OPENING OF NYAAL BANYUL, GEELONG CONVENTION AND EVENT CENTRE

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Can I also start by acknowledging the Wadawurrung people, the traditional owners of the land on which we meet and pay my respects to elders past and present, and thank Michaela for that very warm and generous Welcome to Country.

Can I acknowledge Jacinta Allan, the Premier of Victoria, and John Brumby, the former Premier of Victoria.

Can I also acknowledge the Geelong team who are here, Chris of course, Ella, Allison, and Libby, it’s great to see you all here.

Michaela and Steve, thank you for coming here on such a significant day.

Can I acknowledge Eddie Konteij, and through him all the Councillors who are present today.

Can I acknowledge the other distinguished guests who are present.

In August of 2009, we celebrated one of the most significant gala occasions in our city’s history; it was the 150th anniversary of the Geelong Football Club in what would turn out to be a premiership year.

Some of you might have been at that event. There were city leaders there, Geelong fans. There was a gathering of Geelong greats going back through the decades, including members of the ’51/‘52 premiership team.

But in order for that night to take place, the football club needed to erect a giant marquee along the water.

And on that night it became clear that we have never had a ballroom in our town in which to celebrate our most important occasions.

Indeed, when you think about perhaps the most significant or biggest Geelong event of the year, which would be the Carji Greeves Medal, that’s an event which needs to take place in Melbourne, because there is no venue which can hold it in Geelong.

But of course, all of that changes today, and it is so fitting that after the ceremonial opening of the convention centre today, the practical christening of it will be the holding of the Barwon Health Foundation Gala Ball in 12 days’ time.

And if we were doing nothing other than opening a space where we could gather to acknowledge our most significant moments, that alone would make this a hugely significant milestone in our town’s history, but of course the Convention Centre is so much more than that.

Because this is not just about us, this is about the rest of Australia discovering us; our fantastic north fronting bay, the beauty of the raised peninsula of the Bellarine, the famous beaches of the famous Surf Coast.

Nyaal Banyul means opening your eyes to the hills, a nod to the You Yangs, and the hills that surround Geelong, but actually I think for all of us, we are saying to the rest of Australia, open your eyes to Geelong, because the opening of this Convention Centre is the missing piece in Geelong becoming one of the great gathering places of our nation.

And I really want to acknowledge and thank all of those who have been a part of making this happen, all three tiers of government, the City of Greater Geelong, the Albanese Labor Government, and I acknowledge the former Federal Coalition Government, Plenary and Built, the Victorian Convention and Exhibition Trust, have done such a great job in delivering this.

But in what is a more than $450 million project, the heavy lifting here has been done by the Allan State Labor Government and I really want to acknowledge Jacinta and all of those who have made this happen.

Now, when that group of Melbourne shysters published the false map of 1854, robbing Geelong of our obvious destiny to be the capital of Victoria- and to be clear, we would have been a much better capital than Melbourne- they put us on a different path, and in the evolution of that path, this very weekend has been something of a coming of age.

On Friday night, we opened an art exhibition of global significance, just a stone’s throw from here, hanging on the walls of the Geelong Gallery, a works of art by Monet, Renoir, Pissarro, Gauguin, the kind of exhibition which would normally have only ever gone to a capital, is happening right here.

And with the opening of this Convention Centre, we will now see events and gatherings coming to Geelong, which would previously have only been in the province of Melbourne and Sydney.

 

And yet all of that is still happening in a place which retains its sense of community and identity here in Geelong, which we hold so dear.

 

And so, perhaps just perhaps, 172 years down the track those Melbourne shysters may have done us a favour, because with the opening of this Convention Centre today we now have the best of both worlds.

 

Thank you.

 

ENDS