Melbourne & Olympic Parks Amendment Bill

Mr CARLI (Brunswick) — It is with great pleasure that I rise to support the Melbourne and Olympic Parks Amendment Bill. As has been said, this bill consolidates land management arrangements in the Melbourne and Olympic parks area. In that sense it improves the efficiency of the area and the ability to continue to deliver what is certainly one of the greatest sporting precincts in the world, if not the greatest.

There are no major cities I know of that have the same sort of sporting infrastructure so close to the centre of the city, to public transport and to the road system. It is a great set up. There are numerous sports provided for there: tennis, cycling, athletics, Australian Rules — Australian Football League teams have their training and administration in the area — basketball and, if you go back far enough, greyhounds. There is obviously Rugby League, Rugby Union and international football, particularly with Melbourne Victory and Melbourne Storm, both of which are Australian champions in international football and Rugby League respectively. It is not only a great precinct, but it has great teams and great traditions. The Australian Open is one of the great tennis tournaments.

It is very important that the precinct is administered in the most efficient way possible. This legislation consolidates land titles and allows that to happen. It also ensures that there is a permanent reservation over Gosch’s Paddock and that it remains a public park. That is certainly a good legacy for all Melburnians.

I want to use some of my time to talk about the rectangular stadium, which is very important in terms of two great Melbourne teams — Melbourne Storm and Melbourne Victory. As I said, both are Australian champions. In April 2006, when the rectangular stadium was announced, there was a great deal of support from rugby and international football supporters. It was certainly seen as a major commitment by the then Bracks government to providing for two major national sports which also have an international perspective. Soon after it was announced as a stadium with a capacity of 20 000 seats it became fairly obvious, given Melbourne Victory’s support in its first year, that that would be too small. There was soon a level of disquiet about the actual size of the stadium.

It was in that period that supporters of Melbourne Victory came together and did a number of very positive things. They were instrumental in assisting the government to identify the appropriate size for the stadium and to get a capacity of 31 000 seats on the drawing board. I want to acknowledge some of the work that was done by the Victory Fans Stadium Action Group. It was a group of supporters representing various groups in the club who came together to both support the idea of a purpose built rectangular stadium and ensure that the Victory club was supportive and became part of the proposal. It was also very keen to ensure that the FFA (the Football Federation Australia), the national body, was aware of the supporters’ belief that the rectangular stadium was essential for the city.

I want to acknowledge that at the end of 2005 a supporter, Matthew Lamsis, spontaneously organised a petition calling for a revision of the seating capacity to 30 000. I remember in February 2007 tabling that petition; it had the signatures of 3217 club supporters and other people who had come together because they really wanted to increase the stadium’s capacity. The Melbourne Victory action group became a very positive group. It met with the Minister for Sport, Recreation and Youth Affairs, other members of Parliament and other individuals. It also met with the club and the football federation and very much assisted the work that was being done at the time to work up the government’s eventual response, which was to increase the capacity of the stadium to 31 000 and to ensure that the Melbourne Victory Football Club signed on.
The other thing that came out of that agreement was a commitment by Football Federation Australia to provide international games. One of the successes of football is its international component, so we will have Socceroos games in Melbourne as well as Ollyroos games, Matildas games and other games focused on that venue. It is a very important venue for both the rugby community and the Storm community, and hopefully also for Rugby Union. Obviously there is still an attempt to get a major Rugby Union team — a Super 14 or 15 or 16 or whatever it eventually becomes — established in Melbourne.

There is no doubt that Victoria is the football capital of Australia: Geelong is the Australian Football League champion, Melbourne Victory is the football champion and Melbourne Storm is the Rugby League champion. We are the greatest city not only in terms of spectators, stadiums and facilities but also in terms of the teams and their performances.

I think it is important to acknowledge the very strong support for the rectangular stadium we have encountered both from the Rugby community and the football community. Enormous credit has to be given to former Premier Steve Bracks for his stand in support of the rectangular stadium and seeing it as completing a series of stadiums in the city that include the Melbourne Cricket Ground, the largest and greatest stadium, and Telstra Dome, which is somewhat smaller but nevertheless significant. They fit in very well. The stadiums have different capacities and fit different needs of this great sporting city. It is important to realise that, once the rectangular stadium is built, we will have Vodafone Arena, the Rod Laver tennis centre, the rectangular stadium, Telstra Dome and the MCG all within a very short distance of the central business district — some of the greatest stadiums in the world.

I wanted to finish by just saying that the supporter groups are enthusiastic about what they call active support, and active support is the sort of support we are now seeing among those who attend Melbourne Victory games. As we see on television, it is very much support that shows enormous enthusiasm and involves the ability to sing, jump and demonstrate what I suppose is part of an international football culture, but it is a culture that is strongly supported by the fans of the club. They are very keen to see the fit out of the rectangular stadium to assist in active support and in their ability to stand, cheer and support their club and to provide no doubt one of the greatest atmospheres for sport in this country and one would hope one of the greatest atmospheres for sport in the world.

I am keen to support this important legislation, which consolidates the titles and more importantly assists in completing what is, if not the greatest, one of the greatest sporting precincts in the world.