Halls Creek's football oval
Grievance
Ms Divina D'Anna (Kimberley—Parliamentary Secretary) (9:39 am): I rise today to speak on a grievance that goes to the heart of community life in the Kimberley—the unfinished and unusable state of Halls Creek's football oval. I thank the Minister for Sport and Recreation for taking my grievance. This is not just a matter of turf and goalposts; it is an issue that touches on community wellbeing, youth engagement, local pride and future opportunities available to the people of Halls Creek.
For two consecutive football seasons, the town has been left without a functioning oval, and the impact is deeply felt. Sport is one of the great community connectors across our state, but in regional Western Australia, and especially in places like the Kimberley, its value cannot be overstated. In communities where distance is vast and services are limited, sport fills a vital gap. It provides structure, motivation and purpose. It keeps young people engaged and safe, and it strengthens the ties between families, generations and towns. Sport teaches our kids resilience, teamwork, commitment and confidence. It builds leadership and creates positive role models, but, most importantly, it creates belonging, a sense of identity and community pride. This is why football holds such a special place in Halls Creek. It is more than just a pastime; it is the beating heart of that community. It is central to the South East Kimberley Football League, which brings together proud teams from across the region: the Halls Creek Hawks, the Yardgee Dockers, Yiyili Power, Kurrungku Roos, Wirrimanu Tigers, Mulan Saints and the Kundat Jaru Cats. These clubs are more than teams; they represent communities, families and cultural identity, and each carries its own story, colours and, of course, pride.
When a young person pulls on a jumper, they are not just joining a team but stepping onto a pathway that runs from junior football to senior competition, and, for a remarkable number of people from this tiny town, all the way to elite-level AFL and AFLW careers. Halls Creek has produced some extraordinary athletes. Players like Sam Petrevski-Seton, Jy Farrar, Shane McAdam, Ash Johnson and Krystel Petrevski have shown the entire nation what Kimberley talent looks like when given the opportunity to thrive. Their achievements are a source of enormous pride, for not just Halls Creek, but the whole region. It is no surprise some have even called Halls Creek a football factory, where scouts from across the nation come to see potential talents.
These success stories really demonstrate that when you invest in regional communities and give young people good facilities, coaching and opportunities, they rise, push boundaries and show what is possible. The Halls Creek oval has always been central to that story. It has never been just a playing field; it is a meeting place and a gathering space where families come together, kids run freely, grandparents cheer from the sidelines and the whole community comes alive under the dry season sun. It is where big games, celebrations, carnivals and cultural events bring the town together. It is where the entire South East Kimberley Football League look forward to meeting in friendly rivalry and shared pride. That is why it has been so devastating to see the oval remain unusable and unfinished for two footy seasons. For two years, the Hawks and other teams have had no home ground, no dedicated place to train and no way to maintain the rhythm and momentum that keeps a team strong. For two years, a central part of community life has been taken away.
The passion of players and supporters is always something that is talked about in Halls Creek. The spirit of Halls Creek is get down, knock down and get back up stronger; fight hard, stay proud and stay together. Even the strongest team and the strongest community cannot thrive without the basic facilities it needs. Our government understands the importance of investing in regional sport, and we have shown this commitment across the Kimberley. Ovals in Looma, Warmun and Fitzroy Crossing have all received upgrades to support their communities. Funding has been delivered for Halls Creek as well. In 2023, the government provided over $595,000 towards the oval upgrade project, along with the additional Club Night Lights Program to upgrade lighting. These investments were made because we understand how important the oval is to the town and how central it is to youth engagement, safety, community connection and future opportunity.
Despite this funding, the works have stalled. These upgrades are incomplete, and the oval remains unusable. That is extremely disheartening for local football families and the entire Halls Creek community. It is also deeply felt across the wider South East Kimberley Football League in which every club knows what it means to travel great distances just to play the game they love, and every community values the chance to come together on safe, well-maintained grounds. Every season that passes without a home ground is an opportunity lost. A season without local games and home crowds was a chance for young kids to see their heroes play on their own country and a season without the pride that comes from defending home turf.
This grievance is not about pointing fingers but recognising urgency. The oval is not a luxury but an essential community facility and a pathway for young people. It is a foundation for wellbeing, safety and identity. After two lost seasons, the community deserves answers and a plan. Finishing the Halls Creek oval must be treated as a priority—not a priority of next year or the year after but now. I asked the minister whether there is a way the state can work more closely with the Shire of Halls Creek to get this project back on track, whether through additional support, clearer coordination or a refreshed project plan so the oval can be completed before the 2026 football season. At the end of the day, this is not just about sport; it is about giving people positive environments and healthy pathways and supporting a community that gives so much and asks for so little. We must continue to recognise the importance of regional communities and ensure that projects that we see as priorities are seen through to the end. The Halls Creek oval is more than just a field. It is a foundation of community identity, pride, strength and opportunity. The people of Halls Creek deserve to see it finished. They deserve a football season and a home ground again. They deserve to know that their government stands with them.
I thank the minister for taking this grievance.
Ms Rita Saffioti (West Swan—Minister for Sport and Recreation) (9:45 am): I thank the member for Kimberley for that grievance. As we all know, sport is an integral part of the community, particularly regional communities like Halls Creek, where distance means people do not have choices in where they can play.
We know the incredible football talent that has been produced from the Kimberley. I was at the Dhara Kerr Awards night, when Krystel Petrovski was awarded the Dhara Kerr Medal, a huge achievement for the Subiaco footy player, a past West Coast and Melbourne player. She is an incredible product of the Kimberley and is now working for the West Australian Football Commission in Kununurra. Again, the Kimberley is an incredible nursery of incredible football talent. I am very keen to see how we can support players in the community.
The member for Kimberley has been dealing with this issue for a while. I am very happy that we have been working on it very productively. To put it simply, the key is how we can get this oval finished and get it into a condition that allows the community to access this oval and play on it once again. As the member outlined, the Shire of Halls Creek received a Community Sporting and Recreation Facilities Fund grant of $600,000 a number of years back to upgrade that turf and irrigation. A lot of work has been underway trying to deliver that project, but, unfortunately, that project has not been delivered and the oval has not yet got its turf. We know that each season the oval does not have turf means a whole group of people do not get to play. That is a very negative outcome, particularly, as I said, in communities in which there are no alternative choices nearby. We appreciate the unique challenges of places like the Kimberley. As the member outlined, the community was very disappointed, and the Halls Creek Hawks are facing the possibility of a third season without the oval, a prospect the entire Halls Creek community faces.
I am very pleased to announce, as a result of the member's strong advocacy, continued lobbying and work with us, that we will work to ensure that the oval is up and running for the next footy season. We will be providing additional funding to the Shire of Halls Creek. As I have outlined to both the member for Kimberley and the member for Roe, some of these projects have received funding, but then things happen and they fall short, and projects basically do not progress. I am very invested in making sure we can finish those projects and make sure that we allocate funding to finish those half-done projects, or projects that have not been completed. That is why, for example, we accommodated some works in Esperance. This is another example of how I would rather prioritise the projects we started and finish them.
We have been working on a solution, and our funding will allow roll-on turf to complete the project in early 2026. Additional money, all up, $1 million, will be committed to the Halls Creek project and that will facilitate the roll-on turf to make sure the oval is ready. There are other options, but that again would not have facilitated that project being ready for next season. The member for Kimberley has been at us constantly on this and we are very, very pleased that we are being able to return sport to the oval for next year.
As we all know, sport in communities is, first of all, a great thing to do both mentally and physically. It also brings communities together. In Halls Creek, which has not had an oval for two years, this will allow us to get on and deliver that project. It is a lot of money, but it is money well spent to make sure there is a quality oval to be played on as soon as possible. There are some financial transactions that need to occur in relation to how we fund this, but it is going to be more than $1 million of commitments from the state government to get this project done.
