Page 2720 - Week 07 - Thursday, 3 July 2008
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been selected to be easily recycled. A comprehensive waste minimisation and recycling system is provided and the site is controlled through a building management system which provides control and monitoring of major plant and energy consumption. Our investment in this piece of infrastructure is a great example of efficient and effective capital works delivery and one that the territory will see much benefit from in the years ahead.
The National Convention Centre refurbishment project is another example of the government delivering on its infrastructure commitments, with the government achieving savings in the vicinity of $4.3 million in the delivery of this project—savings which were able to be reallocated to assist with the enhanced delivery of the 2007-08 capital works program.
In addition, there are a number of other infrastructure and community assets that have been delivered, such as the new Harrison Primary School and associated access road and playing fields, the Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve Discovery Centre and the medical records and data centre at the Canberra Hospital.
The government’s record on the delivery of capital works is a strong one. There is no greater proof of this, of course, than the recognition that the projects have received from external and third parties. Perhaps the best example of this is the decision by the Master Builders Association to grant the major civil project award, and indeed the major construction project award over the last year, to an ACT government project—the Gungahlin Drive extension. And that was a very significant project that delivered seven kilometres of road, 10 bridges and underpass structures.
It was an extremely complex project, involving traffic management and major intersections and construction of various bridge types, including the 74-tonne super T-spans and four bridges within 50 metres at three different levels. Considerable consultation was undertaken and it is a great acknowledgement of this government’s capacity to deliver major projects that it has been awarded this most significant level of recognition—not by a government agency or even another government body but by a non-government advocacy body whose main interest is in civil commercial construction.
Of course the government is not content to rest on its laurels when it comes to infrastructure programs. We are committed to an ongoing program to continually improve outcomes for the people of Canberra. We have already initiated a review of internal procurement processes. This review, which is now nearing completion, is aimed at achieving the most efficient and effective framework possible for the delivery of capital works to the territory. This review will help to streamline existing procurement processes while simultaneously locking in a framework designed to manage the risks to the territory associated with the delivery of a capital works program of the size now regularly being delivered by this government.
Moreover, planning for the delivery of the 2008-09 capital works program is already well underway. The government, through Procurement Solutions, will be actively engaging industry, aggressively seeking to form partnership and synergies with the private sector to coordinate the engagement of capital works providers to deliver this
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