CONSTITUENCY STATEMENTS

Mr SOON (Banks) (16:09): Over the October long weekend, I held the first Banks Community Cup Table Tennis Tournament, bringing together 64 participants and more than 50 spectators in Penshurst for some lighthearted social competition. Table tennis is more popular in the electorate of Banks than you might expect, especially amongst our diaspora communities. The tournament was a great success with father-son duo Garry and Stephen Kwong emerging victorious in an incredibly close final with second place finishers Rodney Forrester and Mark Lancaster.

I'd like to register my thanks to everyone who helped make today possible, including the St George & Sutherland Shire Table Tennis Association and the Georges River Association for the incredible assistance. On 3 October, I had the pleasure of attending a spring luncheon in celebration of the 80th anniversary of the Padstow RSL subbranch alongside the state member for East Hills, Kylie Wilkinson.

For eight decades, the Padstow subbranch has provided much-needed support and camaraderie for local veterans. During the celebrations, we also had the opportunity to dedicate a new memorial cabinet, which was made possible by a grant of $10,000 from the federal government as part of round 9 of the Stronger Communities Program. I'd like to express my thanks to the subbranch president, Trevor Young, and the club president, John Evans, for putting together such a great celebration for 80 years of service.

Finally, my community is benefiting from the Labor government's decision to double the Roads to Recovery Program to $1 billion annually for the current five-year funding cycle. Across the suburbs of Padstow, Revesby, Panania and East Hills this year, there are five projects funded by the Roads to Recovery Program that are either complete or underway—the most in a single year since 2015, with funding totalling more than $1.2 million.

These projects are not all the federal government is doing for local infrastructure in the electorate of Banks, with the Black Spot Program, funding for Marco Avenue in Panania, funding delivered for stage 1B of the Henry Lawson Drive upgrade in Milperra and funding to fulfil the commitment we made to the community in 2022 that would fix the Revesby Police Station intersection that has been a problem for decades in our community.

This government is delivering for our community of Banks, fixing roads, fixing infrastructure and making sure our community has the infrastructure and the support that it needs.