Page 2444 - Week 06 - Thursday, 23 June 2011
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in relation to new technology, could have been taken out of the Jon Stanhope playbook from 2001, even down to FOI reform.
Let us look at the sort of government and leadership and competence we have had from this government and how we should be going on from here. The Gungahlin Drive extension is a road half built, a road reaching its capacity years before forecast, a road costing four times what it should have, a road where officials said: “Don’t worry, Mrs Dunne, it will be a great road—22 hours a day.” Actually they got that wrong too, because the congestion is for much more than an hour in the morning and an hour in the evening. It is not a great road for even 22 hours a day.
Then we had, after steadfastly refusing, refusing, refusing to duplicate the GDE, the hurried announcement that the Stanhope government, the Labor government, would duplicate the GDE—only after they got word when somebody broke an embargo that this was an announcement that was to be made the next day by the Canberra Liberals. That is an example of the competence and leadership that we get from this government.
The Bimberi Youth Justice Centre cost $40 million for a state-of-the-art facility and it has been open for only two years. The original budget, we might recall, was $20 million. In the last two years we have seen near escapes, bashings, a series of self-harms, misuse of drugs, inadequate security, the revolving door of staff resigning, staff shortages, the use of inappropriately trained security staff and now $1.5 million in extra funding needed to fix security, some of that security failing having been brought to light by a brutal bashing. That is an example of the competence and leadership of this government.
The Alexander Maconochie Centre cost more than $130 million. Its size and scope was reduced to fit the budget. There was a pretend opening. There are drugs getting in. There are security breaches. There are system failures. There is uncontrolled bullying. Staff are becoming political footballs. That is an example of the competence and leadership of this government.
We have the old Belconnen Remand Centre, where there were remandees on the roof and the Attorney-General was making public statements about the guilt of the perpetrators. On that occasion that led to the only censure of any member of this government in the life of this Assembly, and that is an example of the competence and leadership of this government.
There is the government office building, estimated to cost $432 million. There has been no cost-benefit analysis; there was a single page showing savings. Then there was more analysis that did not match the original single sheet, information was withheld from inquirers until the very last moments of the estimates hearings, and ministers have been unable to answer questions. It is unclear whether it will be paid for by borrowings or from cash. That is an example of the competence and leadership of this government.
We have the enlarged Cotter Dam—the decision was delayed for years and years, with the Chief Minister saying we may never have to build a dam; not in 30 years, not
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