Mr BURKE - 2003-08-12
Chief Minister, I am not impressed by your sales pitch, and neither is the small business community who believe that you have abandoned them and the work that they have put into businesses in the CBD, taken the easy option of going to land on the waterfront precinct that government already owns, rather than the more difficult option of looking for the best site for a convention centre in the CBD. You have predicated all your sales pitch on a consultant’s report …
Madam SPEAKER: Your question, Leader of the Opposition.
Mr BURKE: Will you do what the business community has asked you to do and release that consultant’s report for public discussion?
Madam SPEAKER: Chief Minister, we have had three questions in 15 minutes. I would like shorter questions and shorter answers.
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, it is not possible …
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Dr Lim: What are you hiding? Not possible to release the report – I do not believe that.
Ms MARTIN: If the member for Greatorex does not believe it, it must be wrong …
Dr Lim: I think you are hiding something.
Ms MARTIN: If the member for Greatorex will be quiet, he could listen to the answer I was just about to give.
Dr Lim: Just tell us what you are hiding.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Ms MARTIN: Madam Speaker, the full report from PricewaterhouseCoopers includes highly confidential commercial information that will be critical in informing our position as we engage with the market for the project. A lot of detailed work was done, a lot of confidences were given to PricewaterhouseCoopers. The information ranges from things like the capital cost of the convention centre and what contribution might be sought from government relative to its own contribution when we go to the market; the operational returns of the centre; the private sector’s position; and details about the operation and economics of other convention centres. It is not appropriate to release that full report. What we have done is produce a summary report, and that is available.
Mr Reed: A laundered report, you would call that – abridged, a laundered report.
Ms MARTIN: Madam Speaker, you would think the member for Katherine, who has previously been a Treasurer for many years in government, would understand that commercially confidential material has to be kept that way.
I respect the businesses, I respect the convention centre operators …
Mr Baldwin: What happened to open and accountable, transparent?
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Members interjecting.
Ms MARTIN: Madam Speaker, we …
Mr Reed: On which their future …
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Katherine, order!
Mr Kiely: Throw him out.
Madam SPEAKER: Do not tempt me, member for Sanderson.
Ms MARTIN: Madam Speaker, basically, we asked for an economic analysis from PricewaterhouseCoopers, that is what we got. However, there is a lot of material there that was given to PWC on a confidential basis. It would be a serious breach of those confidences to release that report. It certainly will be the underpinnings of how we go to the market and work with businesses and consortia which are interested in the development on the waterfront. We have released a summary of that, it is available, but we cannot release that confidential material – quite reasonably and quite sensibly.
Madam SPEAKER: Your question, Leader of the Opposition.
Mr BURKE: Will you do what the business community has asked you to do and release that consultant’s report for public discussion?
Madam SPEAKER: Chief Minister, we have had three questions in 15 minutes. I would like shorter questions and shorter answers.
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, it is not possible …
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Dr Lim: What are you hiding? Not possible to release the report – I do not believe that.
Ms MARTIN: If the member for Greatorex does not believe it, it must be wrong …
Dr Lim: I think you are hiding something.
Ms MARTIN: If the member for Greatorex will be quiet, he could listen to the answer I was just about to give.
Dr Lim: Just tell us what you are hiding.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Ms MARTIN: Madam Speaker, the full report from PricewaterhouseCoopers includes highly confidential commercial information that will be critical in informing our position as we engage with the market for the project. A lot of detailed work was done, a lot of confidences were given to PricewaterhouseCoopers. The information ranges from things like the capital cost of the convention centre and what contribution might be sought from government relative to its own contribution when we go to the market; the operational returns of the centre; the private sector’s position; and details about the operation and economics of other convention centres. It is not appropriate to release that full report. What we have done is produce a summary report, and that is available.
Mr Reed: A laundered report, you would call that – abridged, a laundered report.
Ms MARTIN: Madam Speaker, you would think the member for Katherine, who has previously been a Treasurer for many years in government, would understand that commercially confidential material has to be kept that way.
I respect the businesses, I respect the convention centre operators …
Mr Baldwin: What happened to open and accountable, transparent?
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Members interjecting.
Ms MARTIN: Madam Speaker, we …
Mr Reed: On which their future …
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Katherine, order!
Mr Kiely: Throw him out.
Madam SPEAKER: Do not tempt me, member for Sanderson.
Ms MARTIN: Madam Speaker, basically, we asked for an economic analysis from PricewaterhouseCoopers, that is what we got. However, there is a lot of material there that was given to PWC on a confidential basis. It would be a serious breach of those confidences to release that report. It certainly will be the underpinnings of how we go to the market and work with businesses and consortia which are interested in the development on the waterfront. We have released a summary of that, it is available, but we cannot release that confidential material – quite reasonably and quite sensibly.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016