Justine Elliot (Richmond, Australian Labor Party, Parliamentary Secretary for Trade) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I am pleased to be able to talk about a wonderful event in my electorate. On Saturday, 24 November, we will have the official opening of the Murwillumbah Community Centre. This will be a great community day that we are all very excited about.

The federal Labor government delivered $2 million towards this $3.1 million project, so I am very proud, as the local MP, to have delivered that funding and to be opening this outstanding centre. It is replacing a very small centre that has been there for a long time, and I would like to congratulate everyone in the community who worked very hard to make this project a reality. It has been thought about and spoken about for many years, and it is certainly needed in the area.

Prior to the last federal election, in August 2010, the then Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government, Mr Anthony Albanese, and I made the announcement on the site of the very old community centre that if the Gillard Labor government was re-elected we would be delivering $1.5 million in funding. We delivered on that election commitment, and we also delivered an extra half a million dollars through the Regional and Local Community Infrastructure Program, so a total of $2 million from the federal Labor government for this outstanding project. As I said, we announced that in August 2010. We turned the first sod in November 2011. That was a great occasion as well. The community centre provides space for a large number of offices and a whole host of different activity rooms. It is a major centre where they can provide a whole host of services to the community. There is also going to be a youth centre. I understand it will be incorporated as well. As I said, it will be located on the site of the current centre, which is very small.

When I look to the funding breakdown, I would like to acknowledge a major community contribution as well. The Lions Club of Murwillumbah have contributed $300,000 towards the project, which is an outstanding contribution. They, along with many other members of the community, were very much involved in making sure that this community centre became a reality. I would also like to congratulate the Tweed Shire Council, which has been very committed to this for a long time and is contributing more than $600,000 for the project. It is an outstanding community centre for the area that will provide much-needed services right across Murwillumbah and right throughout the Tweed Valley. I particularly congratulate everyone in the community who is involved with it, particularly the management committee of the community centre. They have been very much involved in advocating for the new centre and the design of it and making sure that the services there are wide-ranging. Congratulations to them and to the entire community, who have worked incredibly hard for many years. As I said, I am very proud as the local MP, to deliver $2 million towards this—part of the $1.3 billion that I have delivered for delivered roads, education, health and community infrastructure—and we all look forward to a great community day on Saturday, 24 November as we officially open the Murwillumbah Community Centre.