Mr BARRETT - 2014-05-08
Can you please provide the House with an update on the progress of the Darwin Correctional Precinct?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, it is with some irritation I speak about this matter, because, up until two weeks ago, SeNTinel continued to assure the Northern Territory government the keys to the new correctional facility would be handed over on 1 July. I relied, as government did, on those assurances. It appears a number of delays have arisen out of construction of the new Darwin Correctional Precinct. I place on the record my irritation and deep annoyance with these delays, and moreover, not having it communicated to the Northern Territory government earlier.
I have had growing concerns, as I have seen this building rolled out, that the 1 July deadline was in trouble, but the assurances kept coming that everything was fine. Now it is not. There are potential delays which could be one to two months. SeNTinel is not able to give us an exact figure and I find that frustrating.
As a result, the terms of the contract have two penalties that relate to failure to deliver. The first clause deals with the fact we will not make any lease payments for a building we have no occupation of and we will be applying that clause. The second component is that any damage incurred by the Northern Territory government will be taken out of future lease payments, and that clause will also be invoked.
The Northern Territory will suffer costs as a result of this delayed handover, and those costs will include the continued running of Darwin Correctional Centre at Berrimah. We will invoke those sections of the contract to make sure the Territory taxpayer is not out of pocket by one jot. I am disappointed in this result and with the late advice from SeNTinel to government that it was running late in this area. But we will make sure the Northern Territory recovers all costs and does not pay one cent until we have possession of that facility.
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, it is with some irritation I speak about this matter, because, up until two weeks ago, SeNTinel continued to assure the Northern Territory government the keys to the new correctional facility would be handed over on 1 July. I relied, as government did, on those assurances. It appears a number of delays have arisen out of construction of the new Darwin Correctional Precinct. I place on the record my irritation and deep annoyance with these delays, and moreover, not having it communicated to the Northern Territory government earlier.
I have had growing concerns, as I have seen this building rolled out, that the 1 July deadline was in trouble, but the assurances kept coming that everything was fine. Now it is not. There are potential delays which could be one to two months. SeNTinel is not able to give us an exact figure and I find that frustrating.
As a result, the terms of the contract have two penalties that relate to failure to deliver. The first clause deals with the fact we will not make any lease payments for a building we have no occupation of and we will be applying that clause. The second component is that any damage incurred by the Northern Territory government will be taken out of future lease payments, and that clause will also be invoked.
The Northern Territory will suffer costs as a result of this delayed handover, and those costs will include the continued running of Darwin Correctional Centre at Berrimah. We will invoke those sections of the contract to make sure the Territory taxpayer is not out of pocket by one jot. I am disappointed in this result and with the late advice from SeNTinel to government that it was running late in this area. But we will make sure the Northern Territory recovers all costs and does not pay one cent until we have possession of that facility.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016