Page 3779 - Week 09 - Wednesday, 24 August 2011
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Mr Barr: Yes. You said “the committee makes no decision until the committee”.
MR SMYTH: No, until the committee gets back to the Assembly. The second recommendation here is:
The Committee recommends that the ACT Government provide the Standing Committee on Public Accounts with … the opportunity cost … against other significant projects, such as the Majura Parkway, a light rail network, a new convention centre, or a third major hospital.
Recommendation 3 is that the committee recommends that the government not let any contracts until the whole-of-government office strategy has been finalised and considered by the Assembly, prior to the final decision or awarding of any contracts.
They are not onerous conditions. Indeed, they are backed up by the estimates report, which reiterates that the government should respond to this. The government has responded and said “not agreed” to each recommendation. If you read the government’s response, they say, “We have got approval; the approval is in this year’s budget,” and they are going to continue with this work.
So what the Greens do today is let the government off the hook. It is as simple as that. If you have not read the government’s response to recommendation 1, it says:
Not Agreed.
A decision to proceed with the Government Office Building project was made in the 2011-12 Budget.
So what the Greens are saying is, “Go right ahead; give us a report because we are not going to stop you”—unlike the motion from Mr Seselja.
Recommendation 2 says:
Not Agreed.
A decision to proceed with the Government Office Building project was made in the 2011-12 Budget.
The response to recommendation 3, which is to finish a whole-of-government strategy, is also “not agreed”. Members need to hear this if they have not read it:
The future office accommodation strategy is now influenced by the Government’s decision to proceed with the new ACT Government Office Building.
We do not have a strategy. We are going to build a building and then, with the bits that are left, we will actually come up with a strategy. That is a good way to deliver infrastructure! That is a good way to get the best value for the taxpayers’ dollar! That is the best way to ensure that public servants are accommodated in appropriate
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