Tuesday, 16 August 2022

Wonthaggi Gun Club

Ms BATH (Eastern Victoria) (19:43): (2047) My adjournment matter this evening is for the Minister for Community Sport in the other place. The Nationals candidate for Bass, Brett Tessari, and I visited on Sunday—a very wet and rainy day—the Wonthaggi Gun Club. It may have been raining outside, but in this 50-year-old and quite decrepit building there was a warm reception and a warm fire. The clay target club was established in 1950, and it currently has 120 members. It shoots every Thursday and has regular competitions. It is a fantastic club with a great ethos embracing diversity. Young people as young as 13 are mentored by senior players. There are women, and LGBTI members are also acknowledged and shoot at the club. However, the premises were built in the 1980s, and it is no longer fit for purpose. It is small and aged, there is one inadequate toilet and there was rain running down the internal wall where we sat by the fire.

It is impressive, the culture, the importance of it, the mentorship, the professionalism and the incredible safety record of the club. It has a vision for sustainability and growth, and it has comprehensively costed a brand new clubhouse, with plans submitted. It has male and female toilets and disabled toilets, large social spaces and a kitchen offering available for community functions into the future. It has a high energy rating, this new clubhouse that they are ready to build, and it has very good in-kind support. It was submitted in 2021 and has a 99-year lease, so the system is ready to go. Costed at only $300 000, it has applied for a sport and recreation grant. They are sitting on tenterhooks because by now it was supposed to have been announced. With wide support, Bass Coast shire, the Gippsland Sports Academy and the Australian and Victorian clay target shooting associations have also put their support behind this outcome.

The action I seek from the minister is to ensure that this very worthy grant is successful and to inform the club as soon as possible of their success. The club plans for enhancement also of the shooting facilities—these upgrades are the next stage—and they will also look at holding a number of shotgun sporting disciplines across training and hosting venues at an international standard. This is needed because many of the other smaller clubs are closing in our region, and this one has got a great membership base and a great future. We just need that grant to come through.