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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2023-06-28 Daily Xml
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Adelaide Aquatic Centre

The Hon. V.A. TARZIA (Hartley) (14:32): My question is to the Minister for Infrastructure and Transport. Can the minister guarantee that all users of the current Adelaide Aquatic Centre will be redirected before the centre shuts down for works? With your leave, sir, and that of the house, I will explain.

Leave granted.

The Hon. V.A. TARZIA: On 23 June, a former swimming instructor, her name is Louise, told 891 AM radio:

I've been at the Aquatic Centre all this week because my children's school has been there doing the school program. There's no way they're going to be able to fit them in elsewhere.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS (West Torrens—Minister for Infrastructure and Transport, Minister for Energy and Mining) (14:33): We are doing our very best.

The Hon. D.G. Pisoni: That's it, is it?

The SPEAKER: Member for Unley!

The Hon. D.G. Pisoni: No guarantee.

The SPEAKER: Order!

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Member for Florey, order! Member for Adelaide!

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Florey is warned. The minister has the call.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: We took to the election a policy—

The Hon. V.A. Tarzia: Yes, we saw it—the one you deleted.

The SPEAKER: The member for Hartley is warned. The minister has the call.

The Hon. V.A. Tarzia interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, member for Hartley! You have asked the question, the minister is answering.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: My young friend is prematurely interjecting again.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

An honourable member interjecting:

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Do you think?

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: We took to the election a policy of offering two options to the people of South Australia. The overarching policy was a brand-new aquatic centre. The question that we were posing to the people of South Australia, especially in the seat of Adelaide, was that we would either build a new aquatic centre on the existing site, which naturally would have facilitated the closing of the site, or building on a new site—

The Hon. V.A. Tarzia interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Hartley is warned for a final time. The minister has the call.

The Hon. V.A. Tarzia interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Member for Hartley, you have asked the question and the minister has the call.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: We offered the public a choice, and they overwhelmingly opted to choose the Labor government's choice. We have now been implementing that policy. We initially wanted to have a site that was able to utilise the existing Aquatic Centre to remain open while we were building the new site. After having consulted with the local users of the Parklands and the people who use the Aquatic Centre, the difficult but best decision in the long term was to close the facility and utilise some of that site to build a new facility, which gives us a number of wins.

It gives us two playing fields a lot earlier to allow more activation of the Parklands faster and sooner. It gives us a better outcome in terms of the built form for the facility. We have made this decision well over a year in advance to try to help move and relocate people who use the pool, but there was always the risk that we would need to close the centre for a period of time.

Mr Cowdrey: Why did you commit to not doing it?

The SPEAKER: Member for Colton!

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Unlike members opposite—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! Member for Unley!

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: —what we did was take a comprehensive plan and inform people well in advance that this was a risk because what they are getting at the end of this is a brand-new aquatic centre that is world class, a great recreational centre that is going to help people not only get fit, healthy and active but learn to swim. It will incorporate the Parklands—

An honourable member interjecting:

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Yes, there will be water slides; that's right. People like using water slides. People like aquatic sports.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! Member for Elder!

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: I don't know what the aversion is to having fun. I don't know what the aversion is to using the Parklands. I don't know what the aversion is to being fit and healthy.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Member for Morialta!

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: It is a good outcome for young people.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: We are doing everything we can to try to utilise the other existing sites that we have to try to keep some of these services ongoing, but it is going to be difficult. We are making a tough decision for the long term. We are not going to make the easy choices: we are going to make the tough decision, and the tough decision is to close the centre, because it is the right one. We stand by that decision because we are going to get a better outcome at the end.

What the Premier wants us to do, what the Premier is demanding of us, is long-term thinking: not building on, sterilising, the expansion site for the RAH to try to save time and money. We are doing the right thing. What we are doing is building an aquatic centre that is going to last and making sure we get the right outcome for people.

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