Page 2867 - Week 08 - Wednesday, 14 August 2019
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We note that the minister has accepted that additional resources may need to be found to assist pool users to access different alternatives in terms of transport, the costs of accessing private facilities and potentially pool safety staff. Working with Arthritis ACT and other stakeholders, listening to their needs, is going to be key to ensuring suitable outcomes in both the short term and the long term.
We acknowledge the issues raised by the Nous report and the minister about the ongoing viability of the pool at THC and we acknowledge that the use of the pool is not sustainable in the long term, which means, of course, that long-term solutions need to be found for south side residents. Whether or not some people use the pool for maintenance therapy and some people use it for other purposes is not really the issue and it is not good enough that a pool is available on the north side. The reality is that the Canberra Hospital pool is used regularly by people on the south side for their health and wellbeing.
Options have to be found to provide access to suitable facilities on the south side for those who need it on an ongoing basis. Continuity of access is necessary. The need for therapy does not stop, unfortunately, just because a facility is no longer available. We very much welcome the minister’s plans to investigate market sounding for the development of a new pool in the south of Canberra and we welcome very much the minister’s amendment acknowledging that this will require additional funding to secure access to the private facilities and/or transport. This is the key to this motion.
Almost certainly, the new solution will cost more than the current costs. Many users are not in a position to drive long distances to access hydrotherapy or take the sort of time that Mrs Dunne pointed out may be taken by some users in the deep south to access the new facilities on the north side. Some people are on low incomes and simply cannot afford to pay more for their hydrotherapy.
The commitment to keep the pool open in the short term while work continues to be done to find and fund long-term solutions is welcome. Some clarity in the minister’s next update about the time line for closure and information about the plans for long-term solutions and how individuals have been accommodated—I think that is the word—would be very much appreciated not just by this Assembly but I think even more so by the affected community. And of course information about the continuing engagement with the users of the pool in the short and long-term options and time frames would be useful.
I thank Ms Stephen-Smith for her amendment, which made some useful points about the need for additional funding to achieve an outcome that is going to work for everybody, and I sincerely thank Mrs Dunne for bringing this matter back to the Assembly.
MRS JONES (Murrumbidgee) (10.59): I thank Mrs Dunne for bringing this important motion to the Assembly today and for her ongoing efforts in standing up for the hydrotherapy users at the Canberra Hospital. I thank Ian and Minh, here with us today, and all those watching online. The minister says there have been discussions at cross-purposes. That is a way of escaping blame, to some extent, by saying it has been a reasonable misunderstanding.
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