TRANSCRIPT:
I rise today to speak on the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Trust Amendment Bill 2024, a bill that I have no opposition to. This piece of proposed legislation is largely uncontroversial and is in place to address and reflect changes to the operations and scope of the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Trust. This includes adding the new nearly $500 million convention centre in Geelong under the trust administration, as we have heard. This centre is expected to open in 2026. While Jeff’s Shed was able to home several events in the 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games, it is a shame the Geelong centre will not have the same chance when it opens.
But back to Jeff’s Shed, I do fondly the remember attending Equitana Melbourne when it was held at Jeff’s Shed, where I was fortunate enough to participate in the showjumping event as a young teenager. I can still recall riding my beautiful horse Grace as we practised on the lawn with Polly Woodside nearby, adding a touch of history to our practice arena.
A member interjected.
Annabelle CLEELAND: Absolutely. Walking my horse into the grand arena inside Jeff’s Shed still gives me nostalgic butterflies, even when we when we visited the Melbourne convention centre when it was transformed for David Attenborough’s BBC Earth experience recently.
Jade Benham interjected.
Annabelle CLEELAND: Because the member for Mildura, who can pipe down, is entertained by my interest in showjumping, she would be interested to know that the little girl from the country dazzled by the bright lights of the city was eliminated in the first round, but I still look back on that moment as one of the highlights of my showjumping career, even if I peaked as a 13-year-old.
When it comes to this legislation the main purpose of the bill is to amend the existing Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Trust Act 1996, and this includes changing the name of the act and the trust established by the act from Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Trust to Victorian Convention and Event Trust, which is an excellent idea, and expanding the functions of the trust and modernising trust membership in governance arrangements. The other particularly noteworthy provision increases the number of trustees from seven to nine. There are also provisions throughout the bill which amend the legislation to remove powers from the Governor in Council and transfer those powers to the minister for convenience. The bill will also make minor housekeeping amendments to other acts that refer to the trust to ensure the language is up to date. Additionally there are further governance changes that are aimed at modernising the trust’s structure.
In a more general sense the government also aims that this legislation is a response to the growing need of the tourism and events industry across Victoria. With the regional tourism industry continuing to grow there are several projects in towns across my electorate that deserve recognition. Just last week I had the pleasure of seeing the best of what our local equine industry has to offer at a stallion parade in Seymour, which I am sure the member for Mildura would like to hear. Locally based breeders including Yulong Stud, Swettenham Stud, Darley, Godolphin and Lovatsville opened their gates for hundreds of visitors from across the world, demonstrating why the Euroa region is regarded as a premier location in Australia’s thoroughbred breeding and equine industry – well, in my eyes.
The impact this industry has on our local economy cannot be overstated, providing hundreds of jobs at studs, racing clubs and the equine hospital with a flow-on impact to the agronomists, farm suppliers, shed builders and many more associated industries. Tourism from our racing clubs also continues to be a major drawcard, with local events bringing huge crowds and getting people to our regional towns where they will stay in local accommodation, eat at our restaurants and drink at our pubs. This is not the only drawcard to my electorate, with several other major local events continuing to bring people from across the country. The Seymour Alternative Farming Expo is a premier agricultural event in our state, bringing businesses and customers alike into our towns for multiple days and has an epic whip cracking event. For car nuts we have the Euroa Show and Shine, which year on year has thousands join for the best when it comes to classic cars, bikes and other exciting events for the entire family. More recently we have seen Benalla turn into a cultural hub for regional Victoria too. Now home to a world-class gallery, Benalla also hosts a street art festival that includes many of the incredible murals on walls across town.
Making sure these events can attract as many people as possible is incredibly important for the economic future of our towns and local organisations; it is essential that they are supported by this government. We want to attract more people to visit regional Victoria, have them stay locally and increase the amount of money spent in our local communities. It will be great to see as many communities as possible benefit from more funding to ensure our regional towns continue to get the support that they deserve.
To summarise, this bill is little more than spring-cleaning legislation designed to tidy up obsolete or inefficient governance practices, change names and allow some modernisation. Stakeholders have been considered and local voices were included, particularly those in Geelong, to make sure the new centre is represented in decisions relating to the trust.