Page 3061 - Week 08 - Thursday, 7 August 2008
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .
Remember, Madam Assistant Speaker, that, in the lead-up to the 2001 election, the Labor Party promise was “on time and on budget, in accordance with the capital works program”. I am sure you will remember that promise because of the way you look after the people of Ginninderra. But “on time, on budget” meant $53 million to open in July 2005, not $120 million or more to open half a road in 2008. Double the budget, three years late, is not “on time, on budget”.
In question time on Tuesday, the Chief Minister tried to say, “We had always planned to do this. We were not gazumped by the opposition. We were not trying to get in first. Here is a briefing. I will table a brief that shows that the Minister for Territory and Municipal Services had planned to do that.” The brief is wonderfully educational. The brief is from the head of Roads ACT, the Director of Roads ACT.
What is the purpose of the brief? I would have thought, if you were going to spend $83 million to duplicate Gungahlin Drive and turn it from a two-lane road into a four-lane road, that might have been the purpose that was stated. But what was the purpose of the brief tabled by the Chief Minister? Remember it is to the Minister for Territory and Municipal Services. It states:
Purpose
To advise you of some additional works being implemented as part of the Gungahlin Drive Extension (GDE) project.
Not duplication, just “some additional works”. At the end, it does not say, “Minister, would you announce the duplication?” The recommendation is:
It is recommended that you note the background and issues in this brief.
“We are not even asking for your permission”. The public servants have taken the responsible action to ameliorate the impact of the shoddy delivery by this government through underfunding the road in the first place. So what we have got is public servants, yet again, cleaning up another “fine mess that you have got us into, Ollie”.
The Chief Minister made great mention of the fact that there was money to spend, money left over. And that is it exactly. This is not money that was appropriated for the duplication of the extension; this is money that was left over. And it is a big tick to the building industry of this city that they can still bring in projects in that way. It goes on:
Issues
Roads ACT have been advised by Procurement Solutions that with the completion of all current variation negotiations with the contractor, that a balance of some $4.5M is available for the GDE project which can be used to complete some outstanding works.
Just “outstanding works”; it is not a duplication at all. The background says:
The GDE project is coming to a close—
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .