Luke Howarth (Petrie, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Defence Industry) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Deputy Speaker Claydon, congratulations on your position. My electorate of Petrie in Queensland is rich with sporting clubs, and I am proud of the sporting culture that exists within the Petrie community. I was recently invited to attend the North Lakes Blues Netball Club grand opening, and they officially unveiled their four new netball courts. Prior to this, North Lakes had no publicly available netball courts, and the club was forced to hire courts at a significant expense which was passed on to players.

The club's president, Samantha Malopito, and I met back in 2017. She told me that she had approached different levels of government, pleading with them to help the displaced club. I acted immediately and I was able to get a petition signed by all the players of the North Lakes Blues and their families, volunteers and coaches, and I was able to secure $1 million in federal funding from the coalition government.

I would also like to acknowledge Division 4 councillor Jodie Shipway, who was also very supportive and secured council funding. As well as Samantha Malopito and her family, I'd like to acknowledge the club's volunteer executive treasurer, Nicole George, who was brilliant at helping implement this funding through council, Secretary Jodie Kilian and Vice-President Sonia O'Brien for their instrumental advocacy. Stories like this are why the Albanese government must prioritise funding for community grants in their October budget or risk losing touch with the community. (Time expired)