Page 2864 - Week 08 - Wednesday, 14 August 2019
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
It is a safety issue, really, and the government did point out really strongly yesterday—
this was on Thursday after the briefing—
just how poor the facilities are actually under the pool. So when you walk into the pool complex, it is actually a nice complex. It has been well maintained over the years. But when you get down into the pit under the actual pool where all the actual machinery is that drives the entire complex, it is a massive issue, and in fact I am concerned that any staff member is allowed to go under the pool if it is as bad as they say.
Mrs Dunne is claiming that public servants are effectively lying about this and that it is not as bad as they say. I am not willing to accept that position. Ms Davey went on to say:
We are certainly going to have to work on an interim measure. If the pool needs to close sooner rather than later, we have to find basically like for like, so we can move the members—and the community has evolved—to another venue until such a time that another pool becomes available. It is not going to be easy. On both sides, we are very keen to find a solution that deals with the issue now, gets us through until a good new pool can be put in place, but so that we can all get on that, get on too.
I agree with that. It is not going to be easy. It is not ideal. As I said yesterday, politically the easiest thing for me to do would be to stand in this place and say, “Yes, we will keep the pool open until a new pool is built.” In good conscience, on the advice that I have from Canberra Health Services about the risks, I cannot do that.
It is time to accept the facts that are on the table, to accept the advice of our professional public servants, rather than accuse them effectively of lying to us, and to work with the community to find a constructive path forward. That is what is going to reduce confusion and anxiety among those pool users, not a constant effort to shift the goalposts and ask for something else every time the government commits to something that the Assembly has already asked for and is working towards delivering.
As I said in my statement yesterday, I thank Arthritis ACT and its members very much for the positive way in which they have engaged, particularly the way in which they engaged with the Nous Group consultants for this work, and for their attendance, interest and feedback at last week’s briefing. I very much look forward to working constructively with Arthritis ACT and its members to meet their needs, both in the short term and in the longer term.
MS LE COUTEUR (Murrumbidgee) (10.47): I very much thank Mrs Dunne for bringing forward this motion today. I have to disagree with the minister here. It is not actually the Liberals who are causing this problem, and I think that it was really inappropriate for the minister to attempt to shoot the messenger on this one. I have heard this message as well, and I must admit I was both pleased and shocked when I read the Nous report and their first recommendation that there had to be better
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video