Ms CARNEY - 2006-05-04
You have maintained that your commitment to the waterfront project will not exceed $144m in today’s terms. You have also admitted that the cost for the waterfront includes $12m per year for 25 years indexed. A bit of arithmetic says that that would equal $300m. Then, if you factor in a CPI rate of 3% over that period, the compounding effect makes it slightly more than $450m. Without adding the ‘in today’s dollar terms’ qualification, how many dollars will be paid for the project?
ANSWER
Mr Stirling: How can you not do it in today’s dollars?
Ms MARTIN: Madam Speaker, again, pre-empted by the Treasurer. When you look at projects like this, you have to make a calculation that is going to make sense in today’s dollars. We have gone through this with the opposition and had our best experts explain - it is complex, there is no doubt about that - how you actually work a sensible calculation for what something like the waterfront development will cost, in today’s dollars.
The Opposition Leader was right: $144m in today’s dollars is the cost of the waterfront project. You can look at other calculations about what it might mean over that time, but you always have to bring it back to effective numbers that you can work with and, when you look at these projects, they are done in nett present value. Yes, the Opposition Leader is correct about the $144m. Is that value for money? Yes, Madam Speaker.
ANSWER
Mr Stirling: How can you not do it in today’s dollars?
Ms MARTIN: Madam Speaker, again, pre-empted by the Treasurer. When you look at projects like this, you have to make a calculation that is going to make sense in today’s dollars. We have gone through this with the opposition and had our best experts explain - it is complex, there is no doubt about that - how you actually work a sensible calculation for what something like the waterfront development will cost, in today’s dollars.
The Opposition Leader was right: $144m in today’s dollars is the cost of the waterfront project. You can look at other calculations about what it might mean over that time, but you always have to bring it back to effective numbers that you can work with and, when you look at these projects, they are done in nett present value. Yes, the Opposition Leader is correct about the $144m. Is that value for money? Yes, Madam Speaker.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016