Page 4226 - Week 11 - Thursday, 17 Sept 2009
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Competition and Regulatory Commission as part of its normal pricing determinations. The capital works program is further scrutinised each year by independent reviewers for technical issues and for comparison to market rates. These reviews have been favourable in the past.
Actew continues to deliver a range of capital works projects annually. Some of these include the following: the lower Molonglo water quality control centre secondary clarifiers upgrade, which provides treatment capacity to minimise the impact of treated water discharged from the plant on the Murrumbidgee River system while also catering for expected population growth; the Googong Dam spillway upgrade, a major upgrade to the spillway to overcome severe erosion and increase the spillway capacity in line with current standards; and the construction of the Murrumbidgee pumping station, a new pumping station designed to increase the amount of water that can be drawn from the Murrumbidgee River.
Other examples of the successful delivery of the current Actew capital works program, some of which are perhaps closer to home for many Canberrans, are the construction of three new reservoirs, trunk mains and pumping stations necessary to provide water to the new suburbs of Crace, Elmgrove and Jacka.
The government monitors, at an appropriate level recognising that Actew is a territory-owned corporation, the delivery of its capital works program.
Opposition members interjecting—
MR CORBELL: They do not like it, Madam Assistant Speaker, because what I have just highlighted is that Actew have successfully delivered major capital works worth over $400 million, more than the total of the Cotter Dam, over the last few years. They have delivered them successfully, in accordance with their budget, and they have delivered them through the alliance model for many of those projects, and done so successfully—the same model that the opposition sought to denigrate and undermine in question time today.
Actew board papers regularly include a standing item on the capital works program, and those papers are provided to the voting shareholders each month. So, based on this track record of delivery and management, and the reporting and monitoring regime that is in place with Actew, through its voting shareholders and to the government as a whole, we remain confident in Actew’s ability to deliver its capital works program, and that includes the expanded Cotter Dam proposal.
MR SMYTH (Brindabella) (4.43): It is interesting that the minister, apparently now for Actew, would seek to say that when one asks a question about something the government has control of you are therefore denigrating it. We sought information, and suddenly it is denigration.
The government are very touchy about this whole affair. Yesterday we had the absolute embarrassment of the Deputy Chief Minister and Treasurer, who was not allowed by the Labor Party to actually answer questions.
Mr Seselja: She was gagged.
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