A plan to turn the heart of Ballarat into a thriving university town is another step closer, with the Victorian Government investing in a masterplan for the transformational project. The key planning works, costing $6.11 million, will merge the Federation University campus with central Ballarat, transforming it into a contemporary and cosmopolitan destination for students and workers.

I welcome the opportunity to contribute to the debate in support of the Suburban Rail Loop Bill 2021. I would like to begin by thanking the Minister for Transport Infrastructure, her ministerial office and the Department of Transport for what they have done to bring this bill to the house.

My adjournment matter is for the Minister for Housing, and the action I seek is for the minister to meet with the Ballarat and District Aboriginal Co-operative (BADAC) to discuss the $5.3 billion Big Housing Build.

Support for licensed bars, cafes, hotels and clubs across regional Victoria will continue through September, and other businesses in regional areas will also be supported where ongoing restrictions severely affect operations. With the City of Ballarat entering a seven-day lockdown, all eligible businesses in that local government area will receive Business Costs Assistance Program and Licensed Hospitality Venue Fund payments for the last two weeks of September – along with more than 100,000 metropolitan businesses.

My constituency question is to the Minister for Crime Prevention.Ballarat is a place to live, study, work, raise a family or retire. While our city is known to be a safe and welcoming place, sometimes crime can affect some of our residents.

With multiple wastewater detections, multiple exposure sites and four positive cases, on the advice of the Chief Health Officer, the City of Ballarat will tonight enter a seven day lock down to slow the spread of the virus in the community.

Congratulations to Ballarat International Foto Biennale artistic director and CEO, Fiona Sweet, the board and BIFB team for the amazing 2021 biennale, which opens exclusively to regional Victorians this week.

The Victorian Government is ramping up delivery of the Big Housing Build across the state with the first allocation of funds to community housing projects – with more than $1 billion in projects to commence this year.The Government is investing over $20 million in Ballarat delivering 89 new social housing homes across 9 projects creating more than 250 local jobs.

I am pleased to support the Racing Amendment Bill 2021 and welcome that it is being supported by the opposition.As the member for Wendouree, my electorate is home to the Ballarat and District Trotting Club and the Ballarat Greyhound Racing Club in Redan, and the Ballarat Turf Club is just out of my electorate in Miners Rest. I am a proud member and supporter of the Ballarat Turf Club and the Ballarat and District Trotting Club.

I am very pleased, and also very proud, to support the Social Services Regulation Bill 2021.I would like to begin by thanking the Minister for Disability, Ageing and Carers for introducing this bill, as well as his hardworking ministerial office. Additionally, and perhaps most of all, I would like to acknowledge some very special people at the newly formed Department of Families, Fairness and Housing, for their work in crafting the legislation we have here today.

I am pleased to report on the recently tabled Legislative Assembly Economy and Infrastructure Committee Inquiry into Access to TAFE for Learners with Disability. I am incredibly proud to have been a part of this important inquiry that has identified that learners with disability face barriers to equal participation in our TAFE sector.

Students at Forest St Primary School in Wendouree are a step closer to getting the facilities they need for a great start in life, with an architect appointed to design the school’s exciting upgrade.

I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the many events that we have missed in Ballarat due to the COVID pandemic, and also the grace and generosity in the way the many organisers have readjusted plans and moved things online wherever possible.

Women from a range of diverse multicultural backgrounds will be able to support their business aspirations at a new fit-for-purpose hub in Ballarat, backed by funding from the Victorian Government.

The Victorian Government is creating extra kinder places in Ballarat with a boost to early education infrastructure ─ making sure young children in the area can access and enjoy Three-Year-Old Kinder.

Member for Buninyong Michaela Settle and Member for Wendouree Juliana Addison welcomed the expansion of the Regional Rail Revival Design Challenge 2050 competition into local schools.

Almost 500 jobseekers enrolled in the Andrews Labor Government’s Free TAFE initiative at Federation TAFE last year, making rewarding career pathways a reality for thousands of Victorians.

I thank Ms Addison for the invitation to visit her electorate of Wendouree. I would like to acknowledge the COVID response efforts of health care workers from Ballarat Health Services and Ballarat Community Health and thank them for their dedication and hard work.