Phillip pool. A new Woden outdoor pool has been promised to replace it. Photo: Geocon.
Do we have a government in the ACT that just can’t say no?
Yesterday’s pools announcement, which the government says is evidence that it is listening to the community, suggests so, despite a parlous budget situation that should preclude such multimillion-dollar commitments.
It has committed to a new outdoor Woden pool to replace the Phillip pool, which will eventually be redeveloped into apartments, and is finding a site for a new diving facility to replace the one at Civic pool.
Chief Minister Andrew Barr has lamented that, when it comes to the budget, the Legislative Assembly has little appetite for cutting spending and continues to bring new spending ideas to the table.
Yet Labor does not seem prepared to say no either.
With deficits and debt at record levels, funding for things like new pools should be placed in the nice-to-have, not essential, category.
The government already has a long list of infrastructure projects, including the Canberra Aquatic Centre in Commonwealth Park, with construction expected to start next year.
It will replace the Civic pool, where another major project is planned – the long-awaited Convention and Entertainment Precinct.
Then there is the Lyric Theatre, the Northside Hospital and, of course, light rail.
The ACT could be at peak infrastructure with a budget at breaking point.
But Sport and Recreation Minister Yvette Berry insists that by the time a new aquatic facilities strategy is developed in the next 12 months, there should be a site selected for the Woden pool, and realistically, construction could start towards the end of 2028.
By then, the budget will be repaired and funding found to pay for it.
That’s some bet. And given the history of tenders, design contracts and development applications, getting the Woden pool to breaking ground by 2028 also seems a stretch.
Ms Berry hinted that next week’s Budget Review will reveal that the ACT’s finances have turned the corner, helped by a top-up of some kind from the Federal Government.
She also rejected claims that the government had been spooked by revelations that the Greens and Liberals had been holding serious talks about taking down Labor and sharing power, and were more amenable to community pressure.
It’s true that Chief Minister Andrew Barr had committed to considering a Woden outdoor pool in the 2024 campaign and that Ms Berry had been talking to stakeholders last year about a long-term aquatic facilities strategy.
But while a Greens-Liberal alliance seems unlikely, the mere threat of it is enough for the government to be nervous about saying no to community demands that won’t go away.
Better to make an announcement that will only need to be realised sometime in the future.
The thing is, it keeps raising expectations that the Territory can continue to afford to provide all kinds of facilities that different communities desire.
Labor’s big-ticket items are generational infrastructure projects that will serve the whole community for decades to come.
But taking on new projects of lesser importance when the priority should be getting the Territory’s finances in order is questionable.
There are times when governments need to say no, not gamble on better times ahead and raise false hopes.
