The Opposition also said its proposal would see the State Government operate the centre rather than the Adelaide City Council.
The Liberals responded this morning pledging just $25 million in State Government funds towards a new “$75 million – $85 million” facility.
The remaining money would come from the Adelaide City Council and Federal Government, the latter of which is yet to make a funding commitment for the project.
Council would also continue to operate the facility under the Liberals’ proposal, which Treasurer Rob Lucas claims will save taxpayers $2 million in operating costs each year.
“There is no doubt that the Adelaide City Council and the Federal Government should be co-funding this community facility – it is not and should not be the sole responsibility of South Australian taxpayers,” he said in a statement.
“The State Government and the Council have now committed funding and the final decision rests with the Federal Government.”
Lucas said the State Government would be providing “precisely the amount of funding the Adelaide City Council requested” in a project submission last November.
Shadow Treasury spokesperson Stephen Mullighan labelled the Liberals’ proposal a “half-baked” idea.
“It beggars belief Steven Marshall has got no problem spending $662m on a basketball stadium no one wants but has a problem spending a fraction of this amount to rebuild a heavily-used, much-loved aquatic centre,” Mullighan said.
US imposes first sanctions on Russia for ‘invasion of Ukraine’
President Joe Biden says the United States is imposing a first tranche of sanctions against Russia for “the beginning of a Russian invasion of Ukraine” and promised that more would come if Moscow goes further into the country.
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday at the White House, Biden said the US would impose sanctions against two large Russian financial institutions and Russian sovereign debt.
Starting on Wednesday, he said, sanctions would begin against Russian elites and their family memxjmtzywbers as well.
President Vladimir Putin on Monday told Russia’s defence ministry to deploy “peacekeeping” forces into two breakaway regions of Ukraine after recognising them as independent, defying Western warnings that such a step would be illegal and wreck peace negotiations.
“This is the beginning of a Russian invasion of Ukraine,” Biden said.
“Russia has now undeniably moved against Ukraine by declaring these independent states.”
The US had promised severe sanctions against Russia in the event it invades Ukraine, which the White House has previously defined as “any movement of troops across the border.”
Biden said the sanctions in the initial tranche applied to VEB bank and Russia’s military bank, referring to Promsvyazbank, which does defence deals. He said the sanctions against Russia’s sovereign debt meant the Russian government would be cut off from Western financing.
“As Russia contemplates its next move, we have our next move prepared as well,” Biden said.
“Russia will pay an even steeper price if it continues its aggression, including additional sanctions.”
The United Kingdom has also slapped sanctions on five Russian banks and three high-net-worth individuals.
Earlier on Tuesday, Germany announced that it has taken steps to halt the process of certifying the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline from Russia in response to the Kremlin’s actions.
The decision is a significant move for the German government, which had long resisted pulling the plug on the project despite pressure from the United States and some European countries to do so.
Elsewhere, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said the military alliance believes Russia is still planning a big assault on Ukraine following its recognition of two separatist regions in the former Soviet republic’s east.
“Every indication is that Russia is continuing to plan for a full-scale attack of Ukraine,” Stoltenberg told a news conference in Brussels.
Port Augusta booze restrictions extended for a month
Tight restrictions on the sale of alcohol in Port Augusta have been extended for a further four weeks, the Liquor and Gambling Commissioner has announced, despite “mixed” feedback and “frustration” from the community.
The “temporary” alcohol restrictions – which came into force on February 8 in response to an “increase in alcohol-related offences and anti-social behaviour” – prohibit Port Augusta bottle shops from opening before 11am and limit customer purchases of spirits, fortified wine/port and 2L cask wine to one per day.
Liquor and Gambling Commissioner Dini Soulio on Tuesday said the restrictions would be extended for another four weeks based on advice from SA Police and local support services that there has been a “decline in alcohol-related incidents” since the curbs were introduced.
“The restrictions on opening times appear to have had a positive impact, with a drop in public consumption of alcohol, particularly earlier in the morning, that has enabled health and outreach services to engage with clients to provide counselling, medical assessments and other referral services,” Soulio said in a statement.
However, Soulio said the requirement for all bottle shops to record transactions in an electronic or handwritten record would be dropped, as would the classification of spirits as a restricted item.
“I appreciate there have been concerns about the requirements around recording identification and purchases on restricted sales and the practicalities of doing this,” he said, noting “mixed” community feedback on the overall proposal.
“I have considered the economic impact to licensees and inconvenience to local residents and tourists.
“And while the restrictions on purchases of spirits have been removed, I consider some restriction is still needed in relation to the quantities of cask wine and fortified wine that can be purchased in a single transaction to minimise bulk purchases of those products.”
Over the last fortnight, there has been only one acute intoxication presentation at the Port Augusta Hospital compared to “two to three per day” before the restrictions were introduced, according to data provided to the Liquor and Gambling Commissioner.
However, customers have also expressed “frustration” about the later opening times and licensees have been concerned about the expiry of 4L and 5L casks of wine.
The restrictions will either be revoked, varied or extended at close of trade on March 22.
Horror day on South Australian roads
Police are investigating two fatal car crashes in South Australia over the past 24 hours.
The first occurred in Monbulla, near Penola, in the state’s South East shortly after 6am yesterday when a Toyota Hilux crashed and rolled at the intersection of Clay Wells Road and Kinley Road, according to police.
