Madam speaker, I rise today to talk about my excitement for the upcoming Gungahlin Community Centre. This community centre was something I worked very hard for last term, and proudly secured it as an ACT Labor election commitment leading up to the 2020 election.

As a reminder, I moved a motion in this chamber on 18th February 2019, calling for the ACT Government to engage directly with the Gungahlin community, taking into consideration the regions diverse needs and the potential for a centre to enliven our region.

A new dedicated community centre would play a crucial role in expanding and developing the wide range of festivals, arts activities and cultural events that locals already enjoy. With Gungahlin being one of the fastest growing regions in the country, a new community centre will be a great addition to our community.

Over the next three years, a new community centre will be built on the corner of The Valley Avenue and Gungahlin Place in Gungahlin town centre. The centre will cater to Gungahlin’s multicultural community, with spaces for all ages.

The community centre will enable many community activities and events, including art exhibitions, cultural performances and celebrations, safe spaces for youth, and working groups. The possibilities are limitless.

As Minister Gentleman mentioned in his speech on Wednesday, the 2023-24 budget provides total funding of $28.4 million to enable the delivery of a new community centre in Gungahlin over the next three years. Recognising the existing need for community facilities, the budget also includes $1.021 million to lease vacant commercial space in Gungahlin town centre to serve as a temporary community facility while the new centre is delivered.

Throughout my time campaigning for the Gungahlin Community Centre. I have sought input and feedback from the Gungahlin community. After all, they are the ones who will be using this centre, so it is important that the centre caters for their needs. At the start of 2022, I met with a number of community organisations and service providers, including; Barnardos, Belo Arts, Northside Community Service, Multicultural Hub Canberra, Youth Coalition and Canberra PCYC.

We discussed what design features would meet their needs and ensure the centre that will allow for a range of activities. I used this feedback, to develop a stakeholder design brief that was endorsed by a number of these stakeholders, and presented to the Chief Minister to help inform the design process.

The Gungahlin Community Centre will include dedicated youth centre including an outdoor activity area, workshops for visual arts organisations, commercial scale kitchen, two multi-purpose halls for meetings, community run activities such as dance, gymnastics and yoga classes, community pantry and facilities for people needing assistance; and offices and counselling rooms for not-for-profit organisations providing support services to the Gungahlin community.

The Gungahlin Community Centre is sounding pretty great and will be very welcomed by the community. The centre is in a prime location, with access to light rail and will complement the existing shops and community hubs.

Madam speaker, as you can tell from my speech today, and through my advocacy for a community centre, I am very passionate about this and cannot wait to join the community in using this centre. I am confident with the design brief I provided, and my ongoing advocacy, has helped to ensure we end up with a community centre that will cater for the communities needs now, and for many years to come.

I am glad to see this project progressing and look forward to attending many future events with the community at this centre.