Page 4227 - Week 11 - Thursday, 17 Sept 2009
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MR SMYTH: She was gagged on the entire issue, for which she is clearly a shareholder and the minister responsible. Then we had these murky waters appearing where Mr Corbell is now apparently, through being the minister for water, also the minister for Actew. But I thank Mr Corbell for his speech because what it does is confirm that the government is actually responsible for the delivery of programs by Actew. Thank you very much, Mr Corbell, because the matter of public importance is about the financial management of capital works, and Mr Corbell, through his speech, has clearly said, “We are responsible for these things.” So we thank you for that confirmation. But it is very interesting how touchy they are.
Mr Corbell said that the government have delivered some projects, done them apparently on time and on budget, and apparently through the alliance method, although which ones were and which ones were not of course were not detailed by Mr Corbell. If he wants leave to table a document that outlines the list of projects from $5,000 to $70 million and which ones were by alliance, we will give him that leave. But we do ask the question: how is it that the dam is now costing the taxpayer half a billion dollars more than the first estimate? We have not heard on the pipeline yet.
Mr Corbell: It is not half a billion dollars more.
MR SMYTH: Not half a billion dollars? How much is it?
Mrs Dunne: It is a quarter of a billion more.
MR SMYTH: A quarter of a billion more?
Mr Corbell: Yes, just the mere fact of a quarter of a billion dollars difference, Mr Smyth. Good one!
MR SMYTH: Well, it is has gone from $145 million to $363 million. You are quite right: a quarter of a billion.
Mr Corbell: Get it right, Mr Smyth. Get it right.
MR SMYTH: But has the whole project gone up by half a billion dollars? That is the question to ask. How much will the pipeline now cost? How much more will the pipeline now cost?
Mr Corbell excuses this by saying it was a natural increase. Say it often enough—“it is a natural increase, Madam Assistant Speaker; it is a natural increase, Ms Hunter”—and it feels natural. It feels good and comes off the tongue. But it does not justify that the work was not done in the first place. And it will be interesting, when the total cost of all these projects comes back, to see by how much the entire project has blown out.
It is good to see that we are going to have another central agency. The ministry for water now controls everything that is done on the water issue. It is a shame, though, that the minister for emergency services, who happens to be the minister for water,
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