Wednesday, 2 April 2025

Commonwealth Games

Peter WALSH (Murray Plains) (09:51): Like all Victorians, I have been forced to put aside the Labor government’s lies about the $2.6 billion Commonwealth Games –

The SPEAKER: Order! I remind members about parliamentary language.

Peter WALSH: and the millions it is going to spend building much-needed regional sporting infrastructure. But I cannot put aside the almost $600 million those mistruths have cost us in helping Glasgow stage the Commonwealth Games in 2026, money straight off our bottom line and money adding to our already crippling debt – money which in my electorate alone would have paid for the new Swan Hill bridge and been more than enough to finish the Swan Hill hospital rebuild, and the would almost certainly have put a ring levee around Rochester hospital to defend it from the next flood. It would also have replaced the community’s pool, which has disappeared as a result of the last flood.

It is hard to look my constituents in the face day in, day out, and try to explain to them why the Labor government cannot repair our appalling roads, provide them with a roof over their head or have more medical services available and better schools. As Elton John sang, sorry is the hardest word to say. Perhaps the Premier should put that song on her playlist.