Treasurer drops into marginal NT electorate to announce commonwealth will pay half of $8.8m bill, but gets his measurements mixed up

This article is more than 5 years old

This article is more than 5 years old

The federal treasurer, Joe Hockey, has chipped in $4.4m for the upgrade of a public swimming pool in the Darwin suburb of Parap. The sum, which was announced by Hockey in a visit to the Northern Territory on Wednesday, covers half of the cost of the work; the NT government will pay the rest.

“I’m very pleased to be here … to make a 50-metre pool 50 metres,” Hockey told reporters, saying that the money would be used to lengthen it by 50cm.

“It’s kind of extraordinary that it’s 49.5 metres, but of course being a capital city you should have an Olympic-approved pool, and that means your swimmers have the chance to compete with the rest of the world.”

The treasurer’s statements sparked confusion with many questioning how it could cost $176,000 a centimetre to lengthen the pool to Olympic standard.

What Hockey failed to mention however was that the funding will also cover a second 25-metre pool, shading structures and improved on-site facilities – an oversight later corrected by Darwin City Council.

The council also revealed that the pool was really 55 yards – which equals 50 metres and 30 centimetres – so to meet Fina regulations, the pool will need to be slightly downsized.

It hopes the pool upgrade will boost tourism and allow it to host future swimming tournaments.

“It’s not just about the length of the pool, it’s about the quality of the pool, and it’s about economic development, frankly,” said Alderman Jeanette Anictomatis.



“We’ve got the weather for swimmers from all around Australia to come here and practice but we don’t have a pool that’s the right size.”

The pool is located in the federal seat of Solomon, which is held by Liberal MP Natasha Griggs by a margin of 1.8%.

• An earlier version of this story was headlined “Darwin swimming pool to be extended by 50cm at cost of $8.8m” based on the treasurer’s comments. This has now been corrected.