Page 3062 - Week 08 - Thursday, 7 August 2008
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the public servants thought the project was over; the project was coming to a close—
and various negotiations with the contractors are being finalised. A small balance of funds has been identified and these funds have been directed towards some works which will improve the operation and performance of the road.
Not “duplicate”. You can read this document, Madam Assistant Speaker. It does not mention duplicate; it does not mention two lanes into four; it does not mention four years; it does not mention $83 million; it does not mention building a road from one town centre to the centre of town for four lanes to fix the traffic problems that the people of Gungahlin suffer.
This is confirmation that the Chief Minister panicked. The Chief Minister was caught out by Mr Seselja who had the foresight to realise that the road had to be duplicated immediately because the traffic numbers that would trigger the duplication, according to Minister Hargreaves, had been reached two years ago. And what we have is the incompetence of the Chief Minister who panicked in question time—absolutely panicked in question time—and tabled a brief he probably should have read before he did. Either that or Mr Hargreaves, as he so often does, has sold him a pup.
What have we got? We have got some additional works. What we have got is leftover money that will simply improve the operation and performance of the road. Why is it there? It is there because the building industry did a good job. And why is it happening? It is happening because public servants took the initiative. They did not trust Mr Hargreaves. They did not ask him could they do it; they told him. And there we have it over the signature of the Director of Roads ACT:
It is recommended that you note the background and issues outlined in this brief.
“We do not trust you to make a decision; just note it and let us get on with our job because we are so much better when you do not interfere.”
It is interesting, Madam Assistant Speaker, how badly they were caught out. We have been waiting for answers from the Minister for Territory and Municipal Services, since you and I sat on that estimates committee, to questions that Mr Pratt, I, Mr Seselja, you and all members of the opposition put on notice to Minister Hargreaves for the detail. Indeed, Mr Pratt asked a fine question: “Minister, could you please detail and give us your major roads projects over the next five and 10 years?”
Mr Hargreaves coughed up—he did not actually cough up; he had to be burped like a small child to relieve the pressure that must have been sitting in his gullet, as he knew that sitting in those answers was the truth about the government’s commitment to duplicate the Gungahlin Drive extension. It will be the DGDE project now. What does it show? Let us read Minister Hargreaves’s press release:
We want to do this with a view to completion within four years.
We are going to duplicate Gungahlin Drive in four years. But what does the report say? What is the major road project that I assume informed the budget process? One
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