The Brindabella Blues Football Club will receive $1.5 million from the Canberra Liberals if they form government. Photo: Acacia + Grace Photography/Facebook.
The Canberra Liberals have pledged funding for two major southside sporting clubs as part of a raft of promises to revitalise Tuggeranong if elected to government at the 19 October election.
Brindabella MLA Mark Parton said Tuggeranong United Football Club would receive $5.4 million to upgrade its Kambah facilities, while the Calwell-based Brindabella Blues Football Club would get $1.5 million to build a new pavilion including change rooms, storage and canteen facilities.
The opposition also committed itself to restoring Lake Tuggeranong by improving the water quality, establishing a new walk-in medical centre, beautifying the Tuggeranong town centre, working with the AFL to establish an AFL hub in Kambah and identifying a suitable southside venue for outdoor pickleball.
Additionally, Liberals leader Elizabeth Lee said her party would declare a “war on potholes”.
“This is a part of Canberra that many Canberrans have told us has been abandoned for a long time by this long-term Labor-Greens Government,” she told media in Kambah.
“A Canberra Liberals Government will not leave Tuggeranong behind and today we have announced a number of measures that will improve transport, education, health, cost of living and basic suburban maintenance in the Tuggeranong region.”
Mr Parton said the Liberals would be able to afford its commitments by quarantining a section of rates that are paid in each suburb where that money must be spent on that suburb.
Brindabella Blues president Ryan Webeck welcomed the funding promised for his club.
“It’s a great opportunity for our club to improve its registration numbers … and to create a fantastic community environment,” he said.
Mr Parton said the Tuggeranong club had been neglected by the current government.
“The club wanted the very simple job of some lines painted on the car park, the government wrote to them 11 months ago to suggest lines would be painted and they still haven’t.”
Liberals MLA Mark Parton says Kambah has been neglected. Photo: Facebook.
Most election announcements over the past three months have focused on Canberra’s northside, though Tuggeranong and Woden came into the spotlight last week.
However, Independents for Canberra candidate for Brindabella Vanessa Picker says major parties are not addressing the long-term “neglect” in her part of the world.
“While it’s encouraging to see the Liberals’ investment announcement for Tuggeranong, many of these are still focused on immediate, surface-level fixes and the proposed funding amount falls short of addressing the decades of neglect our community has endured,” she said.
“I welcome the Canberra Liberals’ acknowledgment of Tuggeranong’s long-standing neglect, but deeper, long-term strategies are needed to truly address the systemic issues facing our community.
“Short-term are helpful, but without comprehensive, sustainable investment in both infrastructure and long-term, evidence-based programs – like adequately improving public transport services, addressing school resource shortages, and investing in proven healthcare solutions -Tuggeranong risks being left behind once again.”
ACT Greens MLA for Brindabella Laura Nuttall rejected any suggestion her party had forgotten about Tuggeranong.
“If re-elected, I will deliver the ACT Greens’ promises for Brindabella including two southside bulk billing GP clinics, a community garden in South Tuggeranong, a mental health drop in Safe Haven for anyone who is feeling lonely, isolated or distressed, buses that come at least every 20 minutes, better footpaths and more walking and cycling paths, an upgrade to sports facilities such as Kambah Ovals, Ray Brown Indoor Stadium and Southern Cross Stadium, and also establish an entertainment precinct in Tuggeranong Town Centre,” she said.
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