The Dubbo Sports Hub debate rolls on, with answers around decision-making expected after a call for papers was approved at NSW Parliament.
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00:00Thank you, Madam Deputy President. I move Private Member's Business Item 1714, Standing
00:11in my name. I do not intend to take too much of the House's time today. This is a fairly
00:16straightforward call for papers in relation to the Dubbo Sports Hub project, obviously
00:23covering a range of relevant ministers and agencies as well. Just to get the data and
00:29the documents relating to any decisions that the current Labor government have made in
00:33relation to this project. We have raised this issue in the House before. Members may be
00:38aware that this was a project that was first announced back in 2018, largely because we
00:45knew as a government that this could have been and would have been a game-changing project,
00:49not just for the people of Dubbo but also for wider western New South Wales. Dubbo basketball
00:54has a very strong junior base. It also helps to alleviate some of the pressures on families
00:59from players from spending thousands of dollars travelling all over the country so that their
01:03children can follow their sporting dreams. We know that there was also the intention
01:10for this hub to be home to netball and a range of other indoor sports, with the PCYC to move
01:14there as well. As I said, it is a game-changer for many people, particularly when we know
01:19we are dealing with issues of youth crime in regional New South Wales, and we have our
01:23concerns about that. The reason that we want these documents is because, with the change
01:28of government, there has come a change in terms of funding and support for this project,
01:32with not a lot of information going back to the community as to why certain decisions
01:37were made. It is no secret that the project has faced challenges since that first announcement,
01:43but I also know that under the former Liberals and Nationals government there was support
01:47provided along the way to help make this project become a reality. Originally, I know that
01:52the established funding of $15.3 million, which back in 2019 was the original support
01:59or contribution for the project, would not be enough money. In November 2019, the former
02:06Deputy Premier John Barillaro and the member for Dubbo, Dougald Saunders, announced an
02:10additional $10 million to keep that project alive and to help see it come to fruition.
02:16There were obviously challenges during the pandemic. We know that during COVID-19 everything
02:19came to a standstill as well. There have also been changes in terms of the management of
02:24stakeholder groups, requiring parties to be brought back to the negotiating table. I do
02:28want to acknowledge again the Leader of the Nationals and the member for Dubbo, Dougald
02:31Saunders, who has very much been working on this project for a number of years behind
02:36the scenes in order not to publicly blame any stakeholder groups but to make sure that
02:42that project continued to move forward. There was additional money announced in February
02:462023 as well. All up, we are talking about a $48.6 million commitment to help make this
02:53happen. Unfortunately, since the change of government, there has been a change in that
02:59project. Really, things have slowed down. We know through questioning the Minister at
03:03Estimates—the Hon. Wes Fang did that very well—that the project was subject to a variation
03:09request and that there was an issue with that. We have not had much from the government in
03:13terms of the decision around that variation request. We know that the Minister has not
03:18at this point agreed to do that. With no consultation with the community, a media release came out
03:27saying that this government would be rescinding the $33.3 million in funding from Minister
03:33Moriarty's department. We have concerns and questions about the process that led to that
03:38decision. Our understanding is that the Sports Minister and the Police Minister were supportive
03:43of that variation request. They could see the benefit of that project from what we have been
03:47told. We want to know why decisions were made. We want to know, with respect to the Minister,
03:52why she made that decision not to approve that project. We do not think it has been
03:56answered satisfactorily to this point. There have been a number of requests from the member
04:01for Dubbo to the Premier and others in relation to this. Indeed, today we have a contingent of
04:07Dubbo locals, including the Mayor, who was the previous Labor candidate in the election,
04:12here in Parliament House as we speak, wanting to talk to people about why this project matters
04:17and why they want the state government to fund it. We would like some clarity around decisions
04:22that were made. We would like the government to support this call for papers. If there is nothing
04:25to hide, there should be no fear in providing the documents that we have asked for. We want
04:30everything to be laid upon the table in terms of how these decisions were made by the current
04:35Minister and the Means Labor government.