Page 331 - Week 01 - Thursday, 11 December 2008
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MR STANHOPE: Of the 200 public servants that were going to be sacked to meet the Liberal Party’s election promises, this is where 30 of them came from, I think.
MR SPEAKER: I call Mr Coe to ask a supplementary question.
MR COE: Thank you, Mr Speaker. Given that it is a fair point, what actions will the Chief Minister take to ensure that his department will develop these policies, and why has it taken seven years to do so?
MR STANHOPE: Thank you, Mr Coe. As I did indicate, I think the strategic projects unit was actually established seven months ago. I don’t have the capacity to see that far into the future. Seven years ago it had not entered my mind to create a strategic—
Mrs Dunne: So you didn’t have a strategy for dealing with it.
MR STANHOPE: I did not have an idea seven years ago that I would develop some operating procedures for a unit that was actually established this year.
Mr Seselja: The question related to policies for strategic projects. You didn’t have policies for strategic projects on your list.
MR STANHOPE: You need to go back and re-read the report. This was about the operating procedures for David Dawes’ unit, the unit which you actually proposed to abolish if you took government. The recommendation has been accepted. I have acknowledged that. The criticism is well made by the auditor. The criticism is accepted. The recommendation is accepted. Indeed, work had commenced over these last few months in anticipation, perhaps, of this report that this was an area that needed to be addressed, and it is being addressed. I would imagine that the work has probably already been concluded.
Gas-fired power station and data centre
MS BRESNAN: My question is to the Chief Minister and it concerns the Auditor-General’s report No 7 2008 into the data centre. Given that the Auditor-General’s report raised significant concerns that the direct sale process for the block of land in Tuggeranong was outside the normal process, somewhat rushed, not well justified or documented, are you prepared to apologise to those people in the community who you criticised for raising concerns about the site selection process? Can you advise them what mechanisms you are committed to putting in place to prevent some failure of process and any failure to properly consider the public benefit in the future?
MR STANHOPE: Mr Speaker, I think I have addressed almost every aspect of that question in previous answers to members of the opposition. In relation to—
Opposition members interjecting—
MR STANHOPE: I do not resile from my complete support for the need for an independent statutory planning process; I simply do not. And what we have here, in this sort of self-righteous approach or questioning by the Liberal Party and the Greens
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