Wednesday, 5 February 2025

Eastern Victoria Region

Renee HEATH (Eastern Victoria) (14:06): My question is for the Minister for Outdoor Recreation. Minister, in a report Active Victoria 2022–2026 you wrote:

Now is the time to … secure the benefits of sport and active recreation, while we support the sector’s long-term recovery from the pandemic.

You talk of physical activity as a proactive factor in mental health and wellbeing. You even boasted of the benefits to regional Victoria from the cancellation of the Commonwealth Games. Then at a recent conference in December you spoke of the need for 500 new trained workers annually to meet the demand of outdoor education, yet a few weeks after that, a week before Christmas, the government cut funding to Halls Outdoor Education, a Gembrook-based provider of outdoor ed for nearly 30 years. The provider is the only provider of certificate III in outdoor leadership and ropes training in Victoria and New South Wales. Minister, why was this funding cut so close to Christmas despite its critical role in supporting youth training and regional jobs?