Madeleine King (Brand, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Ballarat has a wonderfully rich history built on the gold rush of the 19th century and all of the events associated with that period. Arguably, the most significant of those events is the Eureka Stockade. The site which is widely regarded as the location of the stockade battle is currently the home of the Museum of Australian Democracy at Eureka, MADE. MADE, which is owned by the city of Ballarat, not only commemorates the events of Eureka but also celebrates the significance of democracy in our world. In 2013, the site was redeveloped from what was the Ballarat Eureka Centre. This centre has focused more specifically on the events of Eureka and its links with democracy nationally and internationally. With funding of $5 million from the Victorian state government and the then Labor federal government, the place was expanded and redeveloped to become the more comprehensive centre we see today. It is now home to the original Eureka flag.

Sadly, the future of MADE is under a cloud, with the City of Ballarat having undertaken a feasibility study—a study that has not been made public. I understand that options raised for the centre's future range from closing it completely to significant funding cuts. I want to make it very clear that if the Ballarat City Council votes to cut MADE's funding or, worse, slowly withdraw its council funding altogether I will be campaigning against it. There will be many others across our community and beyond who will do likewise.

Council knows that there were many other projects back in 2013 that were competing for funding; the Ballarat Regional Soccer Facility was one. Ballarat City Council made the decision that receiving Commonwealth and state money for MADE was the priority for Ballarat city. In speaking to them at the time, I made it very clear I would support the bid but that I did not want to be back there years later with the council saying that they no longer wanted to commit funding to the centre. This was a council decision. It would be very disappointing to see the conservative-dominated council, one that has unfortunately operated, at times, in a very partisan manner—something that does our city a great disservice—not honour that decision.

The city of Ballarat and we as its residents are the custodians of an extraordinary history. The city of Ballarat has been trying to divest itself of various versions of the Eureka Centre for many years. After having lobbied me, the council secured funding under a Labor government of $5 million and a further $5 million from the state. If they vote tomorrow night to abandon their commitment to MADE, it makes it very hard to treat future funding requests seriously. It will be a breach of faith with me and something I strongly caution counsellors against. We have to save the Eureka Centre.