Matt Gregg (Deakin, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

When I first ran for parliament in 2022, I quickly got used to all sorts of requests being made, all good ideas. As someone who became interested in politics wanting to make the community a better place, I loved all the ideas, but the reality is that not all can be funded. The hard decision is: which do we choose? Which can we support? Which are the really good ideas, and what needs to be given priority?

In 2022, one idea stood out to me. Croydon Primary School was calling for a gym not only to support their wonderful student community during the day but also as a piece of essential infrastructure after-hours to help engage what we found to be a bit of a disengaged group of youth in the area, hanging around in shopping centres and getting into a bit of mischief. We needed a hub. We needed a piece of infrastructure through which we could run programs to engage these young people, and I'm so proud that we finally have it.

The Principal of Croydon Primary School, Julie Gilbert, was a fierce advocate for this proposal from day 1, and she made an incredibly convincing case. As a teacher, I could see the massive difference it would make to the school community and to the community more broadly. I was thrilled to announce back in 2022 that the government would build a gym if the Albanese Labor government were elected, and I think it's fair to say the school community was pretty excited at the time.

Of course, history tells us that I did not win the 2022 election, but I'm pleased to say that the Albanese government honoured its promise nevertheless. I was still thrilled to be driving past Croydon Primary School being built over the years. It was always a thrill to see it begin, and one of my first stops after being elected was to see the work being done on the primary school gym which was under construction, which I was able to do with my friend the Minister for Education, the honourable Jason Clare. It was amazing to see it coming to life, and, only just a few weeks ago, even more thrilling to join the Minister for Education once again and walk into a brand new gym, seeing the faces of the excited staff and students at the school who were absolutely thrilled with their magnificent new facility.

I am not a crying person. Those who know me would say that. But I can say that I did shed a tear that day because what it meant to those young people and to those parents was jaw-dropping. This was a significant investment in their futures. It showed that our community cared about them and was invested in their future. It showed that were listening to community leaders who were begging for the infrastructure to run these programs as well. They had the plans, they had the ideas, they had the grassroots engagement, support and volunteers, but they just needed a space. Finally, we were able to open up a first class location for this wonderful community to continue with their important work.

The students were so excited and, I have to admit, encouraged by the Minister for Education, to test the acoustics of this fantastic new facility. I'm pleased to say that the windows were able to withstand that pressure of that uniquely high-pitched screaming you get from someone around the age of six or seven. It certainly tested the limits of my own ears, but it was just a thrilling moment with such powerful energy in the room. After the assembly, Principal Gilbert took us for a more thorough tour, and it was amazing to see how genuinely proud and thrilled she was of the new fantastic facility—just beaming the entire time. And she was right to be proud because she had engaged in long-term advocacy for years and years and years. This was a discussion we were having back in 2021. It was a long-held plan. It seemed like mission impossible, and to see a project like that come to life is so thrilling.

It also showed the power of a community neighbourhood public school as a hub for community resources. This is a perfectly located facility, right over the road from the shopping centre where we often see young people hanging around and causing a little bit of concern. But it actually provides us with an opportunity to run programs that engage them in sporting and pro-social activities, to actually intervene and make a difference to their lives while addressing concerns in our community as well. It's win, win, win, win—and that is ideal when we invest in a piece of infrastructure. It's great to see that, when we invest in schools, we're also investing in the community more broadly, and the benefits of this facility are going to be massive.

We had representatives of the Chin community from Burma, or Myanmar, there also. They were thrilled by what they saw. They could see the potential of this new facility to provide a place where our young people can be brought in, can be safe, can connect—not only with one another but with other groups in our community—can engage with community policing and other government services and where they will have supports to engage in pro-social activities and use their time in exciting and productive ways.

I'm incredibly excited for the community. I congratulate Principal Gilbert for her wonderful advocacy. This is just part of the work we're doing in Croydon. We're spending millions on infrastructure in Croydon, and I can't wait to speak about that in the coming days.