MEDIA DOORSTOP
WEST WOOLGOOLGA
WEDNESDAY, 27 FEBRUARY, 2019
SUBJECTS: $12 million Labor commitment to Woolgoolga multipurpose centre, State and Federal Labor working together for communities
PAT CONROY: Good morning everyone. My name’s Pat Conroy, I’m the Federal Shadow Assistant Minister for Infrastructure. I’m joined by Lynda Voltz, the State Shadow Minister for Sport, Patrick Deegan, Labor’s candidate for Page, and Tony Judge, Labor’s candidate for the state seat of Coffs Harbour. We’re here with some wonderful news for Woolgoolga, so I’m going to throw over to Lynda Voltz to lead off.
LYNDA VOLTZ, NSW SHADOW MINISTER FOR SPORT: Look, firstly, NSW Labor is committed to delivering $8 million for an indoor sports centre here in Woolgoolga, something the community’s been asking for for 10 years. It’s a really important project. It should have been a priority of Government and it hasn’t been. But a future Labor Government will make sure that $8 million is delivered to deliver this indoor sports centre, and there’s more good news. And I think Pat’s here to give us a bit more good news, because we’re delivering stage one.
CONROY: Thanks Lynda. Federal Labor, we’ve now committed as of today that if we are successful in winning government that we’ll deliver $4 million for stage two of the multipurpose centre to add a café, and additional facilities to make this really a showcase for the local region. It is much-needed infrastructure. It is infrastructure that is a testament to the local community that has been driving this project for the last 10 years, a community that has been putting in their own money. I know many community groups have allocated their own funding to support this project, and I’m really pleased that Labor could commit $12 million in total - $8 million for stage one, $4 million for stage two – to really make this a reality. And it stands in stark contrast to the current Member for Page, Mr Hogan, who promised $1 million in the 2016 election and unfortunately hasn’t delivered that money. So, we are here to say Labor is committed, we’ve allocated $12 million and we want to get this project going because the community has been waiting too long for it. So I’ll hand over to Patrick to say a few words.
PATRICK DEEGAN, CANDIDATE FOR PAGE: As a Woolgoolga local, I’ve just got to say first, how good is this. We are getting that facility over there, and we’re not just getting a facility that’s ready for today, but that will keep us in the sort of facilities we need for quite a few more years. It will cater for the growth in this area. It’s great to have both the Federal and the State Shadows here announcing this, which, Pat used the words, is in stark contrast to our opponents, where the State Government just doesn’t want to know their Federal colleagues. I’d really like to introduce the hero of the moment, Alastair Milroy. [APPLAUSE] Alastair and his committee have worked on this tirelessly for seven years-plus now, they’ve shown a lot of skill, a lot of persistence, and they’ve worked really hard to get this built. And, here’s the bloke who deserves the credit.
ALASTAIR MILROY, COMMITTEE CHAIR: Thank you very much. I’d just like to say this joint State and Federal Labor announcement is welcomed by this community. As speakers have already indicated, we have identified a need for a number of years for an indoor sports and community centre. The Chamber and the broader community joined together to form a committee and we’ve worked with Coffs Harbour Council to get this over the line. It’s taken 10 years to make this positive. I think it’s very interesting too that the need for this indoor sports centre has clearly been highlighted when we’ve got both major parties who have indicated their support for it by announcing funding. Thank you very much.
DEEGAN: Thanks to Alastair, and to all the community groups who have come out here today, which is fantastic. It’s a testament to the local community, the work they have done, and of course we’ve got the deputy mayor here, and I’d like to congratulate council on their support they have given to the project. They’ve provided the land for the project and as I’ve been out and about in the community around Woolgoolga and the Northern Beaches it’s an issue I’ve heard about continuously. So once again, congratulations to the local community and thanks to our Shadow Assistant Minister here today, and our State Shadow Minister. Tony and I have been lobbying with the Shadows in relation to this issue and I can tell you the committee made it a very easy job to do, and the council; I thank them for all the work they have done. So, once again, congratulations to the community, the council, all of the proposed services who have come out today to show their support for the project. Thank you.