APY Lands

The Hon. S.G. WADE (14:37): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking questions of the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation relating to the Amata pool.

Leave granted.

The Hon. S.G. WADE: On 8 December last year, I asked the minister a series of questions in relation to the Amata swimming pool and the annual funding provided by the Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation Division of the Department of State Development to cover the pool's operational costs. On that occasion, in other words 8 December 2015, the minister give a commitment to seek that information and bring back an answer. When on 9 February this year an answer had not been provided and the Amata pool had been closed for over four months, I again brought the matter to the attention of the minister.

On that occasion, my questions to the minister focused on whether any of the annual allocation for operating the pool had been redirected for the purpose of providing alternative recreation activities for the children of Amata, particularly during the school holiday period, and whether any of the allocation not spent by 30 June this year, including unspent wages, would be returned to the Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation program, or whether it would be handed back to Treasury.

Once again, the minister said that he was happy to take that on notice and bring back a reply about any unspent funding. As I said, that was on 9 February. Almost five months later a reply has not been provided to either question. My questions are:

1. On how many days was the Amata pool open last financial year?

2. How much of the funding that the Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation program allocated to the Amata pool for the 2015-16 financial year was spent on other activities, and what were those activities?

3. How much of the annual allocation remained unspent as at 30 June and was this money returned to Treasury?

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Minister for Employment, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation, Minister for Manufacturing and Innovation, Minister for Automotive Transformation, Minister for Science and Information Economy) (14:39): I thank the honourable member for his question in relation to the Amata pool. I will double-check this, but if my memory serves me correctly, the day-to-day running of the pool is done through the education department. I will get that double-checked. In relation to the amount of spending, I am certain that the answers to the questions that the honourable member has previously asked are being investigated, but now that we are at the end of the financial year, once end of financial year figures are known, I will make sure they are incorporated into an answer that is brought back with the previous question the honourable member has asked.