Page 1800 - Week 05 - Wednesday, 4 May 2011
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by governments of property? Position No 1 that we discovered today in relation to the Liberal Party’s attitude to an investment by this government in an office block that is owned is that they do not like governments owning buildings and—
Mrs Dunne: On a point of order, Mr Speaker—
MR STANHOPE: secondly, you should only ever repair and retrofit; you should never build a new building.
MR SPEAKER: Order! Chief Minister, sit down. Mrs Dunne, on a point of order.
Mrs Dunne: The standing orders require that the Chief Minister be directly relevant to the question. The question was about the maintenance of government buildings, and he has not answered the question.
MR SPEAKER: Chief Minister, if you could focus on the government’s position, thank you.
MR STANHOPE: The government’s position is that it is quite and entirely reasonable for us to build this building to save $20 million a year and to create an asset which we own, which would be on our books and which would almost certainly appreciate in value. It is a winner whichever way you look at it. We understand the Liberals sold their headquarters, but I think that is a different issue—they went broke. (Time expired.)
MS HUNTER: Supplementary?
MR SPEAKER: A supplementary, Ms Hunter.
MS HUNTER: Thank you, Mr Speaker. Chief Minister, has there been a cost-benefit analysis that includes ownership versus leasing, and are we able to see that analysis?
MR STANHOPE: As a result, I must say, initially of the Liberal Party’s knee-jerk opposition to this building, we are now coming to understand the basis of their knee-jerk opposition. I just thought it was—
MR SPEAKER: Chief Minister.
MR STANHOPE: I thought it was just an attempt to—
MR SPEAKER: Ms Hunter asked a clear question, Chief Minister.
MR STANHOPE: And I am about to answer it. I thought it was an attempt at just a cheap political point. But we now see the philosophical underpinning—
Opposition members interjecting—
MR STANHOPE: We see the philosophical underpinning—
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