Mr WOOD - 2004-11-30
I also support the waterfront development. However, as we are dealing with a large amount of public land I believe it needs to come under some scrutiny.
Could you please explain what is the total value in cash, land or in-kind the Northern Territory government is or will be contributing to this project? Is the residential land component of this development to be given away or sold to developers? If the deal to build a convention centre is tied up with handing over public land to developers, why didn’t the government simply sell the land on the open market as it has done in other parts of Darwin, and use the money to build a convention centre itself?
Madam SPEAKER: A rather lengthy question.
ANSWER
A very lengthy question. Madam Speaker, let us deal with the first bit of the member for Nelson’s question: what cash? We have been very up-front about that all along, saying that our contribution - taxpayers’ contribution - to an important development like the convention and exhibition centre was around $100m. That was for the convention centre and some associated infrastructure. That is what we have said is the cash component.
The land is our contribution to this development, but we will be getting a return on that. Quite properly, those are the negotiations that are going on at the current time. As I said, we are putting the land into the waterfront redevelopment. As I said to an earlier question, when all negotiations are complete I will make all this …
Mr Baldwin: You can tell us the value of the land, we own it.
Dr Lim: Haven’t you had a current valuation on it?
Ms MARTIN: It is interesting that the opposition, obviously, does not understand the details of these types of negotiations.
When we have completed – and I personally look forward to the completion of these negotiations. I hope our preferred developer becomes the developer. Then I will stand in this place and talk about all aspects of this. At this stage, what I am saying is, as the owner of the land, we are putting this asset into the project. That is the decision that we have made. In turn, the consortium will develop the site and provide some public infrastructure.
The development will provide a revenue stream back to government over the life of the project, based on an appropriate return for the value of the land which captures increasing land values as the development proceeds. As you can imagine, as this development proceeds, those land values will increase.
It is BOOT development for the convention and exhibition centre, which is a build, own, operate, and transfer, after 25 years, back to government. The other part is a development agreement. That is a commercial agreement with the preferred developer - which we hope we turn into actuality - to develop the land to an agreed plan that has been given the tick through the Development Consent Authority and our community, to provide significant public infrastructure, and also a return to government based on property values. That BOOT development is mix of a public/private partnership and also a development agreement – an ordinary commercial agreement - with a return to government.
As I said, once all the complex negotiations have been completed, I will give a full statement to parliament.
Mr HENDERSON (Leader of Government Business): Madam Speaker, I ask that further questions be placed on the Written Question Paper.
Could you please explain what is the total value in cash, land or in-kind the Northern Territory government is or will be contributing to this project? Is the residential land component of this development to be given away or sold to developers? If the deal to build a convention centre is tied up with handing over public land to developers, why didn’t the government simply sell the land on the open market as it has done in other parts of Darwin, and use the money to build a convention centre itself?
Madam SPEAKER: A rather lengthy question.
ANSWER
A very lengthy question. Madam Speaker, let us deal with the first bit of the member for Nelson’s question: what cash? We have been very up-front about that all along, saying that our contribution - taxpayers’ contribution - to an important development like the convention and exhibition centre was around $100m. That was for the convention centre and some associated infrastructure. That is what we have said is the cash component.
The land is our contribution to this development, but we will be getting a return on that. Quite properly, those are the negotiations that are going on at the current time. As I said, we are putting the land into the waterfront redevelopment. As I said to an earlier question, when all negotiations are complete I will make all this …
Mr Baldwin: You can tell us the value of the land, we own it.
Dr Lim: Haven’t you had a current valuation on it?
Ms MARTIN: It is interesting that the opposition, obviously, does not understand the details of these types of negotiations.
When we have completed – and I personally look forward to the completion of these negotiations. I hope our preferred developer becomes the developer. Then I will stand in this place and talk about all aspects of this. At this stage, what I am saying is, as the owner of the land, we are putting this asset into the project. That is the decision that we have made. In turn, the consortium will develop the site and provide some public infrastructure.
The development will provide a revenue stream back to government over the life of the project, based on an appropriate return for the value of the land which captures increasing land values as the development proceeds. As you can imagine, as this development proceeds, those land values will increase.
It is BOOT development for the convention and exhibition centre, which is a build, own, operate, and transfer, after 25 years, back to government. The other part is a development agreement. That is a commercial agreement with the preferred developer - which we hope we turn into actuality - to develop the land to an agreed plan that has been given the tick through the Development Consent Authority and our community, to provide significant public infrastructure, and also a return to government based on property values. That BOOT development is mix of a public/private partnership and also a development agreement – an ordinary commercial agreement - with a return to government.
As I said, once all the complex negotiations have been completed, I will give a full statement to parliament.
Mr HENDERSON (Leader of Government Business): Madam Speaker, I ask that further questions be placed on the Written Question Paper.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016