TANYA PLIBERSEK MP
MINISTER FOR THE ENVIRONMENT AND WATER

 

E&OE TRANSCRIPT
DOORSTOP 
COCKATOO ISLAND, SYDNEY
SATURDAY, 12 APRIL 2025
 
SUBJECTS: Labor’s plan for a new, free swimming spot on the Harbour.
 
DARCY BYRNE, MAYOR OF INNER WEST COUNCIL: Well, welcome everybody to Cockatoo Island for what is an incredibly exciting announcement. When international water quality experts came to visit Dawn Fraser baths, they said that it is unique in the world to have a harbourside pool that close to the city, and now we're about to get one even closer. I welcome Tanya Plibersek, the Minister for the Environment and Water, Penny Pedersen, Councillor from Ryde Council, and Chair of the Parramatta River Catchment group. And Kerrie Fergusson, Inner West councillor. Please welcome Tanya Plibersek.
 
TANYA PLIBERSEK, MINISTER FOR THE ENVIRONMENT AND WATER: Thanks so much to the Mayor of the Inner West Council, Darcy Byrne, for welcoming us here today for what is a very exciting announcement. A re-elected Albanese Labor government would invest $10.2 million to build Sydney's newest free harbour swimming pool right here on Cockatoo Island. We'll be converting a beautiful old slipway to a modern new harbour swimming pool for families to enjoy. This would be a great opportunity for families to just hop on a ferry and for the cost of public transport, spend the day right here on Cockatoo Island. It's the most beautiful part of Sydney Harbour. We believe that you shouldn't have to have a multi million dollar harbourside mansion to enjoy the most beautiful harbour in the world. Families will be able to pack a picnic, pack their cozzies and a towel, hop on a ferry and get here for just a few dollars. It'll be a whole day out for the cost of a ferry ride. I wonder if Penny you want to say a few words.
 
PENNY PEDERSEN, CHAIR OF THE PARRAMATTA RIVER CATCHMENT GROUP: 
I'm Penny Pedersen, I'm the Chair of the Parramatta River Catchment Group. And as the Chair, I want to say we openly welcome this wonderful announcement. We've reached out to the Harbour Trust in the past about collaborating with the PRCG on our swim site plan, because if you see where it's going to go, you will agree that it's somewhere that people will want to swim already. People saying it would be a great place for a swim site and kayaking. I live very close to here on the other side of the river, it'll be easy to kayak here as well, and we can do that in winter. PRCG, we're trying to increase biodiversity. We've got 10 different councils from along the catchment. We've got to do this all together, it's holistic. So to have to have the Harbour Trust and the Federal Government behind us on yet another swim site, we already have six, there's another three about to be opened, and this will be the fourth. Thank you very much.
 
PLIBERSEK: Thank you. Okay, any questions?
 
JOURNALIST:  If you're elected, when will this be built?
 
PLIBERSEK: Well, the first year will be required for planning, and this is an industrial site. We need to do testing of the sediment and make sure that the water is safe for people to swim in. And then in years two and three, we'll see construction of the boardwalk and the areas around the swimming pool. So I think by about year three, we'll see a pool that's swimming pool for Sydney families.
 
JOURNALIST: And how is the water quality? What testing has already been undertaken?
 
PLIBERSEK: The water quality has improved massively in recent years. And full credit to the former Carr Labor government for the work they did to improve water quality in Sydney Harbour. Full credit to Sydney Water for the work that they've done in recent years to make sure that storm water and other discharge into the harbour has been cleared up. And we know that the water quality around Cockatoo Island has improved because we've seen nature come back. If you look around and see the living sea walls that that have been installed by the Sydney Harbour Federation trust in cooperation with the Sydney Institute of Marine Science, you'll see that the animals are moving back into those living sea walls, and we've even seen very cute little endangered sea horses move back into the waters around Cockatoo Island. That's a great sign. I know Sydney siders love it if they see a penguin or a dolphin or a seal or a whale in Sydney Harbour, they know that that's the sign that the harbour's health is returning. We all love to see that, and that's what's happening around Cockatoo Island, but we do need to do some work to make sure that the sediment around the island is safe for people to swim around.
 
JOURNALIST:  So as it stands, is the water quality safe to swim in?
 
PLIBERSEK: The water quality in Sydney Harbour is better than it was years ago and decades ago. It's been improving all the time. But what we've got to do with the pool is quite a construction job, to do the surrounds, to restore the sandstone work that exists there, to restore and build areas that make it safe for people to get in and out of the water, and we need to make sure that the sediment that's on the floor of the harbour doesn't contain any industrial chemicals that we need to be aware of.
 
JOURNALIST: So is the $10 million for the entire project?
 
PLIBERSEK: That's right. So the $10 million will do water testing, it'll do sediment testing, it'll do planning, and very importantly, it will do construction as well.
 
JOURNALIST:  Obviously convicts built the slipway. Who's going to build the pool?
 
PLIBERSEK: Well, we hope that great construction companies will tender for this work. We haven't selected a bid yet. That'll be part of the planning work that goes on, and it will go out to, tender like all large government contracts.
 
JOURNALIST: You said, you know, this is a way for families to have a cheap day out. I mean, how much does it cost to bring a family out too the island?
 
PLIBERSEK: It depends where you're hopping on the ferry, but say if you're getting on at Sydney Olympic Park, it's about $8 dollars for an adult and about $4 for a kid. And if you bring your own picnic basket, that's all you'll pay. You'll be able to spend the day here on Cockatoo Island for the cost of public transport. Now we do have little cafes and food outlets here. There's obviously the glamping that people can do if they want to spend the whole weekend here. And we know that there are business opportunities that we want to support here on Cockatoo Island. We'd love to see more people staying longer, staying the whole day, staying the whole weekend, and that creates jobs here on Cockatoo Island. We want to see Cockatoo Island generate its own revenue from tourist visits like that, but for Sydney families, if they want to bring their own picnic basket, they'll be able to come here for the cost of public transport.
 
JOURNALIST:  A couple of years ago, I think you announced funding for to sort of restore the harbour and the sea walls, that kind of thing. How's that going? Well?
 
PLIBERSEK: Here's one we prepared earlier. If you look off to the left here, you can see one of the fantastic old historical industrial buildings is being renovated. The outside is being renovated, the inside and the roof. There's solar going onto the roof of a number of buildings. I mean, look, I've been here looking at the work the Sydney Harbour Federation Trust has done. Many of the buildings that have been closed for years previously because they weren't safe for people to enter have been reopened to the public. That is so great because people can wander around and look at the history of this place, but also, I mean, there's been great events held here in the past. All Tomorrow's Parties was right here, a concert that Nick Cave curated. We want this island to be used by Sydney siders, by visitors from around the world. We want it to be used, and that means that the $45.2 million investment that the Albanese Labor Government made is being put to great use. It means that Cockatoo Island and the Sydney Harbour Federation Trust can generate more revenue. That revenue can go back into further upgrades of these amazing historic science here. And the wonderful thing about Cockatoo Island is it's a microcosm of all of Sydney's history. There's First Nations history, there's a convict history, there's industrial history during the Second World War, shipbuilding here. I can't think of a place that better exemplifies all of Sydney's history than right where we're standing right now, and so few Sydneysiders think to come here. We want to make this a first choice for visitors to Sydney, and we want to make it a frequent choice for people who live in our beautiful city.
 
JOURNALIST: Obviously, we're in the midst of an election campaign. Do you fear that a Liberal government might not prioritise, you know, beautification projects such as this?
 
PLIBERSEK: Well I know a Liberal Government wouldn't invest in these beautiful historic properties because they didn't when they had the chance. When we took over, when we were elected, when the Albanese Labor Government was elected, there were there were sea walls crumbling into the harbour. There were historic wooden docks that had to be completely renovated that hadn't been cared for. These buildings were shut to the public because they were no longer safe for people to enter. This is an investment for every Australian to protect our history. It's an investment for people who want to enjoy the harbour for the cost of public transport, and it's an investment that will draw tourists to Sydney and keep them here for longer, spending the tourist dollar creating jobs for Sydneysiders, investing in the Sydney Harbour Federation Trust properties generating revenue, to generate more revenue, to protect these beautiful sites for the future generations.
 
JOURNALIST: The pool is part of the master plan. I mean, won't it eventually be built, regardless of who's elected?
 
PLIBERSEK: Well, the master plan has to be funded. So the master plan is a great piece of work that's had years of public consultation and thought go into it, but it will require public investment, and we hope, as we build this infrastructure, as we build the swimming pool, for example, the fact that more visitors are attracted to Cockatoo Island also makes it a more attractive investment for people who are considering opening up businesses here. There are little coffee carts, there are little food businesses. We want them to have queues going around the corner, so that we've got people offering, you know, food and beverage and hospitality offerings that will attract people from around Sydney, from around Australia and from around the world to spend a day or days here.
 
JOURNALIST: A luxury hotel, I think, is also proposed as part of the master plan. Is that something you want to give effect to?
 
PLIBERSEK: So we want to see a whole range of tourism offerings on the Sydney Harbour Federation Trust properties. We want people to be able to come here for free, for the cost of public transport, or, as Penny says, to be able to kayak from, you know, the slipway across the river there. We want people to be able to come here for just the cost of public transport. We want people to have access to the island. But if there are other tourism opportunities that include high end tourism, where people are spending more dollars in Sydney, creating more jobs in Sydney, of course we want to see that as well. It has to be done in a way that is sensitive to allowing public access and to protecting and preserving history and, you know, the ability for anybody to come here has to be done sensitively. But wouldn't it be wonderful if this was one of those places that was on everybody's bucket list?  If you talk to someone in New York or Helsinki or Bangkok, and they said, I want to go to Sydney, I want to spend a few days on Cockatoo Island, I've heard that it's the best way to enjoy the most beautiful harbour in the world.
 
JOURNALIST:  Would you like to see more music festivals on the island?
 
PLIBERSEK: Hell yeah, I sure would. And if Nick Cave ever sees this on social media, please throw another party here. Thank you very much.
 
ENDS