Page 2121 - Week 06 - Thursday, 26 June 2008
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Through the process of estimates, there was a fair amount of time spent on the issue of site selection or, was it, site identification. I do not much mind which term people use. The short story was that, over time, four sites were identified, and the Chief Minister in his answer to questions said that those four sites were dealt with sequentially; they were not essentially on the table at the one time; and that, as we went through the process, we eventually ended up with the site that we are on. During the estimates process, I asked the Chief Minister and officials a lot about the project facilitation aspects of this. I asked the Chief Minister:
In putting together a proposal or helping a proponent—any proponent—does anyone—
in the bureaucracy—
put together a proposal for government and say that this may or may not succeed—
referring to the particular case that we were interested in at the time, the case of the Tuggeranong power station—
… they would say, “There is the risk of pollution in close proximity to populations and schools; perhaps this is not a good site.” Does anyone make that sort of judgement—in this case or generally? If not, what is the point of having a facilitation process between all of these agencies?
Mr Stanhope’s response was very gung-ho:
These are decisions that the proponents make.
Just think about it. He said:
These are decisions that the proponents make.
The government, he was telling us, does not have a role in risk management. This is the sort of notion that would make Maggie Thatcher blush. This is what the Chief Minister told us: the government does not have any role in risk management. He continued:
The proponents believed—and still believe—that this site is appropriate and that this site will meet all the relevant Australian standards ...
You have to remember that this was the very day that the proponents publicly pulled the plug on the gas-fired power station and that they had been planning to do so for some weeks before. I interrupted the Chief Minister, as is my wont, and tried to get back to the question that I had asked him. I said:
My question was: does anyone make a judgement as to whether or not, on a particular block of land, a particular proposal is likely to succeed or not? … Does anyone make that judgement? “Does Mr Mitchell’s organisation—
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