Anthony Albanese, Infrastructure and Local Government Minister, and Senator Chris Evans, Minister for Immigration and Citizenship, have announced the Rudd Labor Government will offer $2 million to commence the new civic centre library and community centre on South Terrace in South Perth.

Senator Evans made the announcement with City of South Perth Mayor James Best.

The Rudd Government is making a strategic contribution to bring this $17.9 million project together.

The funding is part of our $800 million Community Infrastructure Program - the largest one-off investment in local infrastructure in Australia's history.

The Government is committed to supporting jobs and local economies during the global economic recession by investing in major community infrastructure projects.

The project, which is being managed by the City of South Perth, will upgrade the existing library and replace the civic centre with a new multi-purpose community centre.

The library and multipurpose community hub will also deliver better services and up-to-date technology for the local community, including schools, families and community groups,

Once completed, the redevelopments will:

•  Increase floor space in the library by 50 per cent to allow a substantial expansion of the library collection and services, and to make it more accessible to patrons; and


•  Redevelop the existing community centre to enable more flexible use by replacing numerous small rooms with two larger multipurpose halls.

The centre is expected to house community organisations including an adult learning centre, a child health clinic and a community group resource hub.

The recently announced funding builds on the $215,000 in new funding we have already delivered to the City of South Perth for two local infrastructure projects.

More than 3,000 community projects are being funded by the Rudd Labor Government across Australia to support jobs and deliver long-term benefits in communities.