Karoonda Area School Swimming Pool

Mr WHETSTONE (Chaffey) (15:42): I would like to speak about a list of things that you could purchase with almost $1½ million. The list is impressive: a 1960 Aston Martin; a private island off the Great Barrier Reef; a luxury catamaran (something I would like); and a trip to space; add that to your list. But also, for $1½ million, you could have the construction of the Karoonda Area School Pool. You are probably thinking that I have got my figures wrong. Surely it would not cost $1.423 million to replace a swimming pool in a small Mallee town.

The Department of Planning, Transport and Infrastructure has officially advised that replacing the school pool, used as a community pool, in the small town of Karoonda with a population of about 1,000 people will cost almost $1.5 million. There are 146 children at that area school. Following the deterioration of that area school swimming pool, the school's governing council wrote to the Department for Education and Child Development seeking assistance.

With much inaction from the state government, the school has faced two summers without a pool, with families forced to travel up to 100 kilometres in a round trip to the nearest pool to access important VACSWIM lessons, something that the Minister for Recreation and Sport says that every South Australian child deserves to have. The lack of action has left numerous children who have not been exposed to water, and therefore their swimming skills do not exist.

When the state government finally came to the party, the bill to replace—not to repair—the pool is $1.423 million, and it seems an exorbitant amount of money. I have been meeting and working with the state government to find practical solutions to this very important issue but, to date, common sense is not prevailing. I have obtained a quote from a Riverland-based business owner who has undertaken work at another school in the Riverland at Renmark North, which I am advised was in worse condition than the facility at Karoonda. The local quote came back at—get this—$110,000. Not $1.423 million, but $110,000, which seems a far cry from the DPTI quote.

The school has formed a working committee consisting of the Karoonda Area School governing council chairperson, the Karoonda Area School principal, the council CEO, and a community representative, Morris Terell, who I have been working with closely. This group will find a way forward with the pool. One of my main concerns revolves around the failure to provide me with a breakdown of how the department has come to the figure of nearly $1.5 million for a pool replacement.

I have made numerous requests, and still no transparency in this regard. My past experience in these matters has found the state government prefers to use its own contractors who do not live in their community and are, instead, based in Adelaide; and the leave loading, the travel and freight, is astronomical. In this case, the business that has taken a full concept design and cost analysis report is based in Adelaide. The $1.423 million rebuild of this pool would meet the minimum standards and requirements, but nothing more.

DPTI has put forward a suggestion to transfer the pool as an asset to the community through the council. This is a huge undertaking for a very small community, particularly given the ongoing maintenance for the school/community pool. The council's revenue is about $1 million in total, so it is just uneconomical to see that the council can pick up the tab on this.

I am aware that the Karoonda East Murray council already makes a significant contribution to the Karoonda Area School, and the general view of the community is that the state government's replacement quote is exorbitant and heavily loaded. In a letter received from the education minister, she stated:

The principal has also been advised that the department would consider any business case put forward regarding a contribution towards funding a pool project. The principal was advised by the Executive Director of Infrastructure, Mr Ross Treadwell, that if the pool could be repaired for approximately $200,000-$300,000, the department would have done so.

The minister went on to say that it is '…reasonable to assume that a figure such as this could be used as a contribution from DECD, subject to approvals and the pool meeting all relevant standards.' Essentially, the minister is saying that the state government would prefer to divest of this asset rather than address it. It is an absolute shame that a small Mallee community can go two summers without a pool. We now have DPTI saying that they would rather rebuild than repair, and it is not their responsibility. Shame on them!