Watch Braddon Labor candidate Anne Urquhart and Braddon Liberal candidate Mal Hingston discuss their thoughts on the hydrotherapy pool closure at the North West Regional Hospital.
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00:00It was revealed this week that the hydrotherapy pool at the hospital in Burnie had been permanently closed.
00:06Is your side, Anna, considering funding for any sort of a new hydrotherapy site in the area?
00:12Well, that announcement I think was made a couple of days ago, I think I read about that.
00:17That's correct, it was.
00:17Yeah, and I had had a lot of concerns raised with me.
00:20That was a decision, I think, by the state government to not continue to fund that.
00:26We do need facilities here for hydrotherapy.
00:30I mean, I was at an event the other night with Speak Out Association, who look after it and advocate on behalf of a number of people with disability.
00:38They raised the issue of the hydrotherapy pool with me.
00:41I'm not going to commit to funding here because that's not in my portfolio at all, but I think it's a, you know, the opportunity for people to have those sorts of therapies and all that should be available to them, whether they live in a regional area or not.
00:55So I think there needs to be facilities provided for it.
00:59And I don't know why the decision was made to close the pool.
01:02I'm not across that at all.
01:04But it's disappointing, I must say, because as I understand, it was used by a number of users who relied on it pretty heavily.
01:13Is it something you would raise during the campaign?
01:16Absolutely, I would certainly raise it.
01:18But again, without understanding why it was shut and whether it's fit for purpose, I need to find that out first.
01:27What's your take on that issue?
01:29I think so.
01:29Very similar to Ant and noting that we had the same issue on Electrope a couple of three years ago when the pool was shut down.
01:38And, you know, once I looked at it, clearly there was a community need for it.
01:44To be honest with you, I'm not sure where the money come from, but the money come from somewhere and it's back in service.
01:49So I think we need to have the same look at this.
01:51And I'm happy to talk to people if they've got a problem and see if I can help out.
01:55Okay, thank you.
01:57So is it something we can expect you to raise with your side during the campaign to discuss with your people and see if it's perhaps a role?
02:07If somebody wants to talk to me about a problem, if anyone in the electorate wants to talk to me about a problem, they've got it, I'm happy to talk to them.
02:12Is it something you'll raise with the coalition yourself?
02:16I'll try and find out who is operating that thing and have a talk with them if you like.
02:20Okay, thank you.