Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has allocated A$120,000 (approximately P4.6 million) for the construction of 2.2-hectare Rizal Park in the city of Campbelltown, New South Wales, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said.

In a report to Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo, Consul General Eva G. Betita said the empty reserve hectare property owned by the Campbelltown City government will be developed to become the Rizal Park in Australia.

In June 2007, Campbelltown, a prosperous industrial-agricultural town home which is home to about 4,108 Australian-Filipinos, formally designated the Rizal Park reserve into a park that will be funded by the city council.

The grant provided by Rudd will be used for the initial construction of the park, to include a playground and picnic facilities, Betita said. The Consul General said the Rizal Park project is also expecting another A$140,000 (P5.4 million) from the Campbelltown city council for further improvements.

Last May 29, the construction plan for the park was presented to Campbelltown Mayor Russell Matheson, Philippine Consul General Eva G. Betita, Rizal Park Movement chair Lourdes Kaiser, Knight Commander Maximilio Lopez of the Knights of Rizal, and members of the Filipino-Australian Community in Campbelltown.

Since 1988, the project has been pushed by the Rizal Park Movement, a group of five Filipino-Australian associations that banded together in 2006 to have the property named Rizal Park. The group is planning to further improve the park with tree-planting and landscaping and the construction of shade structures, barbecue facilities, car parking, and a cycle way.

The Order of the Knights of Rizal in New South Wales, on the other hand, has also committed to commission a statue of Dr. José Rizal to be placed prominently in the area.

“The Philippine Consulate General in Sydney has been assisting the Rizal Park Movement’s project through endorsements and gathering support from other Filipino-Australian associations throughout the state of New South Wales,” Betita said.