Wednesday, 31 July 2024

Bills

State Sporting Legislation Amendment Bill 2024

Second reading

Debate resumed on motion of Steve Dimopoulos:

That this bill be now read a second time.

Sam HIBBINS (Prahran) (18:32): I rise to speak briefly on behalf of the Victorian Greens in relation to the State Sporting Legislation Amendment Bill 2024. This is a bill that proposes to make various governance changes to sports boards, sports trusts, venues, grants, leases at major sporting venues and the appointment of people to the various boards. It includes changes to a number of acts, including the Kardinia Park Stadium Act 2016, the Melbourne and Olympic Parks Act 1985, the Melbourne Cricket Ground Act 2009, the Professional Boxing and Combat Sports Act 1985 and the State Sport Centres Act 1994 as well as the ANZAC Day Act 1958, and it removes gendered language across a number of acts.

The one aspect of this bill that we did take a keen interest in was that the legislation proposed to repeal the requirement for Kardinia Park and the State Netball Hockey Centre advisory committees to be constituted under legislation, with the understanding that they would operate as advisory bodies under ministerial direction. Overall, broadly, we are supportive of the changes in the bill, but we did hold concerns around the proposal to dissolve or to no longer have the advisory committees in legislation ‍– to repeal their establishing provisions. This comes on the back of some recent legislation by government to abolish legislated advisory committees. We had the Estate Agents, Residential Tenancies and Other Acts Amendment (Funding) Bill 2024 just recently, which sought to abolish the Public Records Advisory Council and replace them with an as yet unknown process.

I appreciate the government has indicated to us and to members of those committees that they do intend to retain those advisory committees, it is just that the main reason for the changes here – to no longer have them in legislation – is to reduce the administrative load in actually appointing members, and that can actually be a barrier to appointing members to those committees. Because the committees are currently established by law, members are required to be appointed by and to submit resignations to the Minister for Tourism, Sport and Major Events, which involves a number of checks and paperwork and what have you. As I said, the government have advised us that they intend that the advisory committees will remain operational and that there will be no change in the powers or the existence of the committees and that they will continue to meet as required.

We do really support the retention of advisory committees. They provide crucial oversight and are essential to upholding the principles of open governance, in preserving the integrity of our democracy and in making sure that governments do actually engage with citizens. We are in consultation with a number of groups who use both these sites and who have members on both advisory committees. Some have raised concerns with us, including the possible replacement structures, assurances of the ongoing working groups remaining in place to allow for appropriate collaboration and operation of Kardinia Park – and their general concerns were raised with the Kardinia Park advisory committee – ensuring that the voices of existing stakeholders within the Kardinia Park precinct can be heard. We are still consulting with the users of those sites and will continue to engage with them, but we will not be opposing the bill in the lower house. We will continue to engage with those users as the bill moves towards the upper house. That deals with the main content of the bill.

Whilst I am speaking more broadly on the issues of sport in Victoria, I will just raise two issues: number one is that I think this bill is a real demonstration of the level of involvement, and of course we all know the level of funding that goes towards major sporting stadiums here in Victoria. I think particularly Kardinia Park is a very well looked after stadium. I am a Bombers fan, so I probably cannot speak too much about the footy, but significant funding is going towards supporting Kardinia Park in Geelong, and significant funding is going towards the MCG and towards Marvel Stadium as well.

Again I would raise an issue that I have been raising in here for many, many years now. It has been announced, I think, that there are now more Australians signed up as AFL club members than ever before, no doubt a significant number of them being Victorians, yet when it comes to grand final day around a third – just a third, just one in three – of attendees at the grand final are actually club members. Only a third of tickets are allocated to club members. They are encouraged every single year to stump up and support their team, yet when it comes to them making the grand final they are missing out; they are missing out to corporates and to people who are paying for those thousand-dollar package deals. It is outrageous. Not only do the Victorian public support their footy teams, they stump up through their governments to build stadiums to support footy.

As I have raised before, under the legislation that governs ticketing to major events it is the government that signs off on the ticketing allocation for the AFL Grand Final. It is well within the minister’s remit to ensure that when ticket allocations are signed off on they actually allocate more tickets to competing club members. That is well within the government’s remit. Some years ago I actually moved a private members bill to ensure that there would be an increased level of tickets allocated to AFL club members. I would urge the government to make sure that it is standing on the side of club members when it comes to grand final day and not let so many tickets be siphoned off to corporates.

In addition to that, I also acknowledge the construction work that is happening at Toorak Park, right on the other side of the road from my electorate, but of course home to the fantastic Prahran footy club and Prahran Cricket Club as well. I acknowledge both the Stonnington City Council and the state government for funding that project. I walk past it just about every day, whether it is on my way to Toorak station when I am catching the train to Parliament or when I am going for a jog around Toorak Park. I know both the footy club and the cricket club are very eager to move back in once the construction is complete, but it is looking absolutely fantastic.

On that note I will wrap it up there, but we will continue to engage with the users of both the state sporting centres and of Kardinia Park in the lead-up to the bill going to the upper house.

Juliana ADDISON (Wendouree) (18:40): I too am very pleased to contribute to the debate today in support of the State Sporting Legislation Amendment Bill 2024. I would like to recognise the great work of our Minister for Tourism, Sport and Major Events – also known as the portfolio for fun – and his ministerial office and the department for bringing this bill to the house, which really does tidy up a lot of things. Also there is a gender equality aspect of it, which I am very interested in. As always, consultation is incredibly important. As good governments do, we have consulted with a range of relevant organisations throughout the process of this amending bill, including government bodies, sporting trusts and committees, and I thank them all for their contributions. This bill puts forward a variety of administrative improvements for the management of many of our state sporting institutions, so the involvement of the organisations themselves is critical. It is because of these incredible sporting institutions that Victoria really is the sporting and major events capital of Australia.

From the Australian Open to the grand prix to the grand final, sporting events are central to the Victorian calendar, as proven by ever-impressive attendance figures. We really do make sure we have got events at the start of the year, we have got events at Easter and we have got events in September. It is really so important for the economy and to drive visitation that we continually have these incredible events. When we talk about driving the Victorian economy, the actual impact on the economy is to the tune of $3.3 billion annually and over 15,000 jobs. This is really, really significant when it comes to jobs in Victoria as well as being an economic driver.

Certainly Ballarat is no exception. I am incredibly proud of everything we do in Ballarat when we put on events. We are looking forward to hosting the Western Bulldogs again, one of the highlights for me. We talked about club membership. I am a member of two clubs. I am a Geelong Cat, and I have a Ballarat Western Bulldogs membership as well, so I have two memberships. That is how much I support my electorate. We are delivering in the electorate of Wendouree.

I want to make mention of the Ballarat sports package, which is delivering more world-class sporting facilities for elite and grassroots players alike. The Allan Labor government is delivering an additional 5000 new permanent seats at Mars Stadium and building a brand new athletics track next door at the old Ballarat Showgrounds site. We are continuing our commitment to Selkirk Stadium, the home of basketball in Ballarat, with upgrades to courts, lighting and broadcasting, with both locations receiving accessibility improvements. We want everyone to be able to enjoy watching all-star football and all-star basketball, and accessibility is really important.

Talking all things basketball, I want to wish the Ballarat Miners teams all the best for this week’s prelim finals. As the proud number one ticketholder for the Ballarat Miners women’s team I am strongly supporting our women in their game against the Keilor Thunder on Saturday night. We are playing away from home. As well, our men’s team are taking on the Sandringham Sabres. I have already got a bet with the member for Sandringham over who is going to bring home the win, so ‘Go Miners’ I say, and I look forward to getting that drink off the member for Sandringham.

But it does not just stop there in terms of the Ballarat package. There is so much investment going on in sport across my electorate. Through the council support package we are delivering for Ballarat North a $5 million upgrade to the Frank Bourke Oval, with new clubrooms and new facilities at Ballarat North at the number 2 oval. It is great news for the North Ballarat Football and Netball Club and the North Ballarat Cricket Club. One of my favourite election commitments is $8.4 million for the Marty Busch Reserve in Sebastopol for huge upgrades. When we are talking about state sport we are not just talking about Melbourne, we are talking about state sport, and Ballarat loves its sport. I am so pleased that we are doing great things.

Just one final thing: we just announced two weeks ago $1 million for the Ballarat Aquatic & Lifestyle Centre for new change rooms and new supports for people with disabilities to be able to use the pool. I could not be prouder of what we are doing in working with the City of Ballarat to ensure that recreational facilities are open to all. Then we have got the Get Active Kids budget, but I am going to get back to this very important issue of gender equality in sport and what that means, because we have done stuff with Change Our Game. We have got $18 million invested in increasing women’s board representation.

But back to the bill, the bill before us proposes a number of amendments to a variety of acts, including the Melbourne and Olympic Parks Act 1985, relating to the National Tennis Centre and Olympic Park; the State Sport Centres Act 1994, concerning the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre, the State Netball and Hockey Centre, Lakeside oval and the Knox Regional Sports Park; and the Melbourne Cricket Ground Act 2009, which guides administration of the G; and of course the Kardinia Park Stadium Act 2016 and my beloved Kardinia Park, home of the mighty Geelong Cats – as our song says, ‘down at Kardinia Park’. Further administrative and statutory amendments to change the Professional Boxing and Combat Sports Act 1985 and the ANZAC Day Act 1958 are also included.

Many of the changes proposed across these acts have similar goals in order to support consistency of governance in major sporting institutions and also regarding ministerial delegation, so it is really tidying things up to make sure that they are reflective of what we need in the 21st century. For example, several amendments concerning the Kardinia Park Stadium Act, the State Sport Centres Act and the Melbourne and Olympic Parks Act will facilitate the delegation of lease approvals by the minister to the department. This does not have to be managed by a minister. The minister will remain responsible for major leases which concern an entire precinct or which include 21-plus-year terms, while minor leases within these precincts can be considered at a more appropriate level. The bill also removes the need for approval from the Minister for Environment, of all people, for leases concerning Melbourne and Olympic Park, although the holder of that portfolio will oversee the leases at Gosch’s Paddock, where the Magpies train. Other specific decision-making processes can be delegated – namely, the MCG floodlight determinations and the Kardinia Park event management declarations – to allow for a reasonable degree of flexibility for staging events at such iconic locations. When we talk about the managing of these things, we know it is so important.

This legislation will also improve the administration of managing bodies across these various sporting grounds. The maximum membership of the MCG Trust and the State Sport Centres Trust will be expanded by one and four members respectively. This change will allow the trusts to further incorporate broader skill sets and maintain the personnel necessary to meet their responsibilities.

We all know that the MCG is iconic. It is our Colosseum – the home of AFL grand finals, the Boxing Day test, the 1956 Olympics, the 2006 Commonwealth Games and the Taylor Swift Eras tour. It is a national treasure for all Victorians, and that is why the MCG Trust is so important. I want to acknowledge former Premier and fellow Ballaratian the Honourable Steve Bracks AC, who does a great job of chairing the MCG Trust, as well as some former trust board members, including my friend the amazing Belinda Duarte AM. Belinda is a proud First Nations woman who grew up in Wendouree and who served as a board member of the MCG trust for five years, and I particularly want to acknowledge the important contribution Belinda has made to the reconciliation action plan advisory group of the MCG Trust. One of the reasons I did want to speak on this bill was to have the opportunity to acknowledge former Senator Linda White, who died earlier this year, who served as a board member of the Melbourne Cricket Ground Trust from 2017 to 2022 prior to becoming a Labor senator for Victoria in the federal Parliament. I had the great honour of attending her memorial service. One of the key things that kept coming up in the wonderful speeches about Linda and her life was her love of the MCG, and we really celebrated the important work that she did with the MCG Trust.

In the closing moments I will just say that we have got some other important amendments regarding governing and alterations to vacancy procedures for some of the trusts, including Kardinia Park again as well as the Professional Boxing and Combat Sports Board, and we will introduce ministerial discretion regarding the appointment of Tennis Australia and Tennis Victoria members to ensure that the candidates are suitable for their positions, and remuneration will also now be permitted in line with other memberships of the trusts. In concluding, I welcome the introduction of the State Sporting Legislation Amendment Bill 2024, and I commend the bill to the house.

Jess WILSON (Kew) (18:50): I too rise to speak on the State Sporting Legislation Amendment Bill 2024, a bill that has been introduced by the government to largely put in place a number of administrative changes, particularly to amend the ANZAC Day Act 1958 to change the description of an area in which sports are held on Anzac Day, and also a series of changes made to the Kardinia Park Stadium Act 2016, the Melbourne and Olympic Parks Act 1985, the Melbourne Cricket Ground Act ‍2009 and the State Sport Centres Act 1994 in relation to trust membership, leasing powers and other miscellaneous amendments. It is a very exciting piece of legislation, but I think what is more exciting at the moment is the fact that we are celebrating sport more broadly with the Olympics in Paris. I am sure many of us are waking up early in the morning to see the results coming back home: the gold, silver and bronze medallists making Australians very, very proud.

Like our Olympians are making us proud, in the electorate of Kew we have so many wonderful sporting organisations and clubs that are so much part of the fabric of our community. We are not only a place where we have so many schools – more than 30 schools – but also a place where sporting communities are in constant connection with the local community, making sure that they are working to enhance our local community and working to provide that broader input that sporting clubs can provide.

I thought, given the fact that we are celebrating sport at the moment and speaking about the State Sporting Legislation Amendment Bill, I would talk about some of the wonderful clubs we do have in the electorate of Kew. Where to start? It is still footy season, and the Kew Rovers are run by their president Nathan and their fantastic team with Allison and Bec. The Kew Rovers are the home of the Daicos boys, Josh and Nick. Being a Collingwood supporter, it is terrific to have them reigning from the electorate of Kew, and they were down at the club a couple of weeks ago with Steele Sidebottom talking to the young kids about the importance of community sport, getting involved and working hard to excel in football. It is very much a family club; it is a community-focused club. Just recently I went to their event about fighting MND, the Big Freeze, raising money for that important cause, and that says so much about the Kew Rovers and the committee there, a parent-run committee. It is also the club of Andrew Dillon, the CEO of the AFL, so it has a very proud record when it comes to contributing to AFL more broadly here in Victoria.

Of course the Kew Comets are neighbouring, with a rivalry between the Kew Rovers and the Kew Comets. The Kew Comets, based at Victoria Park, have a big focus, like the Rovers, on growing their female teams and increasing that female participation, and it was great to get down to an under-11 girls game not too long ago. The senior club the Kew Bears works with the Rovers and the Comets to make sure that those junior players can come through into a senior club, and congratulations to Michael Cochrane and his team at the Kew Bears, who also put a lot of effort into giving back to the community. Just recently I went to a luncheon there that was supporting the Breast Cancer Network Australia and raising funds for that important cause.

The Balwyn Tigers is not only a junior club but a senior club, and congratulations to David Fileccia and his team at the Balwyn Tigers, who over the past few years have worked incredibly hard to merge a number of junior clubs – the Boroondara Hawks, the Greythorn Jets and the Balwyn Tigers – to make sure that those clubs can come together and actually ensure that young players who start off in the under-8s and the under-9s can continue all the way through to the under-18s before going on to the senior team and do not have to change clubs. As we know, so many local sporting clubs have parent-run and volunteer-run committees, and they put so much effort into making sure these clubs are successful and that kids in particular, young people in particular, can get the most out of those clubs. David and his team, Fiona and others, at the Balwyn Tigers do that every single day, and last year it was terrific to follow the under-14 girls team through the season. They put an amazing amount of effort into making sure that they were the reigning premiers once again. Three years in a row they have been reigning premiers, the under-14 girls, and they are hoping for another premiership this year.

Turning to the upcoming cricket season, we have of course the Deepdene Uniting Cricket Club and the Deepdene Bears. Deepdene is probably the smallest suburb in the state of Victoria. But they do have two cricket clubs, and the rivalry there is fierce. Congratulations to both of those clubs on always looking to grow and expand to include more female players and grow their female teams. A shout-out to James Lindsay at the Deepdene Bears, who puts a lot of effort into making sure it is an inclusive club for everyone.

The North Balwyn Cricket Club, the Bulls, with Matt and John, is another club that is focused on supporting the local community through the Pink Stumps Day lunch and making sure they are supporting the Breast Cancer Network Australia as well. At the Koonung Heights Cricket Club with Juliette, Warren and Theo there is a huge focus on the women’s team. It was terrific to get out there last year and open the gala day for their women’s section, growing not only the senior team but the junior team as well. The Kew Cricket Club had great success last year, with their first XI being the reigning premiers.

Gavin Collopy and his team at the Balwyn Saints and Blasters Cricket Club are a club that has really grown in recent years in terms of its junior development, and it is very much focused on bringing those juniors right through to the senior club. It is one of the oldest clubs in our area and has a fierce rivalry with the North Balwyn Cricket Club. I heard from some others on the government side about the investments made in local sporting clubs. Well, if there is a club that would look to see some investment in their local facilities, it is Balwyn Saints and Blasters down at Myrtle Park, making sure that those facilities are actually provided for young female players and that the change rooms have the facilities that those players need to get involved in the club.

The North Balwyn Baseball Club, the Stingers, share facilities with the Balwyn Saints and Blasters down at Myrtle Park. Matt St Onge is a passionate baseball player and has invited me down a number of times to deliver the first pitch, which has been successful and not successful on different occasions, depending on how far I can make it. But it is a very active club, and last year the women’s team, the Hornets, saw a premiership come their way through their hard work. It is a club that really brings people in from many different areas.

Of course there are the local soccer clubs in our area. The Boroondara Eagles, thanks to Chris, Marina and Manny and all of their work, is a huge club that is only growing in size as soccer continues to grow as a sport, particularly after the success of the Matildas over the past couple of years and the growth of female soccer. The East Kew Football Club with Vange down at Willsmere Park is another great local club that is really focused on providing the opportunity for younger players to get involved in soccer and work with the local school community as well to build that out as a sport.

The Boroondara Netball Association under the leadership of Sue is a place on Saturday morning where there are thousands of young people coming in and out of that venue, and parking can be an absolute nightmare. But to Sue and Kirrily, who is always on the barbecue, it is wonderful to see the netball club continue to go from strength to strength. A huge amount of work goes into that as well. I know Sue’s passion for growing netball, and making sure that local schools are connected to it is very, very important to her as well.

The North Balwyn Bowls Club, with Peter O’Brien and his team there, is a club that continues to grow. It was great to have them in at the Parliament a couple of weeks ago, have a game here on the bowls green and have an opportunity to take them to lunch and enjoy the Parliament. Thank you to Peter for all that he does.

It would be remiss of me not to mention the Kew Box Hill Hockey Club, my own hockey club. I have not been playing this season unfortunately, but I hope to get back on the pitch next year. To the girls there – to Amanda Harper, who does so much work to bring that team together every single week, a dear friend – I am very much hoping that the girls have a good season and I can get back out on the pitch soon.

Finally, a huge congratulations to Susannah Lutze, a Surrey Hills resident in my electorate, who is heading to Paris any day now for the Paralympics. Susannah is a young girl who went to Genazzano who is heading across to the rowing at the Paralympics and is very much excited and thrilled about the opportunity ahead.

Business interrupted under sessional orders.