Mrs BRAHAM - 2001-07-05
I am sure you will be able to give me an answer to this question. As you know, the tender for the SPACS/IHANT moneys for last year was not tendered at all. It did not eventuate because there was a new model that was being looked at, the Papunya model, and a number of contractors in Central Australia obviously went for those 12 months without that flow of money going into their work and they obviously have been anxious about what would happen.
Can you advise me of the status of this IHANT Papunya model? Who is the project consultant? When will the tenders be advertised?
ANSWER
Mr Speaker, I thank the member for Braitling for the question on IHANT. It has been a long while since significant projects have been released by IHANT. In fact, this year the IHANT project has been held up somewhat. If members recall I responded to some questions by members opposite about the IHANT program that was conducted throughout the whole of the Territory. The hold-up that the member for Braitling is talking about is the one in Central Australia.
What has happened over the last nine months has been that the IHANT Regional Board has gone through a fairly intensive review of the process where houses can be released into the community. The review has come about because of the perceived waste of resources, in reinventing the wheel each time a project is provided for the bush community. For instance, when the IHANT Regional Board releases a building project, it all has to start from consultation, redesigning of homes until finally the contracts are let to allow builders to build them in the communities.
What has happened over the last nine months is there has been a review of the process. It is now colloquially called the Papunya Model, where six to seven homes have been designed, fully engineered so that feature projects do not have to go through a redesign each time. The review is completed, the projects are just about to be released, the IHANT Regional Board has yet to come to a decision as to when they do that.
I recently wrote to the IHANT board to ask them to expedite the whole process. I know they have done really detailed work and will ensure that the money that IHANT has for the construction of homes in remote Australia will be well used and more homes will be delivered as a result of the new proposal.
As regards to when it will come through, it is anticipated it will probably be through within the next couple of months. However, it is still entirely up to the IHANT board to do that. The Departments of Local Government and Housing are only there to manage the projects as they come through, and until the IHANT board decides to release the moneys and the projects, we just have to wait.
I am shortly due to speak with building contractors and consultants in Alice Springs to provide them with an update as to what is happening. They will be fully briefed as to what is going to be happening, how much money is going to be put into the Central Australian community for them to do that.
Can you advise me of the status of this IHANT Papunya model? Who is the project consultant? When will the tenders be advertised?
ANSWER
Mr Speaker, I thank the member for Braitling for the question on IHANT. It has been a long while since significant projects have been released by IHANT. In fact, this year the IHANT project has been held up somewhat. If members recall I responded to some questions by members opposite about the IHANT program that was conducted throughout the whole of the Territory. The hold-up that the member for Braitling is talking about is the one in Central Australia.
What has happened over the last nine months has been that the IHANT Regional Board has gone through a fairly intensive review of the process where houses can be released into the community. The review has come about because of the perceived waste of resources, in reinventing the wheel each time a project is provided for the bush community. For instance, when the IHANT Regional Board releases a building project, it all has to start from consultation, redesigning of homes until finally the contracts are let to allow builders to build them in the communities.
What has happened over the last nine months is there has been a review of the process. It is now colloquially called the Papunya Model, where six to seven homes have been designed, fully engineered so that feature projects do not have to go through a redesign each time. The review is completed, the projects are just about to be released, the IHANT Regional Board has yet to come to a decision as to when they do that.
I recently wrote to the IHANT board to ask them to expedite the whole process. I know they have done really detailed work and will ensure that the money that IHANT has for the construction of homes in remote Australia will be well used and more homes will be delivered as a result of the new proposal.
As regards to when it will come through, it is anticipated it will probably be through within the next couple of months. However, it is still entirely up to the IHANT board to do that. The Departments of Local Government and Housing are only there to manage the projects as they come through, and until the IHANT board decides to release the moneys and the projects, we just have to wait.
I am shortly due to speak with building contractors and consultants in Alice Springs to provide them with an update as to what is happening. They will be fully briefed as to what is going to be happening, how much money is going to be put into the Central Australian community for them to do that.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016