State election 2019: Liberals promise $25 million indoor sports centre at Hillsborough

Parliamentary secretary for the Hunter Scot MacDonald was joined at Thursday's announcement in Hillsborough by Lake Macquarie independent member Greg Piper, Basketball Australia deputy chairman David Reid, Newcastle Basketball general manager Neil Goffet and former Olympian Terry Charlton.

Broadmeadow has been the home of Newcastle Basketball since 1969.

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"I'm very pleased to see this announcement and I think it's a game changer, not just for basketball but for indoor sports across the Hunter," Mr MacDonald said.

"The facilities we've got here now are mixed if you like, some of them are aging. 

"And it's in a great location, right next to the bypass."

Mr Piper echoed these sentiments and said he was "very happy" that Mr MacDonald and NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian "listened and committed the funding".  

Mr Charlton described it as a "once in a lifetime opportunity" for Newcastle Basketball.

The new venue would have 10 courts and feature a 4000-seat stadium, also opening the door for a potential Women's National Basketball League franchise.

"We have worked very hard to get to this point and we will continue to liase with government to get the best outcome for our members," Mr Goffet said. 

"Our current facility is falling down around us, so to have a commitment like this is amazing and we really hope that the $25 million can be included in the June budget and we can get this project started as soon as possible." 

There was no confirmation about what would happen to the existing basketball stadium at Broadmeadow if the new facility went ahead.

A $5 million upgrade for the current Newcastle site had been pledged by the state government in October, 2016.  

Mr Reid asked for the issue to be "depoliticised" and called on Labor to match the commitment. 

Last week Labor MPs Tim Crakanthorp (Newcastle), Jodie Harrison (Charlestown) and Sonia Hornery (Wallsend) promised to establish a $6 million Newcastle-Wollongong Sports Facility Fund to address the current gap between the Regional Sports Infrastructure Fund and the Greater Sydney Sports Facility Fund.