Richard Marles (Corio, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

It is with enormous pride that I rise tonight to support this year’s appropriation bills, being Appropriation Bill (No. 1) 2009-2010 and cognate bills. This year’s budget will be remembered as a budget which has provided a $22 billion boost to our nation’s infrastructure, a boost which will transform our roads, rail, ports and freight infrastructure. It will be a budget that is remembered for ushering in, for the first time, paid parental leave for Australian mothers, a measure long overdue and a measure which the Howard government failed to introduce in its 12 long years of government. It will also be remembered as a budget which has been framed in the most difficult of circumstances; circumstances which have seen $200 billion wiped off the government’s revenues by virtue of the global economic recession. Yet it will also be remembered as a budget which has formed the central piece of architecture around the Rudd government’s actions to support 210,000 jobs in this country, providing a bridge over the worst ravages of the global economic recession.

Budget week will be remembered as a week when we had a budget reply from the opposition which failed to provide any alternative fiscal strategy at all, which in these difficult times is nothing short of a disgrace. They have bleated about the issues of debt yet, on the night of the budget reply, the only proposition they put forward would have had a cost-neutral impact on what the government was putting forward. That can only lead us to conclude that, had the opposition been in the seat of government, they would have been giving rise to precisely the same levels of debt. They have certainly not provided any form of alternative strategy to pay that debt off one single day earlier.

There is one particular piece of Commonwealth expenditure within the budget, to be made in my electorate of Corio, that I principally want to focus on tonight. On 10 May this year, I had the great honour of announcing, with Anthony Byrne, the Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister, and Councillor John Mitchell, the Mayor of Geelong, a $3.1 million contribution, to come out of the Community Infrastructure Program, to a $6 million refurbishment of the Eastern Beach precinct in Geelong. The Eastern Beach precinct is located on the eastern shores of Corio Bay. The steep slopes which surround the Eastern Beach precinct and the north-fronting part of Corio Bay have been a natural gathering place for the citizens of Geelong since the very commencement of our city. It has been in continuous use in one form or another since the 1840s. It was in 1914 that it was first proposed that there be a development at Eastern Beach. Indeed, in September 1927 works commenced on a stairway up those slopes, which exists today, on the terraces and on dressing sheds. By 1939 a shark-proof enclosure, with its accompanying boardwalk, had been completed along with a children’s pool and it was opened in 1939 by the then mayor, Councillor Sol Jacobs. It was built at the cost of ₤40,000. It was stated at the time by the City of Geelong that it was an investment in Geelong’s future. What a wonderful legacy the foresight of our city leaders back in that time has left us in Geelong today.

What we have now is a semicircular boardwalk with a shark enclosure, which encompasses 8.5 acres of Corio Bay. At the apex of that semicircle is a diving tower and underneath that is a marked out 50-yard pool through boardwalks. There is a restaurant, a cafe, a children’s pool, a natural amphitheatre with lawns, picnic spaces and a children’s park. It is the work of one of Australia’s great architects and engineers, Harry Hare, and it is built in a wonderful art deco style. Since its construction it has been a focus of community activity in Geelong. The current mayor, John Mitchell, remembers how, during his teenage youth, he used the tower as a platform for performing for the young women of Geelong. I am reliably informed that back in those days our mayor had hair and, standing on the top of that platform in his swimming trucks, he must have been an imposing figure. My two elder sisters, Victoria and Jennifer, both learnt to swim in the children’s pool. It is where they obtained their Herald certificates under the tutelage of the legendary swimming teacher in Geelong, Herb Jeffrey. The Geelong Teachers College, which used to have as one of its requirements in order to graduate the accomplishment of a bronze star, did all of its bronze star training and testing at Eastern Beach.

Everyone in Geelong has memories of Eastern Beach and memories continue to be created right now. My four-year-old daughter, Bella, regards the children’s play park that is part of the Eastern Beach precinct as her favourite park. She affectionately refers to it as the ‘water park’. Since the Eastern Beach precinct was first opened in 1939, it has, for Geelong, been a centre of swimming, a centre of fitness activities, a centre of play and a centre for picnics. On hot days it is a mecca. There are thousands of Geelong citizens who use and enjoy the Eastern Beach precinct. It has been a place of major events within Geelong. To this day it hosts Carols by the Bay, which is hosted by Denis Walter.

It is the only survivor of the numerous sea baths that used to dot the shoreline of Port Phillip Bay. Its shark-proof enclosure, its boardwalk and the children’s pool are unique within Victoria. It is a wonderful, intact example of art deco architecture. It is also a wonderful example of the work of the architect and engineer Harry Hare. The refurbishment that is currently underway and being majority funded by the Commonwealth government will see a stabilising of the embankments, the reconstruction of sea walls, the rebuilding of the diving tower and the restoration of the children’s pool, which sadly is leaking considerably right now. There will be a replacement of the footpaths, a re-establishment of shade trees, an upgrading of lighting and an upgrading of street furniture. There have been previous refurbishments. There comes to mind the 1993 refurbishment of the boardwalk. There was a ‘buy a board’ campaign for the boardwalk, which now has the names of all of the benefactors who contributed to that refurbishment on plaques on each of the boards around the boardwalk. This is another wonderful reminder of Geelong’s legacy. But this will be the most significant refurbishment in the history of the Eastern Beach precinct and will restore it to a pristine state, which is a wonderful result for Geelong.

While the Eastern Beach precinct is central to the life of Geelong, in my view it is also an area that has national significance. Once completed, Eastern Beach will become one of the great public pools of Australia. It ranks up there with the sea pool at Bondi, with the North Sydney pool and with the newly constructed public pool in the town precinct of Cairns. This is a wonderful celebration of our nation’s love of the water and love of swimming, and that boardwalk is absolutely the icon of Geelong.

It is for that reason that tonight I am calling for the Eastern Beach precinct to be included on Australia’s National Heritage List. It is worth noting that there is currently no item or part of Geelong which forms part of the National Heritage List, which is a shame given the particular history that Geelong has had within our country. Geelong should have been the capital of Victoria but for some Melbourne shysters back in the 19th century who doctored a map which at that time showed Melbourne closer to the Ballarat goldfields than Geelong, which of course is not true. It was on the basis of that map that it was decided that development be placed in the port of Melbourne rather than in the port of Geelong. Unfortunately, that doctored map meant that Geelong was not then developed as the capital of Victoria and who knows—perhaps from there on in the aftermath of Federation—as our own nation’s capital. That, of course, is a separate story but a feeling dear to the heart of every red-blooded citizen of Geelong. But in telling that briefly the point is to emphasise how rich the cultural history is of Geelong.

When this country rode on the sheep’s back, Geelong was the wool capital of Australia. Most of the wool exports came through the port of Geelong. So there would be no greater fitting first entry for Geelong onto the National Heritage List than the Eastern Beach precinct. The National Heritage List criteria for something to be placed on the National Heritage List states that it must be a place that has:

… outstanding heritage value to the nation because of the place’s importance in the course, or pattern, of Australia’s natural or cultural history …

or:

… outstanding heritage value to the nation because of the place’s importance in exhibiting particular aesthetic characteristics valued by a community or cultural group …

or:

… outstanding heritage value to the nation because of the place’s strong or special association with a particular community or cultural group for social, cultural or spiritual reasons.

I do not think you could think of a better place which fits those three criteria under the National Heritage List than the Eastern Beach precinct.

Geelong is really defined by Corio Bay. Corio Bay is why Geelong exists and why we are where we are, and in many respects the Eastern Beach precinct defines the connection between the people of Geelong and Corio Bay. Tonight I spoke to the mayor of Geelong, that same mayor who stood proudly as a teenager on the tower at Eastern Beach. I am committed to working with the mayor in seeking that a nomination be put forward to place the Eastern Beach precinct on the National Heritage List.

I want to mention briefly two more measures in relation to the budget which have particular application to Geelong. One of the key themes of Geelong’s future is being a lifestyle city—and Eastern Beach precinct is an example of that—as a place where people live and work in the greater Port Phillip Bay metropolis. Part of ensuring that that objective is fulfilled comes through the transport connection that exists between Geelong and Melbourne. As part of that $22 billion investment in our nation’s infrastructure announced in the budget, $3.2 billion has been committed to providing for a 40-kilometre dual rail track west of Werribee into Melbourne’s Southern Cross Station. This will be a fantastic development for the people of Geelong, because it will separate the regional trains that come from places like Geelong and Ballarat from the metropolitan trains.

Every commuter on the regional train system, of which there are 16,000 commuters from Melbourne to Geelong, has had the experience of having quite a good run through to Werribee and then finding themselves stuck behind a suburban train for the remainder of the run into Southern Cross Station. This will mean that will no longer occur as there will be a dedicated track for country trains going straight into the heart of Melbourne. It translates into another 9,000 passengers being able to be carried along that route every hour; it translates into 20 extra services across six different lines which include Geelong; it will end the very frustrating delays which commuters have had to this point; and it absolutely improves that link between Geelong and Melbourne. In my first speech I talked about the significance of Geelong as a lifestyle city and the significance of Geelong as part of a greater Port Phillip Bay metropolis. But for that to be realised and for Geelong to evolve as an alternative economic centre within a greater Port Phillip Bay metropolis, key to it is the transport link between Geelong and Melbourne—and this is literally going to revolutionise that rail link. While it will also provide for significant job opportunities for people from both Melbourne and Geelong in the construction of this project, it will provide a wonderful legacy for the people of Geelong when it is ultimately concluded.

I note one final initiative that came out of the budget which had application to Geelong. In my first speech I talked about one of the future themes of Geelong being a national transport and logistics hub. In the north of Geelong we have located very close to each other the national rail gauge, highway No. 1, an airport in Avalon which we hope will become an international airport, and the sea port of Geelong. All of these are located within 1½ kilometres of each other with land around those areas. In a national context Geelong is in a strategic geographical location with Adelaide and Perth to our west and with Sydney and Brisbane to our north. There is every potential for that region to become one of the great transport and logistics pieces of land within Australia. But to make that occur we have to ensure that the connections are right; that is, the connections between rail and air, the connections between rail and sea, and the connections between road and sea.

One initiative which came out of the budget is a $50 million upgrade of the rail connection to the port at Geelong, which will provide immediate access both southbound and westbound along the rail gauge to the grain port within Geelong. It is a really important initiative. It is not the complete story in terms of providing all the connections but it is a very significant step down the path of completing all those connections between the various modes of transport. It goes a long way to furthering the credentials of Geelong as the premier transport and logistics hub within our country.

All of these initiatives give a snapshot of how the budget is impacting on local communities around our country. This budget is so important to the people of Geelong for the three measures I have mentioned before we talk about the way in which it is impacting on paid parental leave or the way in which it is impacting on increasing the payments to pensioners and so forth. The investment in infrastructure is going to be a shot in the arm for the people of Geelong and is an example of the way in which this budget is going to re-enliven regional Australia. To that extent, it is a budget which will go down in history and will be one that is remembered. This will be remembered as a time when Canberra became concerned again with regional Australia. I very much commend the government for this budget. I commend it to this House and it is a great honour for me to be able to speak in support of it.

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