Page 4821 - Week 13 - Wednesday, 11 November 2009

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Mr Stanhope: What a joke!

MR SPEAKER: Mr Stanhope, don’t make me warn you.

Mr Stanhope: Not across your shadow portfolios? You have more than planning, do you?

MR SPEAKER: Thank you, Mr Stanhope. I will not tolerate those sorts of vexatious points of order. I will deal with them if I have to. I call Mrs Dunne.

MRS DUNNE: Can I ask my question without notice now?

MR SPEAKER: Try again, thank you.

MRS DUNNE: Thank you. My question is to the Deputy Chief Minister and I refer the Deputy Chief Minister to Deloitte’s comments in its independent review of the design and estimate process for the enlarged Cotter Dam where it states:

It is not apparent that the non owner partners of the Alliance had a strong value for money focus during the development of the design and TOC estimate.

Minister, is the target out-turn cost of the enlarged Cotter Dam higher than it needs to be because the non-owner partners of the Bulk Water Alliance lack a strong value-for-money focus?

MS GALLAGHER: I think the point that is lost on the opposition is that the Deloitte analysis was commissioned by Actew Corporation to check the strength of the costs.

Mr Seselja: It is a very specific question.

MS GALLAGHER: Well, it appears that the opposition need some further background information that they have not been able to grasp over the last several briefings they have had. This was commissioned specifically to check the costings and whether or not there was a fair price to pay for the enlarged Cotter Dam. That is exactly why Deloitte was commissioned by Actew. It was to check on that. This is the cost that they have come to in acknowledging that the rigorous work that underpins it has drawn to this final cost of $299 million that the Alliance Leadership Group have settled on as the final cost.

Mr Seselja: You still have not answered the question, Katy. Do you agree with this and did it lead to a cost—

MR SPEAKER: Order! Ms Gallagher is coming to the answer.

MS GALLAGHER: And I think, certainly from my point of view as a shareholder, the work has been done. The costings are rigorous, whether or not the opposition accept that, and these will be further tested in some continued work that it is proposed to be done to check on those figures again.


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