Lucy Wicks (Robertson, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I am fighting to see a strong heart beat in the heart of the Central Coast—Gosford City. I am fighting for a business heart, so that businesses in Gosford can grow, thrive, compete, prosper and employ even more local people in more local jobs. I am fighting for an economic heart, so that instead of seeing shop windows boarded up we can see new businesses embed themselves into our city. I am fighting for an infrastructure heart, so that after decades of neglect we can see cranes in the sky over Gosford and new buildings we can be proud of 20 years from now. And I am absolutely fighting for a cultural heart. Gosford needs a cultural heart as much as it needs jobs, opportunity and innovation.

I have been fighting for these things and delivering on the commitments that we made in our growth plan for the Central Coast ever since I was elected. This includes 600 new jobs for Gosford—double our original commitment—in a purpose-built Commonwealth agency centre of excellence. It also includes a $7 million investment in a childcare and learning hub, known as Kibbleplex; safer local streets with more CCTV cameras; better local roads; working on a plan for a world-class medical research school and institute; and $10 million to upgrade Somersby Industrial Park.

I have also been fighting for funding for a performing arts centre, because Gosford needs a cultural heart. A cultural heart helps our economic heartbeat. An economic assessment provided by Gosford City Council and Regional Development Australia, as part of my formal support for this project, advises that the performing arts centre would create 146 jobs after construction and attract more than 123,000 visitors in its first year and more than 207,000 by its fifth year. This is estimated to deliver a net benefit for our region of approximately $85.6 million flowing from a performing arts centre.

At the last election the coalition said they would give consideration to funding this project, provided matched commitments from state and local governments are made. Since then I have been able to welcome the state government's funding commitment and Gosford City Council's continued support, while I continue to fight for the remainder of the funding on behalf of my community. Yet despite this, our cultural heart is in danger of having no heartbeat, as our civic leaders now seem unable to finalise a plan on where to build the performing arts centre in Gosford. This would be an iconic piece of civic infrastructure that Gosford has been crying out for for nearly 50 years—a 50-year fight, it would seem, by Gosford City Council to own a piece of land: the Gosford Public School site near the Gosford waterfront.

I actually found a reference to this history in an article in the old Gosford Star newspaper, from 1971. It reported that the council was seeking a transfer of ownership of the land from the New South Wales Department of Education to the council, while promising the community it would be used for civic purposes. More plans came and went, but then, some 40 years after that article was written—it is older than I am—the community had, it seemed, finally agreed to a plan. This was a plan that saw the council, who is the responsible authority to determine the location of a regional performing arts centre, move away from the proposal to build it on the public school site—land it did not own—and to a proposal to build it on adjacent land. That land was Gosford Memorial Park; land that the council is responsible for and land that it can, if it chooses to, build on.

But in recent days we have seen an announcement by Gosford City Council that it is no longer proceeding with the plan for the performing arts centre to be built on Memorial Park, now known more colloquially in the community as Poppy Park. In the same breath, councillors also ruled out putting it back on the school site—a decision it first made, it would seem, some four years ago. Back in March this year, when the state government announced its $12 million commitment, it looked like we finally had our house in order. With the council's own $12 million commitment, all that we needed was a commitment of $10 million from the federal government—a commitment I am fighting to deliver.

I can well understand the confusion expressed by my community at this recent decision. It breaks my heart to see the community tearing itself apart about a cultural heart that we all want to see beating, just because nobody can seem to agree on which piece of land to build it on. Community groups—ironically led by Labor and Greens representatives—are demanding it be built on the school site, with not one commitment by Labor MPs to buy the land from the state government to even enable this to happen. Now the New South Wales state government is saying their $12 million is tied to the Poppy Park site. Enough is enough. Today I call on the civic leaders of our community—council, state government representatives and the pre-eminent advocacy group for this building, Friends of the Performing Arts Precinct—to come together and agree on a plan. I again restate my own commitment to fight for a cultural heart for Gosford. Just as I have fought for an economic heart with 600 jobs, I will fight to ensure a cultural heart.