Ms CARNEY - 2006-08-29
Your government was out by about 50% on the important, yet relatively uncomplicated task of Tiger Brennan Drive, and you were out by about 300% on the oncology unit. What faith can Territorians have that you are telling the truth when it comes to costs that you have signed them up for in respect of the waterfront development? Can you say now whether the costs of the waterfront development will blow out and, if so, what is your estimate?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, maybe I did not make it very clear in my answer to the last question, maybe that is my fault. However, the Opposition Leader clearly does not understand cost escalators in our current economic climate. They are a fact of life. With a project like Tiger Brennan Drive, the roadworks have gone up considerably in the last three to four years. We could take the Leader of the Opposition through every single project on our capital works list and look at all the escalator factors. The Opposition Leader would see that in the building of schools, of health clinics, and roads, right across the Territory.
It is a fact of life and one that this government manages, and we are quite up-front about it. The private sector understands these cost escalations, and they know that they are also impacting on government. It is a management issue for our capital works budget.
We will continue to manage it. I say to the Opposition Leader, if you want to find out more about it, we are very happy to give you a briefing.
Madam Speaker, the opposition cannot stop bagging the waterfront. They resent the issues, do not understand the nature of public/private partnerships, of contractual arrangements with the private sector. We would be happy to give yet another briefing to the Opposition Leader about the financial aspects.
Mrs Miller: Sitzlers would be broke if they had these estimates and had to operate like this.
Ms Carney: Will it blow out and what is your estimate?
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Ms MARTIN: I refer the Opposition Leader to our website, where there are details of the financial arrangements of the waterfront. I am confident that we have a public/private partnership in place for building the convention centre. That is locked in, those costs are locked in.
Ms Carney: The costs are locked in?
Ms MARTIN: The costs are locked in for the community infrastructure. If the Opposition Leader would like to take a trip down to the waterfront and look at all aspects of that, they are happening and at a very rapid pace. I had the delight of being on a dump truck today, taking a load of soil from the wave lagoon to fill the end of the sea wall. The sea wall is almost finished. I pay tribute to Macmahon NT for the way they are working so effectively and efficiently.
These things are on target, we are managing them, but we have contractual relationships in place that were signed off on 9 May 2005. I would have thought that, rather than bag the waterfront, which is worth $40m to Darwin businesses, with 550 Territorians working there, we would have had the opposition celebrating it. We celebrate, Darwin celebrates. It is great for business and jobs, and it is a project which is great for our future.
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, maybe I did not make it very clear in my answer to the last question, maybe that is my fault. However, the Opposition Leader clearly does not understand cost escalators in our current economic climate. They are a fact of life. With a project like Tiger Brennan Drive, the roadworks have gone up considerably in the last three to four years. We could take the Leader of the Opposition through every single project on our capital works list and look at all the escalator factors. The Opposition Leader would see that in the building of schools, of health clinics, and roads, right across the Territory.
It is a fact of life and one that this government manages, and we are quite up-front about it. The private sector understands these cost escalations, and they know that they are also impacting on government. It is a management issue for our capital works budget.
We will continue to manage it. I say to the Opposition Leader, if you want to find out more about it, we are very happy to give you a briefing.
Madam Speaker, the opposition cannot stop bagging the waterfront. They resent the issues, do not understand the nature of public/private partnerships, of contractual arrangements with the private sector. We would be happy to give yet another briefing to the Opposition Leader about the financial aspects.
Mrs Miller: Sitzlers would be broke if they had these estimates and had to operate like this.
Ms Carney: Will it blow out and what is your estimate?
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Ms MARTIN: I refer the Opposition Leader to our website, where there are details of the financial arrangements of the waterfront. I am confident that we have a public/private partnership in place for building the convention centre. That is locked in, those costs are locked in.
Ms Carney: The costs are locked in?
Ms MARTIN: The costs are locked in for the community infrastructure. If the Opposition Leader would like to take a trip down to the waterfront and look at all aspects of that, they are happening and at a very rapid pace. I had the delight of being on a dump truck today, taking a load of soil from the wave lagoon to fill the end of the sea wall. The sea wall is almost finished. I pay tribute to Macmahon NT for the way they are working so effectively and efficiently.
These things are on target, we are managing them, but we have contractual relationships in place that were signed off on 9 May 2005. I would have thought that, rather than bag the waterfront, which is worth $40m to Darwin businesses, with 550 Territorians working there, we would have had the opposition celebrating it. We celebrate, Darwin celebrates. It is great for business and jobs, and it is a project which is great for our future.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016