Preserve and stop closing local 50m swimming pools

Eligibility - Queensland citizens
Principal Petitioner:
Gary Duffy
47 Blackall Street
EAST IPSWICH QLD 4305
Total Signatures - 1,364
Sponsoring Member: Mr Steve Andrew MP
Posting Date: 28/10/2021
Closing Date: 27/1/2022
Tabled Date: 22/2/2022
Responded By: Hon Dr Steven Miles MP on 25/3/2022
TO: The Honourable the Speaker and Members of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland

Queensland citizens draws to the attention of the House that most memorial pools have been built with either the labour input or substantial amount if not all of fund-raised money by the community in honour of people in the community who have lost their life to drowning and represent a part of our history. These pools were built to serve the community needs in enabling children to learn to swim, tread water and to learn water skills. Some of them are heritage listed have been so successful that a lot of our swimming champions are a result of the training in local pools. In country areas these pools are a vital part for the school communities, one of the few sport opportunities for children and a source of competitive swimmers, serve for the exercise of the elderly, and a vital part for the prevention of drownings. Recently the management of many local pools has been taken over by private companies, which have resulted in increased costs to the point that councils declare them as not viable and want to close them.

Your petitioners, therefore, request the House to ask the relevant Ministers of Sport and Local Government to: 

(1) provide proper funding to local and memorial swimming pools; 

(2) stop downgrading local 50m swimming pools to 25m pools; and 

(3) properly recognise the benefits to the communities and lives saved by proper 50m swimming pools in local communities.