Treasurer Joe Hockey flew to Darwin yesterday to announce an $8 million funding boost to Darwin’s Parap public pool – a move which would including the lengthening of the pool by 50 centimetres.
“It’s kind of extraordinary it’s only 49-and-a-half metres,” Hockey said yesterday in Darwin, before announcing the plan that would make the pool Olympic-training ready.
It’s so extraordinary, in fact, that the 49-and-a-half metre measurement is straight up false. According to the ABC, Darwin City Council claimed Parap public pool actually already meets Olympic requirements, and then some – the pool reportedly measures 50 metres and 30 centimetres.
Exactly.
However, the lengthening of the already-too-long pool isn’t the only measurement included in Parap’s $8 million funding boost – Councillor Jeanette Anictomatis claimed that the boost could act as a tourist draw card, and elite sporting encouragement.
“It’s about bringing people to the Territory – we’ve got the weather for swimmers from right around Australia to come here and practice, but we don’t have the pool that’s the right size,” Anictomatis said.
Via ABC.
Lead image by James Alcock via Getty Images.
