Elizabeth Quay water park opening backed despite 'can't be used' emails showing health concerns
By Andrew O'ConnorPremier Colin Barnett has again defended the decision to open the Elizabeth Quay water park after Labor seized on documents saying the park could not be used due to the presence of a potentially harmful amoeba.
The documents obtained by Labor through Freedom of Information laws reveal the City of Perth and Department of Health (DoH) believed the park could not be used just 24 hours before it opened.
Opposition Planning spokeswoman Rita Saffioti said the Government had misled the public about water quality at the park, which was closed in February.
"From that day of opening they did everything to cover up and mislead the public on this," she said.
However, Premier Colin Barnett rejected the claim, arguing the Government had accepted expert advice from the DoH that the park was safe to operate.
"As I have said numerous times in here, if we had advice that it was unsafe for children to go into that water park they would not have been allowed into the water playground, as simple as that," Mr Barnett told Parliament.
The ABC revealed in June the Executive Director of Public Health had allowed the park to operate despite water quality tests not meeting the Health Department's own rules.
Water tests at the park on January 21 had shown the presence of Naegleria amoeba, an organism that could cause skin and eye irritation, but gave no indication of the dangerous brain-eating amoeba Naegleria fowleri.
Executive Director Tarun Weeramanthri told the ABC he had been satisfied there was no danger to park users, and was confident superchlorination of the water the day before the opening would kill off any remaining Naegleria amoeba.
Emails show water park eventually approved
But the documents released by the State Opposition show just 24 hours before the opening on January 29, environmental and health officers at the City of Perth believed tests showing the presence of Naegleria meant the park could not operate.
"Please be advised that the water playground water samples are still poor, and DoH have advised the facility can't be used until water results are satisfactory," the City of Perth's environmental and public health manager Eugene Lee said in an internal email on January 28.
"So the department has informed the MRA that the water playground can't be used."
At 5:12pm on January 29, less than an hour after the park was opened, Mr Lee acknowledged in an email that the DoH had approved the park to operate despite the water quality issues.
"I trust they have considered the circumstances and risks but have issued the approvals. So they must be comfortable that the water playground can be used after all," he said in an internal email.
In Parliament, Ms Saffioti accused the government of covering up the health risks of rushing the park opening.
"You should be ashamed of what you did. You hid the key information from the public. You oversaw a project that was rushed for political reasons," she said.
Then-Planning Minister John Day again rejected claims the Government had endangered children by opening the park without fully testing water quality.
He said he had accepted Dr Weeramanthri's decision.
"Frankly, I have complete confidence in his professionalism and judgement in relation to this matter," he said.