Mr BAILEY - 1995-05-24
Does the minister have a final cost for State Square? If not, why not? Are there any unsettled claims or continuing litigation involving contractors or subcontractors? When will we know the final cost?
ANSWER
Mr Speaker, obviously, the member has run out of questions. He is back on last year's list.
Mr Bailey: We have been waiting 4 years to know how much it will have cost.
Mr MANZIE: I will repeat what I have said continually over the last 12 months. The latest figure for the final cost of the total State Square project advised to me by the Department of Transport and Works is $170m. I think that it is $170.4m. It has not changed. Do members recall the Labor Party's performance of trying to convince the community that it would cost $200m? The Leader of the Opposition got a headline from that.
Mr Bailey: You said $100m.
Mr MANZIE: Remember the claims that a member opposite - it might have been the member for Wanguri - had met a man in a hotel who told him that there would be another $17m on top of the bill. We went through all these matters last year and the year before. The advice I have is that there is no change in the estimate of the final cost at $170m-odd.
In relation to whether it has been finalised, it has not, and probably it will not be for some time. The processes will continue, as happens usually in relation to any building project. If there are any arguments or disagreements about final variations that cannot be settled by discussion, processes set in place as part of the contractual arrangements will allow those matters to be arbitrated finally. There is nothing abnormal about that. When those processes are finalised, that will be the end of it. For the last time, I repeat that there is no change. The
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advice is that the final price has not changed, and that is that. If there is any further scaremongering by the opposition ...
Mr Bailey: Scaremongering! We are just asking how much it will cost.
Mr MANZIE: ... do not listen to their final cost figures, listen to the advice we give.
Mr Bailey: She has gone bankrupt because of you lot ...
Mr MANZIE: I repeat, for the benefit of the member for Wanguri ...
Mr Bailey: ... because she did what she was asked to do. She told you it would not work.
Mr MANZIE: Mr Speaker, this is why he asks the same question 10 times. Whenever he asks a question, he starts to talk about something else and does not listen to the answer. Then he ...
Mr Bailey: It was to be finished last year. You said that it would be finished by the beginning of this year. It is now May, yet it is still not finished.
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr MANZIE: He is a classic. However, I simply reiterate the fact that all of these matters will be audited by the Auditor-General, as they have been consistently throughout, and I remind the member for Wanguri that the Auditor-General's report is audited by the PAC and this parliament. Thus, he will be able to acquaint himself fully with all the nuances and changes in regard to the facts - not according to his imagination or his headline-grabbing, misleading statements. If he sticks with the facts and the Auditor-General's advice, he will be able to get it right. It might well be the first time that he has been able to do that.
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ANSWER
Mr Speaker, obviously, the member has run out of questions. He is back on last year's list.
Mr Bailey: We have been waiting 4 years to know how much it will have cost.
Mr MANZIE: I will repeat what I have said continually over the last 12 months. The latest figure for the final cost of the total State Square project advised to me by the Department of Transport and Works is $170m. I think that it is $170.4m. It has not changed. Do members recall the Labor Party's performance of trying to convince the community that it would cost $200m? The Leader of the Opposition got a headline from that.
Mr Bailey: You said $100m.
Mr MANZIE: Remember the claims that a member opposite - it might have been the member for Wanguri - had met a man in a hotel who told him that there would be another $17m on top of the bill. We went through all these matters last year and the year before. The advice I have is that there is no change in the estimate of the final cost at $170m-odd.
In relation to whether it has been finalised, it has not, and probably it will not be for some time. The processes will continue, as happens usually in relation to any building project. If there are any arguments or disagreements about final variations that cannot be settled by discussion, processes set in place as part of the contractual arrangements will allow those matters to be arbitrated finally. There is nothing abnormal about that. When those processes are finalised, that will be the end of it. For the last time, I repeat that there is no change. The
Page 597
advice is that the final price has not changed, and that is that. If there is any further scaremongering by the opposition ...
Mr Bailey: Scaremongering! We are just asking how much it will cost.
Mr MANZIE: ... do not listen to their final cost figures, listen to the advice we give.
Mr Bailey: She has gone bankrupt because of you lot ...
Mr MANZIE: I repeat, for the benefit of the member for Wanguri ...
Mr Bailey: ... because she did what she was asked to do. She told you it would not work.
Mr MANZIE: Mr Speaker, this is why he asks the same question 10 times. Whenever he asks a question, he starts to talk about something else and does not listen to the answer. Then he ...
Mr Bailey: It was to be finished last year. You said that it would be finished by the beginning of this year. It is now May, yet it is still not finished.
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr MANZIE: He is a classic. However, I simply reiterate the fact that all of these matters will be audited by the Auditor-General, as they have been consistently throughout, and I remind the member for Wanguri that the Auditor-General's report is audited by the PAC and this parliament. Thus, he will be able to acquaint himself fully with all the nuances and changes in regard to the facts - not according to his imagination or his headline-grabbing, misleading statements. If he sticks with the facts and the Auditor-General's advice, he will be able to get it right. It might well be the first time that he has been able to do that.
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Last updated: 09 Aug 2016