Strathmont Pool

The Hon. R.P. WORTLEY (14:38): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking a question of the Minister for Human Services regarding the Strathmont Pool.

Leave granted.

The Hon. R.P. WORTLEY: The minister is on record regarding her commitment to close the Strathmont pool in January 2019, which is only next month. I am very grateful to the many family members, friends and clients of the Strathmont pool for making themselves available today in the chamber.

The closure of the pool will see some 1,500 swimmers forced to cease swimming or relocate, including about 700 children living with a disability. Parents of children with a disability have confirmed that, due to the increased costs and travel time to alternative pools, many of these children living with disabilities who use swimming lessons for socialisation, relaxation and therapy will now only have access on a severely restricted basis. Can the minister update the house as to what measures she has taken to ensure that children living with disability, for whom the Strathmont pool is a critical asset, are properly catered for once she has closed the pool?

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK (Minister for Human Services) (14:39): I thank the honourable member for his question. The Strathmont pool was originally built in the 1970s as part of the Strathmont Centre's recreational facilities, catering for hundreds of institutionalised residents. As successive state governments have supported integrating people with disability into the broader community, resident numbers declined and other groups were allocated access to the pool.

Since 2014, in light of the Strathmont Centre's planned closure, six-monthly user agreements were put in place for private, non-government and government organisations to use the pool. Those short terms, given the limited life of the ageing pool, were to encourage forward planning for alternative arrangements and to avoid leaving people stranded should pool facilities fail due to unpredictable longevity of parts and equipment.

During July, user groups were given the final six-monthly notice period that they had previously requested. The Department of Human Services staff have supported user groups to relocate to alternative facilities that suit their needs, and I think many users have been grateful for the period of time that the pool has been able to be kept open. The pool could fail at any time and the government is not in a position to provide an extension indefinitely. The pool was closed already in April earlier this year due to certain problems. The advice from my department is that the pool cannot continue to remain open because it will continue to fail and needs to be closed.

The Strathmont site is located in an area of particularly reactive soils. There are a number of buildings on that site that have had to be closed over the years and there are a number of very significant structures around and in the pool, which mean that it is going to continue to be a problem, so any works—and there were some quite recently. In October, there was a gas leak which had to be managed as well.

There are a range of problems with the pool that mean that it could fail at any time. For instance, they include the pool water heater which is now over 10 years old and could fail. The pumps are not turning over the required volume of water and they also require replacing. The scum gutters were recently sealed and repainted as an interim solution. They will fail over time and a long-term replacement is estimated to cost about $200,000. It has been recommended that the pool be lined with a PVC liner instead of retiling. The budget estimate for this is $40,000. There are several cracked PVC pipes—

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN: Point of order, Mr President: the question was about alternative provisions for children with disability, so my point of order is relevance.

The PRESIDENT: Minister, please attempt to answer the question but you have some latitude.

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK: Mr President, I have actually responded to that in the sense that the department has been working through these matters with each of the user groups to find alternatives. There are four user groups. They have a number of people within their organisation who use the pool, so those alternatives that the department has found are where their clients will be going.

If I could just continue, several cracked PVC pipes underneath the pool have recently caused major water loss. This is going to require replacement of the underground pipework. The electrical distribution board, which is original from when the centre was built in the late 1960s, needs to be upgraded.

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN: Point of order, Mr President.

The PRESIDENT: Is this on relevance?

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN: It is on relevance.

The PRESIDENT: Minister, you are getting to a point where I don't think the council wants to hear a full litany of repairs to this pool. Is there anything else you wish to add in response to the honourable member's questions?

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK: I would just like to add that it is important that those user groups work with the Department of Human Services which, in good faith, has been assisting them to find alternatives. My understanding is that, as recently as yesterday, each of the organisations who provide services to individuals in the community has been provided with those alternatives. I think it is very disappointing that the Labor Party, having known that this pool is due to close—it was planned to close while they were in government—now is trying to—

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order! I can't hear the minister.

The Hon. D.W. Ridgway: You ran the pool like you ran the state's economy.

The PRESIDENT: The Hon. Mr Ridgway, have you finished?

The Hon. D.W. Ridgway: Only partially, but I'll sit and wait.

The PRESIDENT: It's your minister trying to speak. I can't hear your minister with you screaming.

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK: The Labor opposition is trying to give people false hope that this pool can be kept open. The pool will continue—

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order! Leader of the Opposition, please.

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK: Mr President, I assume that, should the pool heater fail, which is a definite possibility, it means that we can't continue to heat the pool and therefore provide the chemical protection that participants need, something that the Labor Party supports. They believe that it is appropriate that a pool which is potentially unsafe is something that we should—

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order! The Hon. Mr Hunter, please stop engaging in a conversation with the Hon. Mr Lucas.

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK: I'm assuming that is the Labor Party's position, that a pool which could become unsafe through the list of matters that I have raised is an appropriate place for us to continue to provide services to children and other users with disabilities. My department has worked through each of those user groups. It is their advice that each of them has worked on and worked towards an alternative. So all the hundreds of people who are using that pool will have another place to go.

I am very disappointed in the local member and I'm very disappointed in the shadow minister for human services, who have not explained this in a calm way to the families who are affected. It is inappropriate. They should have been encouraging all of the user groups to continue to engage with my department so that we would not reach a point where people would be disappointed that they would not have a pool to go to. Those alternatives have been provided, is the advice from my department.

The Hon. I.K. Hunter interjecting:

The Hon. R.P. WORTLEY: Supplementary.

The PRESIDENT: The Hon. Mr Hunter, you're showing disrespect to the Hon. Mr Wortley.

The Hon. R.P. WORTLEY: Due to the fact that—

The PRESIDENT: I haven't given you permission to speak yet.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Can the government benches—

The Hon. R.P. Wortley: See, it's a big joke, across the aisle, about these poor kids.

The PRESIDENT: This is not an engagement, the Hon. Mr Wortley.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Can the government benches please stay calm. The Hon. Mr Wortley, let's hear your supplementary.