Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . .

Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2001 Week 8 Hansard (7 August) . . Page.. 2459 ..

MR CORBELL (continuing):

parkway is now $1.16 million cheaper than the government's preferred eastern route. Can the minister explain to the Assembly why he mislead the standing committee on urban services as to the cost of the eastern route?

MR SMYTH: Mr Speaker, there was certainly no intention to provide misleading information.

Mr Hargreaves: Oh!

Mr Stanhope: A bit like not trying to mislead the Auditor either.

MR SPEAKER: Order! Settle down. Don't get excited. The minister has not even begun answering his question yet.

MR SMYTH: Mr Speaker, there was certainly no intention to mislead either the committee or the Assembly in any of the discussions on Gungahlin Drive. Mr Corbell has just inadvertently mislead the Assembly because I think he said that the difference between the two routes is now 1.6 kilometres. That also is not true. The difference between-

Mr Corbell: I didn't say that.

Mr Hargreaves: He didn't say that.

MR SMYTH: Well, he quoted a figure that was one point something kilometres. The actual gap between the two routes is now about 300 metres. This comes from an error in measurement. The distance for the eastern route was 4.5 kilometres. Further work was done and it became 5.1 kilometres, as is recorded in the email.

The FOI information provided to the Save the Ridge people did not reveal that the 4.2 kilometres length is in fact 4.8. There was an error in measurement in the length from Ginninderra Drive north to the Barton Highway. It was inadvertently measured and this accounted for the difference in both the measurements.

MR CORBELL: Mr Speaker, I ask a supplementary question. Does the minister now acknowledge that as a result of his actions he is totally discredited on this issue? What steps will he now take to, firstly, correct the record and, secondly, apologise to the standing committee for misleading it?

MR SPEAKER: You do not have to answer the first part of the question.

MR SMYTH: Mr Speaker, given that this is the first opportunity we have had to have a discussion about this in this place, I have put on the record what the differences are. Mr Corbell has told half of the story; he has not told all of the story. The difference between the two routes is about 6 per cent. I have asked about the costs and they remain the same because the original Maunsell work from which the costs came is accurate. That work measured the distance accurately at 5.1 kilometres and the costings were worked out on that figure.

Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . .