was because of its location –

Sam Groth: On a point of order, Speaker, on relevance, this was a one-sentence-long question about a specific event, not about everything else that is going on in the state, and I ask you to bring the minister back to the question.

Members interjecting.

The SPEAKER: Order! Premier! I cannot tell the minister how to answer your question. The minister was being relevant.

Steve DIMOPOULOS: My one-sentence answer to the member is: the Boxing Day test has been at the MCG for decades. We will continue to work with licence holders. But I will say to him one thing: look at our record, which is the envy of the world. Look at our record and then tell me you have any doubt.

Sam GROTH (Nepean) (14:35): The Boxing Day test adds around $100 million in value to the Victorian economy. Will this government’s financial mismanagement put at risk this and other major events that are worth hundreds of millions of dollars to cashed-up states like Western Australia and South Australia?

Steve DIMOPOULOS (Oakleigh – Minister for Tourism, Sport and Major Events, Minister for Creative Industries) (14:36): The member may have missed that over summer the top 10 best attended events in Australia were all in Victoria. The best attended grand prix of the entire circuit of 23 grand prix around the world was in Melbourne. The best attended tennis open – again this year, this is just a few months ago – of all the four tennis opens around the world was in Melbourne. At the Anzac Day match the other day there were 95,000 people. The MCG for the footy has been regularly in excess of 70,000 or 80,000 patrons. We are not at risk of any of the Chicken Little situations that the member for Nepean is on about. This is an economic boon. We do it well, and we will continue to do it well.