State MP Jade Benham Fights for Regional Speedway & Mildura Motorplex

Victorian MP Pushes for Mildura Motorplex Funding While Nomad Dirt Culture Rallies Over 100K Impressions for Junior World Champion Blake Schlein

LOCATION: BRISBANE, QLD / MILDURA, VIC

A systemic national media failure has reached the floor of the Victorian Parliament. As mainstream television networks and metropolitan newsrooms ignored Team Australia’s historic FIM Speedway World Cup victory in Warsaw, Poland—led by regional icons like Brady Kurtz—and overlooked 13-year-old Mildura native Blake Schlein winning the SGP4 World Championship in Sweden, State Member for Mildura Jade Benham MP joined independent publisher Nomad Dirt Culture (NDC) to demand national recognition.

Addressing Parliament directly, Benham formally recognized Schlein’s world title, linked motorsport facility upgrades to regional economic development, and gave a voice to grassroots racing families across Australia:

"And then there is Blake... At just 12 years old, Blake Schlein has become a World Champion on two wheels, winning the SGP4 World Championship in Sweden last month..."

— Jade Benham MP, Member for Mildura (Addressing Victorian Parliament)

Highlighting the urgent necessity of dedicated regional sporting facility backing, Benham continued on the parliamentary floor:

"Infrastructure funding... Where we could finally build that Mildura Motorplex and keep putting World Champions on tracks!"

— Jade Benham MP, Member for Mildura (Addressing Victorian Parliament)

In subsequent public commentary on NDC's platform regarding the broader media neglect of regional athletes, Benham reinforced her commitment to Australia's dirt-track community:

"As I have said from quite literally day 1 in this job: 'In Mildura, we put food on your plate and champions on racetracks!' We continue to do it, and it continues to go unrecognized in mainstream media unfortunately... I regularly recognize our Motorsport champions in Parliament... And I put out media releases to mainstream media and they still don’t pick it up."

— Jade Benham MP, Member for Mildura & Co-Founder, Parliamentary Friends of Motorsport

Delivering the Platform Mainstream Outlets Refused to Provide

While legacy news desks remained silent on Team Australia's international triumphs, Nomad Dirt Culture broke the historic news of Schlein’s World Championship victory directly to the global racing community.

Read article here. 

Delivering the Platform Mainstream Outlets Refused to Provide

While legacy news desks remained silent on Team Australia's international triumphs, Nomad Dirt Culture broke the historic news of Schlein’s World Championship victory directly to the global racing community.

NDC’s dedicated journalism covering Schlein’s victory generated over 87.7K+ direct views, 1,757 likes, and 88 detailed comments on a single post, pushing total digital coverage for the Australian junior SGP4 World Championship squad past 100,000+ total impressions. This audience engagement demonstrates that public demand for authentic grassroots motorsport coverage is massive, despite metropolitan media neglect.

The Parliamentary Record vs. Network Silence

Benham’s parliamentary motion celebrating Schlein, alongside her explicit call for dedicated facility funding for the proposed Mildura Motorplex and ongoing advocacy for multi-time Australian Superbike (ASBK) Champion Josh Waters, places Mildura's dirt track legacy directly onto the official Hansard record.

The alignment between state parliamentarians and direct-to-audience digital media signals a permanent structural shift in Australian sports coverage. Independent platforms now hold the national reach required to ensure regional athletes and facility demands receive institutional visibility.

"When state parliamentarians cannot get a 13-year-old Australian World Champion onto the evening news, the legacy media system is broken," stated Jocelyn Dare, Founder and Publisher of Nomad Dirt Culture. "We were proud to announce Blake’s world title to over 100,000 people. We don't ask legacy media for permission to cover our champions; we bring their victories straight to the fans."

The Federal Funding Void: A 125-Year Legacy Ignored

The ongoing blackout surrounding Australian speedway raises a critical policy question for national sports administrators: If regional Australia consistently produces World Champions from age 12 to the senior international stage, why is Canberra looking the other way?

Despite speedway’s roots dating back to 1901 making it an Australian sporting code as old as Rugby League and Cricket, grassroots motorsport facilities continue to be excluded from major Federal sports infrastructure grants. Benham’s parliamentary motion and NDC’s archived 1901 merit documents highlight an undeniable reality: Australia’s motorsport heritage is world-class, but without Federal backing for regional hubs like the proposed Mildura Motorplex, the burden of keeping Aussie champions on global podiums falls entirely on local communities and independent media.

MEDIA CONTACT & EDITORIAL DESK

Nomad Dirt Culture Desk | Independent Motorsport Journalism. Email: info@nomaddirtculture.com 

IMAGE CREDITS & ATTRRIBUTION

• Action Imagery: Courtesy of Brady Kurtz Racing (Team Australia — FIM Speedway World Cup, Warsaw, Poland).

• Political Portrait & Footage: Official Parliamentary Portrait courtesy of Jade Benham MP (Member for Mildura via Facebook). Used under editorial news reporting rights.

Legal Notice: Published under Sections 41 & 42 of the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth) for public interest news reporting.