Page 497 - Week 02 - Wednesday, 20 February 1991
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Those areas were of concern to the planning committee in relation to the new capital works program, and I suggest that it is possibly an option for them to consider in the future. Perhaps some of the concerns Mr Moore has could also be raised in that forum, when the capital works program comes before the committee.
MR DUBY (Minister for Finance and Urban Services) (12.10): At the outset let me congratulate Mr Jensen on the very erudite speech he just gave outlining the reasons why this motion of Mr Moore's should not have the support of the Assembly. A number of issues I was going to raise have been covered adequately, I believe, by both the Chief Minister and Mr Jensen. In particular, I disagree with the statement by the Leader of the Opposition that this issue falls within the purview of the terms of reference of the Public Accounts Committee. I do not believe that it does. I believe that the appropriate place for issues of this nature to be identified and reviewed is within the Estimates Committee. To the reasons Mr Jensen put so expertly, I can only add my support.
The matter seems to have been raised in Mr Moore's imagination. The one example he gave of the supposed practice in the ACT Government of overestimating when preparing estimates for the budget was that of the replacement of the roof at Aranda Primary School. I admit that at first sight, when one compares the original estimate of the cost of replacement of that roof and the final cost, one may well think that something peculiar has happened there. We have gone from an original estimate of some $570,000 to a final figure of $150,000, I think. What was the figure, Mr Moore?
Mr Moore: From $650,000 to $148,000.
MR DUBY: I understand that the original estimate was $570,000, down to $150,000 in round figures.
Mr Moore: The original estimate given to the Estimates Committee was the figure I quoted of $650,375.
MR DUBY: In this example - and this is not all that unusual in terms of large variations between estimates of work required, particularly in the capital works area, and the final cost of the finished product - the Aranda Primary School is around 25 years old. It is the normal expectation that the roof of a building of that type would require replacement after about that time, particularly given the circumstances Mr Moore outlined concerning the boiler and sulphur, et cetera.
When Public Works made the estimate for replacement of the roof and the associated works, I am under the impression that the complete roof replacement cost was in the order of $570,000. I am not familiar with the figure Mr Moore mentioned. Nevertheless, the final costing was substantially less. Substantial savings were achieved in
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