The Prime Minister said an investment in the sports centre would benefit young athletes in the Illawarra. Photos: Keeli Royle.
The Prime Minister has announced a funding boost for the St George Illawarra Dragons’ Community and High Performance Centre planned for the University of Wollongong’s (UOW) innovation campus, in his second trip to the region in as many weeks.
Anthony Albanese pledged $13.6 million towards the precinct and facility, which is set to include two full-sized NRL playing fields, medical and treatment facilities and a high-performance gym and sports science areas, as well as a lecture theatre and meeting rooms.
“This high-performance and community centre, which will be built at Fairy Meadow, is a game changer for the region,” Mr Albanese said.
“It’s not just about rugby league and sport, it’s about community and it’s about education.
“These funds are in the budget. We want to make sure that this gets done.”
The facility will allow all St George Illawarra Dragons staff to work under one roof, a first in the club’s 25-year history.
But the project boasts benefits not just for elite athletes, but for the whole community.
“What these performance centres and these upgrades enable to happen is for that increased participation, reaching out and making sure that as young girls and boys grow into young women and young men, they can engage not just in sport but grow as people as well,” Mr Albanese said.
St George Illawarra chair Andrew Lancaster added: “The Community High Performance Centre is about girls and women’s rugby league and providing gender-neutral facilities. It’s about collaborating with a world-class university on research, education and wellbeing, and it’s about building a high-class performance centre right here in Wollongong.”
While the Prime Minister spruiked the benefits of the new investment by the government, he fell short of committing to continued support to ensure programs, training and resources would allow it to be utilised to its full potential.
“Our job here is to provide some capital investments. That’s our job,” he said.
“There’s not a role for federal government in ongoing partnership with rugby league clubs.
“What our job is to do, though, is where you have a proposal that will benefit, importantly, not just the clubs, it will benefit school groups, and the fact that you’ve got these world-class facilities will benefit everyone in this community.
“The sort of research that will take place with sport medicine and all of that can have an impact on all of our health.”
The $60 million project is a collaboration between the Dragons and the UOW, and although it has received state and federal funding, the club is covering all development costs and will also be responsible for ongoing maintenance and expenses associated with the facility.
“We couldn’t ask for a better partner in this development, and the level of collaboration has been exceptional,” Mr Lancaster said.
UOW, which is the applicant on the development, will receive a range of financial and in-kind benefits through the partnership, including a suite of exciting opportunities to support UOW’s strategic education, research and community engagement goals.
The Dragons and UOW entered into a ”Heads of Agreement” to explore and progress the development of the CHPC at the Innovation Campus, with the original development application lodged in December 2022.
The application was only approved mid-last year after extensive feedback and changes to the design and layout to be further away from neighbouring residential properties.
The funding boost follows a re-election promise of $10 million for Warrawong Library on Friday and more than $850,000 for a Shellharbour child and family precinct last week. However, the Prime Minister said the sudden attention on the Illawarra was not coming from any concern about the security of the Cunningham and Whitlam seats when Australians head to the polls this year.
“We deliver for people wherever they live,” he said.
“We look after people, particularly in the regions, and this region needs investment.”
The St George Illawarra Dragons’ Community and High Performance Centre project is due to be completed in 2026.
Original Article published by Keeli Royle on Region Illawarra.
