Don Randall (Canning, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Roads and Transport) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Last week a collective sigh of relief went through Pinjarra. The long-awaited Pinjarra pool finally got underway after 17 years of planning. Residents have suffered through another steamy, hot Western Australian summer, so the turning of the sod on the Pinjarra pool marked a new beginning. Its commencement is a testament to the commitment of the Shire of Murray to delivering this long-sought-after and needed pool.

There is only one problem. Without any federal government investment the planned hydrotherapy pool has had to be sidelined. The Barnett government, Alcoa and industry partners have made up the $5 million needed to get the 25-metre pool underway, but because the shire’s application under the federal community infrastructure program was knocked off and because approved Regional Partnerships funding which I fought for was cruelly withdrawn, the project is underfunded.

The Pinjarra community deserves rehabilitation options. I have written to both the state and federal ministers for disabilities and health urging them to find the money for the hydrotherapy pool option. It is a small price for huge health benefits. The support of the warm water provides pain relief and improves mobility for those suffering arthritis and joint pain and for those who have undergone surgery after suffering trauma. Can a shire with a growth rate of six per cent afford to go without such services?

Without rehabilitation services in Pinjarra residents are forced to travel to regional centres or Perth for therapy. The community eagerly anticipates the delivering of all the facilities in 2011. It would be disappointing to see the upgrade only almost finished.