Ms LAWRIE - 2003-08-13
It is important that the government ensures that the interests of Territorians are protected in the exciting development of a convention and exhibition centre at the Darwin City waterfront. What steps are the government taking to ensure the investment by Territorians will be properly protected?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, this is a very important question. I can assure Territorians that the investment we announced on Monday - $100m to facilitate what will be a $600m waterfront redevelopment for Darwin - will be very carefully and properly protected.
Madam Speaker, if I could have a little of your indulgence in this answer, because we had a slur across the House yesterday, without any supporting evidence, that there had been collusion by government with a developer. It was a totally outrageous slur. It is very important to reassure Territorians that this process will be done with the greatest transparency and accountability.
For this development of a convention and exhibition centre, plus the waterfront redevelopment, straight away we will be appointing a project manager who will be supported by a project team of both internal and external specialists - people like lawyers, financial advisors, urban planners, engineers and marketing staff. This project team will be overseen by the government’s major projects group, which is chaired by the CEO of the Department of Chief Minister and comprises CEOs of other key government departments.
Separately, and importantly, the government will also be appointing a probity auditor to oversee the process and provide an independent assessment that the selection process is going to be done fairly and equitably. This project will proceed as a public/private partnership, where appropriate and applicable for a project of this type. There will be three stages. The first stage is the expressions of interest. National advertisements will be placed in early September – that is just less than one month away – calling for those expressions of interest to develop the waterfront site. That includes the construction and operation of a convention and exhibition centre as a BOOT – as a build, own, operate and transfer - back to the taxpayers after 25 years.
Interested consortia of developers, financiers and operators will be required to submit a preliminary concept plan and outline how they will develop the area. They will have to provide details of their technical and management abilities, financial resources, experience in projects of this type, and the magnitude of projects they have previously carried out.
Bidders will also have to outline the composition of the consortium team, provide capability statements, outline project economics, provide a preliminary concept, and outline their project delivery strategy. In any of these consortia, government expects that there will be local participation, and it will be a very important aspect of this stage of the process. Expressions of interest will be evaluated, and a short list of consortia decided on by December this year.
Then we will go to the second stage, which is the detailed bid phase. It is expected that three consortia will be invited to proceed to the detailed bid phase, which will go from January 2004 to April 2004. Detailed bids will have to outline how any of those consortia will implement the vision for the site, how they will develop and operate the convention and exhibition centre, the extent of contribution they expect from government towards the construction and operation of the convention and exhibition centre, and the headworks for the site.
Detailed bids, again, very importantly, will also have to include a local industry participation plan, as required by this government in our Industry Participation Plan Policy. In addition to detailing government contributions towards siteworks and headworks, they must include the return to government from revenue from the sale of land and property. That aspect is very important also. This is the second stage, at which bidders will undertake and submit details of their development plans and proposed facilities, traffic analysis and design, preliminary designs for the convention centre and design for required engineering services - all in support of their bids. There will be four key areas for our evaluation: the extent and timing of financial contributions from the government; the extent of revenue returns to the government; the quality of proposals to implement the vision for this very important site; and the quality of the local industry participation plan. We expect phase 2 to be complete by the end of June 2004.
The final stage is negotiations with the preferred bidder. Negotiations with the preferred consortia, leading to a project development agreement, are expected to be completed by the end of 2004. In conjunction with this process, there will be a public consultation period, leading to a final agreed master plan for the area. This will be an important part of that agreement. The PDA will outline the responsibilities and risks for government and the developer, and will detail the timing of both contributions from the government and revenue returns to government during the life of the project. The project development agreement will set the milestones the developers must meet in developing that site over 10 to 15 years.
It is a very comprehensive process. The appalling comments from the opposition, which had no support to them, no evidence - nothing like that, just a slur across the House, not supporting this significant development, one negative after the next – indicate they do not want to see this done. This process will be done with accountability and transparency, ensuring that Territorians’ dollars are carefully protected, and it will be done under the watchful eye of a probity auditor.
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, this is a very important question. I can assure Territorians that the investment we announced on Monday - $100m to facilitate what will be a $600m waterfront redevelopment for Darwin - will be very carefully and properly protected.
Madam Speaker, if I could have a little of your indulgence in this answer, because we had a slur across the House yesterday, without any supporting evidence, that there had been collusion by government with a developer. It was a totally outrageous slur. It is very important to reassure Territorians that this process will be done with the greatest transparency and accountability.
For this development of a convention and exhibition centre, plus the waterfront redevelopment, straight away we will be appointing a project manager who will be supported by a project team of both internal and external specialists - people like lawyers, financial advisors, urban planners, engineers and marketing staff. This project team will be overseen by the government’s major projects group, which is chaired by the CEO of the Department of Chief Minister and comprises CEOs of other key government departments.
Separately, and importantly, the government will also be appointing a probity auditor to oversee the process and provide an independent assessment that the selection process is going to be done fairly and equitably. This project will proceed as a public/private partnership, where appropriate and applicable for a project of this type. There will be three stages. The first stage is the expressions of interest. National advertisements will be placed in early September – that is just less than one month away – calling for those expressions of interest to develop the waterfront site. That includes the construction and operation of a convention and exhibition centre as a BOOT – as a build, own, operate and transfer - back to the taxpayers after 25 years.
Interested consortia of developers, financiers and operators will be required to submit a preliminary concept plan and outline how they will develop the area. They will have to provide details of their technical and management abilities, financial resources, experience in projects of this type, and the magnitude of projects they have previously carried out.
Bidders will also have to outline the composition of the consortium team, provide capability statements, outline project economics, provide a preliminary concept, and outline their project delivery strategy. In any of these consortia, government expects that there will be local participation, and it will be a very important aspect of this stage of the process. Expressions of interest will be evaluated, and a short list of consortia decided on by December this year.
Then we will go to the second stage, which is the detailed bid phase. It is expected that three consortia will be invited to proceed to the detailed bid phase, which will go from January 2004 to April 2004. Detailed bids will have to outline how any of those consortia will implement the vision for the site, how they will develop and operate the convention and exhibition centre, the extent of contribution they expect from government towards the construction and operation of the convention and exhibition centre, and the headworks for the site.
Detailed bids, again, very importantly, will also have to include a local industry participation plan, as required by this government in our Industry Participation Plan Policy. In addition to detailing government contributions towards siteworks and headworks, they must include the return to government from revenue from the sale of land and property. That aspect is very important also. This is the second stage, at which bidders will undertake and submit details of their development plans and proposed facilities, traffic analysis and design, preliminary designs for the convention centre and design for required engineering services - all in support of their bids. There will be four key areas for our evaluation: the extent and timing of financial contributions from the government; the extent of revenue returns to the government; the quality of proposals to implement the vision for this very important site; and the quality of the local industry participation plan. We expect phase 2 to be complete by the end of June 2004.
The final stage is negotiations with the preferred bidder. Negotiations with the preferred consortia, leading to a project development agreement, are expected to be completed by the end of 2004. In conjunction with this process, there will be a public consultation period, leading to a final agreed master plan for the area. This will be an important part of that agreement. The PDA will outline the responsibilities and risks for government and the developer, and will detail the timing of both contributions from the government and revenue returns to government during the life of the project. The project development agreement will set the milestones the developers must meet in developing that site over 10 to 15 years.
It is a very comprehensive process. The appalling comments from the opposition, which had no support to them, no evidence - nothing like that, just a slur across the House, not supporting this significant development, one negative after the next – indicate they do not want to see this done. This process will be done with accountability and transparency, ensuring that Territorians’ dollars are carefully protected, and it will be done under the watchful eye of a probity auditor.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016