A petition to federal Parliament is calling for a review of funding for sports projects including Williamstown Football Club’s $4 million facility project.
Works at Downer Oval, aka Williamstown Cricket Ground, were deemed crucial to cater for the state league, female participants and community users.
The club is using a storage area as a gym for its Williamstown players and has been hiring portable rooms (with no toilets, showers or medical /property rooms) to house VFL and VFLW teams on match days.
The petition being promoted by Federal Labor states: “The ‘Sports Rorts’ saga surrounding the 2018 Community Sport Infrastructure grant program lead to the Senate Select Committee on Administration of Sports Grants”.
“The recommendations … included that ‘the Australian government immediately fund in full all projects that were assessed as meritorious and recommended by Sport Australia, but dismissed in the final ministerial funding decisions.’
“We therefore ask the House to immediately fund in full all projects that were assessed as meritorious and recommended by Sport Australia (from the 2018 Community Sport Infrastructure grant program), but dismissed in the final ministerial funding decisions.”
The state government last month allocated $1 million in its 2021-22 budget to upgrade change rooms, training and administration facilities at Downer Oval.
Williamstown Football Club chief executive Jason Reddick said the project would enable Hobsons Bay’s premier sporting oval to cater for state league football games as well as community football users.
“Following the Hobsons Bay City Council’s investment into the ground surface we have a great ground to play on, however we now need the accompanying infrastructure to cater for the females, umpires and various community users groups that can be fixtured to play at Downer Oval,” he said.
“As the facility project requires $4 million to complete, we are now looking to the federal government to support the project with funding, knowing that Sport Australia has previously assessed and recommended our project for federal funding,” he said.
“The recent state government budget announcement to commit $1 million to our facility project is fantastic news that reflects the state government’s recognition of what these facilities are going to deliver, and we are thrilled that in a tight budget they’ve actually found a way to provide us with some funding.
“We’re now going through the process of seeing what we can do with that $1 million state government funding plus a further $200,000 facility contribution that we have remaining from the AFL. “However we’re also looking for further funding support from the federal government to reach the full potential of the whole project.”
Federal Gellibrand MP Tim Watts took to social media to urge people to get behind the petition.
“Sport Australia independently assessed Williamstown Football Club’s application for funding to support the construction of women’s change room facilities at Downer Oval and rated it highly enough to be funded,” he posted.
“Then the Minister intervened (after dozens of emails with the Prime Minister’s office) and over-ruled this assessment.
“Sign this petition to tell Scott Morrison to repair the damage and fund deserving clubs like Williamstown Football Club!”
Reddick said the club would welcome federal government support.
“Tim Watts is certainly understanding of the need for this facility and is supportive of our club receiving federal government funding for it,” he said.
“He’s also well aware that in 2019 Sport Australia assessed and rated our project facility highly and recommended it to the then Sports Minister for funding, so the merits of it are clearly understood.”
