Ms CARNEY - 2005-03-23
There are massive defects amounting to approximately one-third of the entire building costs of the Alice Springs Hospital, costing many millions of dollars. How can it be that your government took possession, cut the ribbon, turned the key, wrote the cheques and signed off on all work for the hospital, which is turning out to be a great disaster?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, the question should, most appropriately, go the minister for Infrastructure, Planning and Environment. However, I am happy to answer it broadly. The defects in the Alice Springs Hospital is a very serious issue. It will take millions of dollars worth of taxpayers’ dollars to repair that. We are committed to doing that. We will do it over a three-year period. I would like this House to hear more of the detail from the minister involved. As members would understand, as Chief Minister, I do not have carriage of construction works, which lies with the Minister for Transport and Infrastructure. Quite appropriately, I ask him to respond to the question.
Dr BURNS (Transport and Infrastructure): Madam Speaker, I welcome the opportunity to put on the public record tonight some of the history related to the redevelopment of the Alice Springs Hospital. As most residents of Alice Springs would be aware, the former government started out with a $50m project in 2000, which was contracted down to a $30m project. That project was let to principal contractors.
A lot of the issues that the member for Araluen alludes to go back to the very style of contract that governed this particular project. The type of contract was one where the principal contractor had to design the hospital redevelopment, build it and certify it – in other words, certify that all the building works were done correctly – and then commission the building.
The member for Araluen can talk about people taking possession of keys and handing over and all the rest of it, but what she omits to say – and anyone from Alice Springs can go and see it – is there are a couple of plaques at the redevelopment of the Alice Springs Hospital. The name on both of those two plaques is D Burke, Chief Minister. Prior to the 2001 election, the former Chief Minister fell over himself to open eight units twice, just before the election.
The defects that are evident now were present then, when the former Chief Minister opened this hospital …
Mr Burke: Still waiting for the private hospital.
Dr BURNS: Well, that may be part of your $50m project, Leader of the Opposition but, I believe to some degree, this government is picking up the pieces of the form of the contract that was left over the Alice Springs Hospital.
Some of the problems started to become evident in August 2002 when there was a fire service report on the fire status of the hospital. Basically, it was from then until 2003, when the principal contractor signed off on all the defects that had been identified in the 2002 study as fixed. It was only when the building was being certified by government for occupancy that very serious problems became evident in October 2003. In February 2004, I received a memo that, basically, it was requiring $2m for remediation works. A further audit was carried out and the figure then became $10m.
This government is actively examining our legal options in relation to this. As the member for Araluen said, this is very serious; it is taxpayers’ money. The government has moved forward to address the issues in an orderly fashion, ward by ward, and fix the problem. We have allocated money towards this. It is a very important issue for Alice Springs and one which I am taking very seriously.
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, the question should, most appropriately, go the minister for Infrastructure, Planning and Environment. However, I am happy to answer it broadly. The defects in the Alice Springs Hospital is a very serious issue. It will take millions of dollars worth of taxpayers’ dollars to repair that. We are committed to doing that. We will do it over a three-year period. I would like this House to hear more of the detail from the minister involved. As members would understand, as Chief Minister, I do not have carriage of construction works, which lies with the Minister for Transport and Infrastructure. Quite appropriately, I ask him to respond to the question.
Dr BURNS (Transport and Infrastructure): Madam Speaker, I welcome the opportunity to put on the public record tonight some of the history related to the redevelopment of the Alice Springs Hospital. As most residents of Alice Springs would be aware, the former government started out with a $50m project in 2000, which was contracted down to a $30m project. That project was let to principal contractors.
A lot of the issues that the member for Araluen alludes to go back to the very style of contract that governed this particular project. The type of contract was one where the principal contractor had to design the hospital redevelopment, build it and certify it – in other words, certify that all the building works were done correctly – and then commission the building.
The member for Araluen can talk about people taking possession of keys and handing over and all the rest of it, but what she omits to say – and anyone from Alice Springs can go and see it – is there are a couple of plaques at the redevelopment of the Alice Springs Hospital. The name on both of those two plaques is D Burke, Chief Minister. Prior to the 2001 election, the former Chief Minister fell over himself to open eight units twice, just before the election.
The defects that are evident now were present then, when the former Chief Minister opened this hospital …
Mr Burke: Still waiting for the private hospital.
Dr BURNS: Well, that may be part of your $50m project, Leader of the Opposition but, I believe to some degree, this government is picking up the pieces of the form of the contract that was left over the Alice Springs Hospital.
Some of the problems started to become evident in August 2002 when there was a fire service report on the fire status of the hospital. Basically, it was from then until 2003, when the principal contractor signed off on all the defects that had been identified in the 2002 study as fixed. It was only when the building was being certified by government for occupancy that very serious problems became evident in October 2003. In February 2004, I received a memo that, basically, it was requiring $2m for remediation works. A further audit was carried out and the figure then became $10m.
This government is actively examining our legal options in relation to this. As the member for Araluen said, this is very serious; it is taxpayers’ money. The government has moved forward to address the issues in an orderly fashion, ward by ward, and fix the problem. We have allocated money towards this. It is a very important issue for Alice Springs and one which I am taking very seriously.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016