Steve Irons (Swan, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is a great pleasure to be able to advise the chamber of the official opening of the new $36.5 million Cannington Leisureplex in the electorate of Swan—the start of what I hope will be the development of Queens Park into a hub for sporting facilities south of the river. The grand opening was last Wednesday and it was fantastic to be there on behalf of the Cannington and Swan communities. The opening of the leisureplex is a significant event for the community and it was particularly pleasing for me on a personal level to be able to see the building come to fruition after I was able to announce before the last election that a federal Liberal government, if elected, would contribute $7 million towards that centre.

As I said to the mayor, Joe Delle Donne, at the opening, it seems like only yesterday that we stood on the site when it was an empty field and we tried to envision what the outcome would be. The leisureplex has effectively consolidated many of the existing sporting facilities from across the Cannington region into one place, a strategy advocated by the member for Bennelong when he spoke to the South Perth residents in my electorate recently about a local campaign for a city of South Perth aquatic centre. The member for Bennelong's concept of sports malling has certainly captured the imagination of the people of the city of South Perth and this is something as a community we will continue to work on in putting the case to local authorities.

With the successful opening of the leisureplex and the consolidation of Canning's facilities, the case has only grown for a similar sports mall in the city of South Perth for the benefit of the residents. The leisureplex has been built next to a railway line in Queens Park adjacent to the Coker Park athletics facility and has brought together an indoor sports arena, a 25-metre swimming pool, spa, library and creche. I was able to attend the official opening on Wednesday and inspect the facilities and they are of a high quality. There is also a gym and my local state colleagues Mike Nahan and Nick Goiran were quick to jump on the exercise bikes and try them out. I would have joined them except I had a recent cartilage operation, so I was only able to witness what they were doing.

Government Members:

Government members interjecting—

Steve Irons (Swan, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I hear the opposite side encouraging me and hoping I get over my operation as quickly as possible. Nick Goiran was there representing the Premier, Colin Barnett, who is currently doing a fantastic job in Western Australia, making decisions and going full steam ahead into the election next year.

The leisureplex itself is heated exothermally and we were given the opportunity to inspect the exchange mechanism in the centre. The practical use of this technology in WA has been demonstrated by the leisureplex and I hope it will set a similar standard for facilities elsewhere in Western Australia.

With the limited time I have, I will give credit to the Rudd-Gillard government for providing the $7 million, which came after the state government's $2.5 million and Lotterywest's $1 million. Congratulations to everyone involved. For the community, the benefit of the leisureplex will continue for years to come.