Page 2859 - Week 08 - Wednesday, 14 August 2019
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By contrast, we in the opposition have learnt much. We have learnt how many people are affected by arthritis. We have learnt just how transformative and life-changing hydrotherapy is for sufferers. We have learnt that hydrotherapy offers more than physical relief; it offers social engagement and a connection amongst a group which suffers from social isolation. We have learnt that the benefits of hydrotherapy extend well beyond the arthritis community. We have learnt, in short, just how much the community values hydrotherapy.
We have learnt, by contrast, that this Labor-Greens government has learnt nothing and ignored everything about the importance of hydrotherapy in the community. We learnt last week, and it was reinforced yesterday, that the new minister is infected with the same malaise as her predecessor on this issue.
The purpose of my motion is to call on the minister to give to Arthritis ACT and the people who use the hydrotherapy pool at the Canberra Hospital an unequivocal, unqualified guarantee that it will not close until a suitable, equipped and specified pool is available for use on Canberra’s south side. The thing that this minister and this Labor-Greens government must learn is that this issue will not go away for them until they make that commitment—make a commitment to a new south side pool or the government changes. So that we can finally have some certainty as to the future, I call on the minister to report to the Assembly on the government’s plan for a future facility on the south side by the date set out in the motion.
The importance of hydrotherapy to the people of the ACT in general, and the importance to those people who will be isolated if this pool closes, cannot be understated. That is why the Liberal opposition is back here today speaking about these matters. I commend the motion to the Assembly.
MS STEPHEN-SMITH (Kurrajong—Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs, Minister for Children, Youth and Families, Minister for Disability, Minister for Employment and Workplace Safety, Minister for Health and Minister for Urban Renewal) (10.33): I thank Mrs Dunne for bringing this motion to the Assembly. Yesterday I responded to the Assembly’s previous resolution about hydrotherapy services in Canberra, so I will keep my remarks brief today. I first move the amendment that has been circulated in my name:
Omit all text after paragraph (1)(a), substitute:
“(b) the Nous Group found that it is ‘implausible that the [Canberra Hospital hydrotherapy] pool can be kept open considering the on-the-record safety and suitability conclusions that have been drawn by responsible managers in the ACT public sector’;
(c) that, in line with Recommendation 1 of the Report, the ACT Health Directorate held a briefing for Arthritis ACT members and users of The Canberra Hospital hydrotherapy pool on 7 August 2019 to present the Nous report and to enable Canberra Health Services to directly outline their concerns about the current condition and safety issues with the pool;
(d) that, in line with Recommendation 2 of the Report, the Health Directorate will work with Arthritis ACT to discuss the terms of the existing Service
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