To understand the closure of the Glen Dhu Swimming Pool by the Minister for Education is to understand the State Budget and the political cycle.

Because any other reasonable explanation for decommissioning a community asset belonging to Tasmanian public schools does not make sense.

There is little doubt that state government ministers have been tasked with finding budget savings to aid the perilous position of the state's finances.

Smashed by an inevitable downturn in the economy, the cutting gang will be out in force.

An efficiency dividend is commonplace, but this will be deeper with the government banking on delivering a challenging budget in the first year of the political cycle with three years to recover from the pain.

To much fanfare, Glen Dhu Swimming Pool was allocated $3.45 million for refurbishment including the development of an enclosed facility but, "Following initial upgrades of the pool's filtration and thermal systems, the investigation found the pipework was badly corroded and at imminent risk of failure, meaning the core asset has failed and maintenance and upgrade works are no longer possible," the minister said.

The new estimated cost is tens of millions with the State Government now claiming that the decision was "forced upon us".

No, minister - it's a choice.

The Glen Dhu Swimming Pool has provided a safe swimming space for Tasmanian children for generations.

My brother and I were two of those students.

I could not swim when I arrived for heavily subsidised school holiday lessons taught by local physical education teachers, but it became the catalyst for improvement supported by my parents and driven by me.

Some will challenge my arguments as sentimental but that is simplistic and misses the point.

Glen Dhu Swimming Pool is even depth at 0.9 metres (shallow) meaning that even the most hesitant swimmers including migrant arrivals can stand with confidence and hold the sides.

And for those who have ever experienced a fear of water including feelings of breathlessness, that sense of security underpins improved levels of confidence and skill.

There is now a gross irony that public schools educating communities with deep and intergenerational socioeconomic challenges are hiring pools from fully-funded private schools.

Swimming and water safety follows affluence. Unless provided at primary schools, private swimming lessons are for those families who have the funds to pay.

"Royal Life Saving analysis of enrolments of children in swimming lessons in November 2021 decreased by at least 25 percent nationwide compared to the same time the previous year, with the greatest impact among children aged between seven and 12 years old and many are unlikely to return to swimming lessons.

Previous Royal Life Saving research has reported that 75 percent of children stop swimming lessons from eight years and around 40 percent of children leave primary school without being able to achieve key swimming and water safety benchmarks."

The Riverside Swimming Centre took to social media to decry the decision of the Minister and the State Government:

"This little education dept pool has been a massive part of teaching kids to swim over many decades.

"It closed a few years back for upgrades, HUNDREDS of thousands spent and in fact could reopen soon to service what is badly needed, shallow water space.

"I have just been informed the pool will now be decommissioned and turned back to green space.

"This is a state government decision that needs to be reversed," they posted.

To make the closure of this public asset even more confronting, "The Royal Life Saving Summer Drowning Toll recorded 99 drowning deaths across Australia between 1 December 2023 and 29 February 2024.

"Tragically this is a 10% increase on the 90 drowning deaths recorded last summer and 5% increase on the 5-year average of 94 drowning deaths."

Five of these deaths were in Tasmania, up from two during the same period, and up three from the five-year-summer-average.

If you take into consideration that Tasmania's socio-economic status is only lower than the Northern Territory, then it would be a safe bet to say that 50% of our children leave primary school without adequate swimming and survival skills.

It is difficult to understand how the closure of a community facility like the Glen Dhu Pool will improve these numbers.

Furthermore, we live on an island state surrounded by water and made up of significant rivers, lakes, dams, and creeks. Given this is, why are we closing a deeply valued and much-needed community asset?

This is a decision based on the state government prioritising other infrastructure projects because they recognise they will be less politically painful.

However, it's not difficult to find projects duplicating community assets where the money has been found.

And while I acknowledge that the allocated funding will go to Glen Dhu Primary School even this decision requires questioning because swimming and water safety programs belong to all public schools. If Glen Dhu Primary School requires north of $3 million for capital funding, then that should be funded separately.

Minister, no one forced you to close the Glen Dhu Pool, this is your choice.