Juliana ADDISON (Wendouree) (13:18): Ballarat is one of the greatest places to live and visit, and there are so many reasons why, including hosting the AusCycling 2024 Federation University Road National Championships. The Victorian government Regional Events Fund proudly supported the event, which brought thousands of elite cyclists, support crews and fans to Ballarat. The influx of visitors to see Australia’s best cycling action provided a great energy to Ballarat and delivered a valuable boost to our tourism industry and local businesses.

The Ballarat arts and cultural scene continues to grow in numbers and reputation, and it was a pleasure to attend the opening of the Soldiers Hill Artist Collective at the Ballarat Art Space showcasing work from 20 artists who all live in Soldiers Hill.

Another great annual event was the 2024 Decoglaze Ballarat Pacing Cup hosted by the Ballarat & District Trotting Club. It was a great night out for locals and visitors but a bit tough to back a winner.

Last week Selkirk Stadium staged the 2024 Under-20 and Ivor Burge Foot Locker National Championships, welcoming our best basketballers from around the country representing their states. The under-20 championships is Australian basketball’s top age event, and many players will go on to begin professional careers, joining the NBL and the WNBL or US colleges. The Ivor Burge National Championships is our top-level event for intellectually impaired basketball athletes. Congratulations to Victorian teams who won all four championships.

You can take a look at more of my speeches to Parliament here.