Dr WEBSTER (Mallee) (16:55): I rise at this time to speak of my electorate of Mallee and to talk about the special connectedness that occurs in our communities, not unrelated to the fact that we are regional. I want to first congratulate recent grand final winners from the football grand finals across my electorate of Mallee. Over the last few weekends, the communities have come together to barrack for their favourite teams and witness grand finals in both football and netball. Grand finals are a time of year for our rural and regional communities to come together to celebrate, compete and bond as a community. I want to take a moment to congratulate winners across the electorate, including Harrow-Balmoral for their convincing win in the Horsham and district grand final, and the Natte Bealiba Football Club for their win in the Maryborough-Castlemaine district football competition. Sport is important to our communities and to our nation. It has been fantastic to deliver funding from the Liberal-Nationals government to sporting groups and facilities across Mallee, in excess of $10 million. Some of our sporting groups have been successful in receiving funding through the Stronger Communities Program, including the Horsham Football and Netball Club; the Natte Yallock Recreation Reserve for their scoreboard upgrade; the Great Western Football Netball Club; and the Kaniva Community Sporting Complex for their upgrade. Other Mallee community sporting groups were successful under the community sport infrastructure grants, including the Warracknabeal Leisure Centre, the Red Cliffs Golf Club and the Southern Mallee Giants Football Netball Club, who have secured funding for facility upgrades. This government continues to support small sports clubs in the regions because we know the importance that sport has in our communities and the contribution it makes to physical and mental health. The range of sports and the clubs that support them play an important part in building resilience in our communities, whether it is football, tennis, croquet or bowls. The opportunity for people to come together around these common interests builds connection and resilience. When communities do it tough, as they are right now, it is sporting clubs that draw people together. Sporting clubs also provide a place for leaders in develop. At an event in Ouyen last month, organised by the late Tim Fischer with Scott Pape of Barefoot Investor fame, we heard of how the Ouyen and Walpeup Underbool football clubs merged as their towns changed. This took strong community leadership from the club captains to see these proud clubs and towns embrace a new club and culture. Ouyen United are now a strong club, and the towns are bonding around their team. These teams and communities are spread out across our electorate in our regional towns, towns connected by country roads and highways. I'm pleased to say that the Australian government is continuing to contribute significantly to the funding of road improvements and upgrades across Mallee, including the Calder Highway upgrade, Western Highway upgrades and Henty Highway upgrades between Horsham and Warracknabeal. But the funding won't stop at these projects. We know that better roads lead to safer travel and to improved economic and social outcomes as people find it easier to travel. While I am driving throughout the electorate on our roads between Warracknabeal and Dimboola, between Charlton and Maryborough, between Berriwillock and Birchip or between Ouyen and Swan Hill, it is apparent to me that there are plenty of roads that need improvement. I want to encourage all our local councils and the Victorian state government to continue to submit projects to the Roads to Recovery Program, which supports the maintenance of these local roads. The Liberal-Nationals government have announced further funding for this program as part of the 2019-20 budget, with a $100 million commitment each year. Mallee is built by communities who are fiercely passionate about their towns, their sporting clubs and their needs, be it roads, digital connectivity or health. It is always heartening to see, in the good times and the tough times, how these towns come together to support one another and to celebrate with each other. It is these communities that make Mallee an incredible place to live and work. House adjourned at 17:00 Thursday, 19 September 2019 The DEPUTY SPEAKER (Ms Bird) took the chair at 10:00.