Page 4930 - Week 13 - Thursday, 12 November 2009

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delivery. So this is not just about what has occurred previously; it is also looking forward and asking the commissioner to give a view about whether there is the potential for any new cost variations following the establishment of the contractual arrangements under the Bulk Water Alliance. It is not just a looking-back exercise; it is also an exercise looking forward.

Fifthly is the scope for cost savings to be passed on to Actew to the benefit of ACT and regional water users, and sixthly is any other matters the commission considers relevant to the inquiry. This is a broad-ranging inquiry, Madam Assistant Speaker. It will be undertaken by an expert professional who understands issues around infrastructure pricing and essential service delivery—water, electricity and gas.

This is the work that the ICRC does every day of the week. This is the work that the ICRC is established to do. It makes sense to ask the body that we have at our disposal, an independent statutory authority established by an act of this place, to consider the appropriateness of the project costs, the reasons why the project costs are at the point they are now, what has occurred previously and, indeed, whether there is scope for any potential further change to those costs into the future.

This is a considered approach. This is a sensible approach. This is an approach that gets to the heart of the questions that some members in this place have. It gets to the heart of the questions that some members of the community have. I think it is an approach which is constructive and it is an approach that should be supported. In contrast, what we have from the Liberal Party is simply an attempt to play politics with water security, to score the cheap political point at the expense of a process that is essential for maintaining water security for our city and for the region surrounding our city.

This government treat water security seriously. We have put in place the steps to ensure that our utility delivers a project that will greatly enhance our water storage from just several gigalitres up to over 70 gigalitres of capacity. That is what this project is about. It is a significant project. It is important for the city; it is important for the region; and it is far too important to play politics with.

MR RATTENBURY (Molonglo) (10.59): I would like to start off by just reflecting on where we have got to. The issue of the Cotter Dam has been an evolving one over the last couple of months since we first heard about the significant increase in cost projections. Since that matter came into the public view, the Greens have been looking at this very seriously and spending a vast amount of time going over the available information. This is the second time we have seen this call for a select committee by the Liberal Party in this place. In light of some of what has eventuated since the last time this motion was tabled, we will not be supporting the motion today. Instead, the Greens have identified a pathway of referral to the ICRC and also the upcoming annual reports process as opportunities to further scrutinise the considerable increase in the cost projections for the Cotter Dam.

Now we do have the view—and I will come back to this issue later in my comments—that there are remaining outstanding questions. We believe the ICRC process will deliver the answers, and we believe the upcoming annual reports hearings,


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