Thursday, 29 May 2025

Adjournment

Enver ERDOGAN (Northern Metropolitan – Minister for Casino, Gaming and Liquor Regulation, Minister for Corrections, Minister for Youth Justice) (21:45): I move:

That the house do now adjourn.

Gisborne Aquatic Centre

Wendy LOVELL (Northern Victoria) (21:45): (1682) My adjournment matter is for the Minister for Community Sport, and the action I seek is for the minister to allocate $1.5 million in funding for the Gisborne Aquatic Centre to convert the heating of the pool from gas to electric. Australians love the water, and those who do not have the luck to live by the beach or a river love swimming at their local pool. Even in a hot country like Australia, the winters get chilly, and swimmers really appreciate a heated pool for year-round exercise. Gisborne Aquatic Centre offers a heated pool, and it is increasingly popular with residents in the Macedon Ranges, receiving almost 200,000 visitors in 2023–24. The pool is currently heated by gas boilers, which are responsible for 18 per cent of the council’s scope 1 carbon emissions, and council is now doing what it can to reduce its emissions. Heating is also expensive, and local councils who want to offer a heated pool for their community are struggling with the mounting cost of gas. To reduce cost and emissions, council is seeking to switch from gas boilers to electric heat pumps to heat the pool in Gisborne. Council is ready to get this conversion done, with designs and costings on hand. All that is needed is financial support from the state government of $1.5 million to fund the conversion. This project will meet a genuine community need, reduce costs for local government and align with the Victorian government’s emission reduction policy. I urge the minister to give close consideration to council’s need for funding and to invest in the future of swimmers in the Macedon Ranges by supporting this important conversion project.