TRANSCRIPT: Doorstop, Parkes 16 July 2018
Subjects: Funding announcements for Parkes and Cowra under the Building Better Regions Fund
E&OE
KEN KEITH:
Thank you all very much for coming this afternoon and it’s a great pleasure of mine to introduce the Deputy Prime Minister of Australia, the Honourable Michael McCormack, who is our local member and we are very pleased that he is. He is also the Minister for Infrastructure and does a wonderful job for his party and he's got a very important announcement to make. So I'll hand over to Michael and then we might be able to comment after.
MICHAEL MCCORMACK:
Well thank you, Mr Mayor, and it is great to be here and it is certainly great to announce that the Federal Government as part of the Building Better Regions Fund is allocating $4.234 million to an upgrade of the main street, Clarinda Street, as well as a multi-purpose centre here in Cooke Park.
This builds community capacity. The money for the main street will be used for better lighting, will be used for a footpath upgrade and other amenities, which is going to make the civic precinct so much of a better place for tourists and indeed for local residents all year round. But when I talk about tourists, there’s no bigger drawcard than the Elvis Festival and sometimes the Mayor and I aren’t very distinguishable in January because we reach into our inner Elvis and we dress up, as do 25,000 other people, or many of them who come to this fine town of Parkes for the Elvis Festival in early January and this money is going to be well spent because if anything is going to draw tourists back to a function, it's going to be a great main street, a great central business district. And facilities in the park, where so many of the Elvis Festival events occur. This is tremendous - $4.234 million, in conjunction- that's half of what the total project cost will be to redevelop the main street to enhance Cooke Park. Clarinda Street will never look better after this money is spent. So, I congratulate- and see, there’s already enthusiastic cheers about the announcement we've just made.
[Laughter]
I congratulate the Parkes Shire Council on its progressive attitude. You don't get these sorts of projects up and off the table and funded if you don't have a council which is really behind its community, behind the sorts of projects that it needs, and to that end I congratulate the general manager, Kent and to Anna as well for her work as the economic development manager, they make sure that Parkes is certainly front of centre of any funding announcement that the Federal Government is doing. They’re always constantly in my ear about what a great town it is and indeed it is. And Parkes can only prosper in the future. The Inland Rail is coming here. It's at the centre of the East West North-South intersectors. It intersects those lines. It is going to be such a community that is going to build so large in the future. But it's also- the main street is going to be so much the better, so much the prettier and so much the more attractive because of this announcement today. So I congratulate the Mayor, I congratulate your progressive council. The money is going to be well spent and well-deserved. Congratulations, Ken.
KEN KEITH
Thank you, Michael. Could I say, on behalf of my fellow councillors, Councillor Bill Jayet and General Manager Kent Boyd and the staff at the council that have worked so hard in getting this project together. It follows on from the CBD Vibrancy Strategy that we did with our community and the lower Clarinda Street was identified as an area that needed to be refurbished to attract new business to this end of Parkes. The fact that it links on to Cooke Park, the venue for the Elvis Festival in Parkes, is another plus for this project.
The multi-purpose centre, with a new stage, will become the venue for the Elvis stage and for other performers, we'll be able to attract other regional events and so forth to this new facility. Our cultural groups have been screaming out for some cultural facilities. They're about to receive it because of the recognition of this Federal Government in the Building Better Regions Fund to support communities such as ours. And we congratulate Michael and his team for the wonderful work they’re doing in promoting regional Australia because it's such a vital part of our future.
When you consider that the communities in drought and so many other communities in regional New South Wales are in a very serious drought at the moment, a funding boost like this to help stimulate the economy of Parkes will be vital. So thank you very much Mr Deputy Prime Minister. If I could say- or should I say Michael Elvis McCormack. Thank you very much for your foresight in allocating this grant money for Parkes. We deeply appreciate it and we look forward to spending it wisely, improving the streetscape and improving a multi-purpose centre for Cooke Park. Thank you very much.
MICHAEL MCCORMACK:
We’re going to unveil these in a minute and not that I want to take anything away from Parkes, I don’t, but I also want to announce $829,000 is going towards the main street upgrade in Cowra.
So Kendal Street in Cowra, between Lachlan and Brisbane streets, is going to receive $829,000. So this is building community capacity in the Central West. These are important announcements. They build, as the Mayor of Parkes has just stated, community capacity. They make these places more attractive and we need our country towns to thrive because, you know, at the end of the day, we want city people, who either visit them, to then go back and tell their friends and tell their family you should go out to Cowra, you should go out to Parkes, you should go out to Forbes. They’re great towns. And you know, if they come and they like what they see at the times of Japanese gardens festivals and Elvis festivals and ABBA festivals, you never know, they might just come and live here and we need to make sure that our cities aren't so congested and one way to make them not congested is for people to move out to these beautiful towns and shires which are dotted right throughout regional New South Wales. So well done to Parkes, well done to Cowra as well - $829,000 for an upgrade of Kendal Street. But here in Parkes for Clarinda Street and for the Cooke Park, it’s tremendous news. So, let’s do the honours here.
QUESTION:
I would love to ask some questions.
MICHAEL MCCORMACK:
Sure. Let’s do that.
QUESTION:
Can you tell me this announcement today, why is it so important?
MICHAEL MCCORMACK:
Well it’s important because towns like Parkes and towns like Cowra need their main streets to look beautiful to attract visitors and more importantly when they have festivals to be able to have those visitors housed in such a way and have the ability to have al fresco dining.
All those things are really important for these towns and, you know, when you’ve got strong regional towns, you’ve got a strong state and when you’ve got a strong state, you’ve got a strong nation. And these towns punch way above their weight when in comes to festivals. They attract people. They’re great places to live, work, invest in, and you know, you need to build up towns like Parkes. You need to build up towns like Cowra and that's why I was also pleased, just last week, to announce $3.6 million for an aged care facility at Temora.
So in this round of Building Better Regions Fund, made possible because the Nationals in government are fighting hard for regional areas, we’ve announced more than $8 million for the Riverina and Central West. For an aged care facilities and two major main street upgrades in Parkes and in Cowra. Really important to build community capacity. We’re doing just that, but we also do it on the back of very progressive councils. We also do it on the back of good community support. These sorts of projects aren’t possible without the sort of community support that we get in places such as Parkes and in places such as Cowra and Temora.
QUESTION:
Over $8 million for this funding under this project. Parkes has gotten more than half of that. Why is that?
MICHAEL MCCORMACK:
Well, Parkes is a go-ahead place. Parkes is a town full of doers. Parkes is going to go ahead in leaps and bounds in the future. The Inland Rail is coming through. It’s going to be a very important hub for that Inland Rail project. That’s $9.3 billion. It’s a 1700-kilometre corridor of commerce very much centred on what Parkes offers as far as the East West North-South intersector. It is going to create any number of jobs. Build local domestic product here. Be able to have that product getting from Parkes and from elsewhere within 24 hours to port, and then of course quickly to market. So these sorts of areas – such as Parkes, such as Cowra, such as Temora – can only benefit from this sort of funding and we’re trying to build up these sorts of areas. It’s not just all about the city.
That’s what the Nationals are in there doing. We’re fighting hard for regional areas. We will continue to do that while ever we’re in government and even when we’re not. But we fight hard and these sorts of funding programs, they’re only made possible because the Nationals are in government. They’re only made possible because the Nationals are in there fighting hard. And we’ll always fight hard for regional areas. We’ll always fight hard to make sure the liveability of towns such as Parkes and Cowra and Forbes and elsewhere are strong. We will continue to do that always, and it’s a focus of every waking minute of my day.
QUESTION:
You said you’d been to the Elvis Festival before. How do you think this multi-use function centre will make the festival even better?
MICHAEL MCCORMACK:
Well, perhaps people didn't know that I’ve dressed up as Elvis for the last two years and there are sometimes suspicious minds about this, but I have, I've gone down the Clarinda Street and I've said to people: are you lonesome tonight?
But they didn’t know that it was Michael McCormack, the Federal Member for Riverina or indeed a Minister of the Crown. But you know what, I've been to this festival. My wife Catherine dressed up as Priscilla and we had the world's best time. It's always a happy time for start of January. We've just finished Christmas, just into the New Year and it's a great time of year. Parkes capitalises on that. It is the focus of the nation for the Elvis Festival and we need to improve these sorts of towns, build their amenities, build their facilities, and we can only do that with these sorts of funding announcements and that's why it’s so fantastic, $4.2 million going towards a really worthy town, to build Cooke Park up, to make it an even better place with this multi-purpose centre. This is so much the centre of everything that is Parkes for that Elvis Festival. And the main street of course anybody who's been here, and there are 25,000 visitors each and every year, descend upon Parkes enjoy everything that Gracelands has to offer, everything that Parkes has to offer. This is fantastic news and I'm just delighted that I'm just part of it.
QUESTION:
The footpath upgrades in Cowra, why was that one of the projects that you guys decided to support?
MICHAEL MCCORMACK:
Well it's always good to have level footpaths and with an ageing population, even indeed young people who might venture out of the pub late at night, we don't always look where we're going. I know myself sometimes we take a stumble, but that's always important to have good footpaths. It just improves the ambience of a town and improves the main street. We need to have these sort of things. We need to have good footpaths, we need to have good lighting, we need to have good multi-purpose centres. That's what this funding is going towards. It just improves the liveability of Parkes.
QUESTION:
The Inland Rail project, did that help Parkes get this additional funding?
MICHAEL MCCORMACK:
Well yes and no. I mean look Parkes ticked every box as far as this funding is concerned. The fact is that it has to meet a very strict criteria. The fact is that it gets looked at by the Department before it goes to the Ministerial Council level. The fact is that it is a very competitive process. Now we've funded 136 projects as part of this latest round. More than $200 million right across regional Australia. But the fact is Parkes had to measure up. Parkes did measure up, because of the good work done by its council. You can see the artist's impressions behind us, how good they look. How good they'll be when they're constructed, and I just can't wait to come out and turn the first sod, see the works in progress. It’s going to create local jobs. This is good for the town, it's good for building community capacity and I know that the local people are just going to love what they have when all the projects are finished.
QUESTION:
It’s been a busy time in politics. Any comment on whether Maguire should leave the Parliament?
MICHAEL MCCORMACK:
Well Daryl has done the wrong thing, he has admitted. He stood aside from his parliamentary positions. Of course he had to. He stood aside from the Liberal Party and he said that he's going to sit on the crossbench.
That's a matter for Daryl as to- I know he's always been somebody who has known what the community sentiment is. I'm sure he'll take readings in future weeks to see just what the community sentiment is and I'm sure he'll follow that sentiment through. But the ICAC process is not yet finished, the hearing is not yet over. And so let's see what that process uncovers. Let's see what decision the ICAC makes before rushing to any judgment on what he should do. And certainly, if the ICAC process- what the decision ends up with, I think Daryl will perhaps look at that outcome and perhaps make some more statements when that happens.
QUESTION:
So you’re reserving judgment on his next steps?
MICHAEL MCCORMACK:
Well I am because the process isn't finished yet. And to be fair to all concerned and whilst Daryl has admitted that he did the wrong thing and certainly the tapes weren't all that good listening, of course they weren't. And you know, a lot of people have been let down by what has come out and been uncovered in these tapes. But the fact is Daryl has always been- had a pretty close ear to community sentiment and I think he'll take some soundings on that community sentiment and make his own decision about that in the days and weeks ahead.
KEN KEITH:
I feel like I'm following Robert Wilson. Okay. Councillor Ken Keith, Mayor of Parkes Shire.
QUESTION:
Can you tell me, did you guys receive the full amount of funding that you applied for this?
KEN KEITH:
Yes we did. It’s an $8.5 million project, and council's committed to half of that and the Federal Government through the Building Better Regions Fund has contributed the other $8.25 million. So it’s great to have that support, and it’s…
MICHAEL MCCORMACK:
[Interrupts] $4.2 million. We’re not that generous, Ken, but that’s okay. I love you Ken, but not quite that much mate.
KEN KEITH:
Good try. Let me repeat that the Federal Government’s putting in half of it, which is $4.3 million, and then Parkes Council and hopefully some other funding possibilities as well will make- take the whole project cost to $8.5 million.
It’s a project that we’ve done in consultation with our community, it really has a two-fold benefit. One is to improve lower Clarinda Street to encourage business opportunities, better lighting, WiFi connections on the street lights, smart poles, better stormwater underneath Clarinda Street as well and better footpaths. That's one side of it, and the other side is the multi-purpose centre in Cooke Park which will encourage cultural events to come to our community - not just Elvis but at other times of the year as well - and create new events for Parkes and attract new people throughout town, and respect for wishes of our cultural community have been wanting some cultural space in our town.
QUESTION:
How long have they been asking for that?
KEN KEITH:
For many years now and that's why it's been a well-researched project and why it's received funding support, because our staff at council have done an excellent job in consultation with the community, seeking their desires and what they'd like and then putting a project together that's been able to attract this funding.
QUESTION:
When did those consultations start? How long ago did the conversations begin about this?
KEN KEITH:
Several years ago the conversation started with our CBD Vibrancy program and we actually did work in the centre of Parkes, in the centre part of the CBD, and this lower end of Clarinda Street straight on the southern side of the central business district will encourage businesses to move down to the southern end. So it's been several years in the making and we'll continue the work that we've already done.
QUESTION:
And the footpath upgrades, things like green spaces and new street lights and modern furniture, what sort of impact does that have on the community?
KEN KEITH:
Look, it has an amazing impact on the community. We have a lot more [indistinct] and elderly people using the footpaths, so they all need to be widened to accommodate them. The idea of smartphones with WiFi connections so people can use their phone and connect onto the internet just by being in Cooke Park while they're having a nice lunch under a tree, you know, to me would be a plus for the community as well. The fact that we have a multi-purpose centre that our community can use for cultural or art exhibitions, a range of things, dance exhibitions, you name it, we can hold in Cooke Park. That will enhance the whole feel of our community and enables our community to grow. It builds the cultural capacity of our community and we look forward to working with the Federal Government in enhancing the whole precinct so that we have a stronger community as a result.
QUESTION:
Wonderful, and do we have a timeline of when we could start to see things happening?
KEN KEITH:
Look it will start to happen very quickly because it's been very well planned, so it won't take long now to go out to tenders for multi-purpose centre, for our engineering staff to do our work on the road system. So it will all happen over the next one to two years.
QUESTION:
Wonderful. So we could say is there a year that we could say we could see it finished by?
KEN KEITH:
Look I’d imagine a two-year timeframe, we’ll see all that work completed.
QUESTION:
Wonderful. So two years, Elvis Festival, how would it be different?
KEN KEITH:
Well it’ll be different because Michael McCormack will have a new outfit then. And you'll see a reorientation of the Elvis Festival to that new stage precinct and it will be a very professional stage for the performers to be able to be on and I think the Elvis fans will think it's a wonderful new asset for our community.
QUESTION:
Like you said this has been a long time coming. How excited are you, yourself as Mayor and the community to finally see this happening?
KEN KEITH:
Well I have done a Toyota jump in the past and it’s one of those days where you feel like you should do one again.
MICHAEL MCCORMACK:
Oh go on, do it.
KEN KEITH:
Look we’re absolutely thrilled and we'd like to thank our local member, the Deputy Prime Minister, for remembering Parkes. We had a very good team to put the submission together and we had to be benchmarked against all the other projects around Australia. But certainly, it was great that he’s been able to recognise the work of our staff and our community and recognising their desires.
MICHAEL MCCORMACK:
[Sings] I got a whole lot of money that I'm ready to give…
KEN KEITH:
[Sings] Money, money, money. [Laughter]
QUESTION:
Where in the park is the stage going to be built?
KEN KEITH:
In the north-west corner.