Page 3217 - Week 09 - Tuesday, 19 August 2008
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the tiling of the pool were not adequately addressed, such that a problem presented itself over the life of the pool in that tiles would come loose. That created a number of issues for public safety. Upon draining the pool and undertaking a full geotechnical analysis as to whether it was ground movement that was responsible for the tile popping, that work has concluded that tiling is an appropriate response but that a specific sort of tile that needed to be sourced from overseas would be appropriate.
The project manager has, amongst his work, a pool for the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, the Canberra international aquatic centre and the Melbourne convention centre facility, so he is a project manager with considerable experience.
Mr Smyth: Don’t hide behind the project manager.
MR SPEAKER: I warn you, Mr Smyth.
MR BARR: With respect to his advice and views on how this project can be completed safely to ensure public safety in the long term, that it is done right and that the tiles that are replaced will not suffer the same fate as the ones that were put there when the facility was originally built, he has advised the government that it will take more time, firstly, to source the tiles from overseas and, secondly, to ensure that they are laid correctly and that a two-week curing period is provided.
We do not want to cut any corners or compromise public safety, as Mr Smyth seemingly would like us to do. This is the new Liberal Party position: to hell with community safety, to hell with ensuring that the project is done right, let us just ensure that things open on a particular day. The government’s position is that this work needs to be done right. We need to ensure that the right tiles are put in, that we will not have the problems that this centre has experienced previously, and that, if you are going to invest $4 million in refurbishing a facility—a much-needed refurbishment—you do it right. That is what this government is doing.
In relation to the delivery of other projects, I noted in Mr Smyth’s press release that he raised the question of what would happen for swimming as part of the Pacific School Games if the refurbishment at the Civic pool is delayed. Just a cursory bit of research, by checking the website of the Pacific School Games, would indicate that the swimming competition is being held at the Australian Institute of Sport, and that the diving area is not the subject of the refurbishment at Civic pool. It is the dome that is being removed and replaced.
So here we are: Mr Smyth is caught again, failing on even the most basic understanding of the biggest event that this territory is hosting this year, with more than 5,000 competitors coming from a number of countries and all around Australia. It is the biggest event in tourism, sport and recreation, perhaps, outside Floriade—so it is the second-biggest event, but the biggest event in sport and recreation and an area that Mr Smyth professes to have some interest in, and he does not even understand where the swimming is occurring.
He puts out this sort of press release, a typical Brendan Smyth press release, asking 20 million questions, poorly researched, all aimed at scoring maybe a minor political
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