It’s election time again, and that means promises for pools, railways and anything else pollies can throw money at.
We finally got our railway after decades of promises from both sides, and massive cost blow-outs, but at least the train is now chugging towards Ellenbrook.
Next on the agenda is the long-promised, eagerly awaited Ellenbrook Pool, and right on cue, representatives from both sides of politics donned their pristine high-vizzes and threw sand at each other with brand spanking shovels that will never see another sod.
The project now called Swan Active, is estimated to cost $108 million, making it one of the biggest in the state.
So where does the funding come from?
Rita Saffioti, Cook government transport minister, claims ‘The Cook and Albanese Governments have contributed $42 million and provided the required land for this much needed project.’
Rod Henderson, the liberal member for Swan Hills, said ‘It has been years in the making starting with $25m being committed by Liberal Party Christian Porter, a further $5m being added by the current federal government. Only $10m from the State, but also contributing with the land adjacent to the train station.
The facts are that $25 million was provided by the Department of Health and Aged Care, federal funding first promised by the Coalition, not, as claimed by Rita Saffioti, by the Albanese government.
The remainder of the currently allocated $42 million is :
Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries $7 million
Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts $5 million
WA Government $5 million
From an Ellenbrook perspective, at least we finally have a start. We now need a commitment from whoever wins state government in March, and later federally, that our pool will be finished on time, on budget and with all the facilities, as promised.
