Page 255 - Week 01 - Wednesday, 15 February 2012
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MR SPEAKER: Mr Smyth, I invite you to withdraw.
MR SMYTH: I am just considering my options. A substantive motion at this stage to chastise Mr Corbell for what he does is very tempting, I have to say, Mr Speaker.
Mr Corbell: You have been asked to withdraw.
MR SMYTH: I withdraw. We will finish this and I will consider my options.
MR SPEAKER: Thank you, Mr Smyth.
Mr Corbell: Point of order, Mr Speaker. Has Mr Smyth withdrawn the comment?
MR SPEAKER: Yes. I did hear him.
MR SMYTH: You should open your ears and listen, Mr Corbell.
Mr Corbell: Thank you, Mr Speaker.
MR SMYTH: You are too busy living in your dream world, Simon. Wake up to yourself.
What you have got is this confection from Mr Corbell—this absolute confection—that somehow the government singlehandedly saved the Tharwa bridge, the historic Allan truss bridge, perhaps the best example of its kind not just in the ACT but in the whole of the New South Wales area.
The original scope of the project was 10 million bucks, in June 2008. But there was government mismanagement. Remember that originally we were told that it could not be repaired. We had this fabulous discussion in this place one day when Mr Hargreaves got up and said, “There is not appropriate wood to rebuild the existing bridge.” That was the problem; all the wood was gone. I know you are laughing. Don’t choke on your water, Mr Speaker. Mr Hargreaves was saying, “You just cannot buy this calibre of wood anymore.” A quick Google search revealed that there were many firms that specialise in particularly stripping old wharves and warehouses of this type of timber for reuse, which is a great thing. But no. The original excuse was, “We cannot get the wood.” And the saga just deteriorated. It was, quite frankly, one of the most amusing sagas in the whole of that term of the Assembly.
What was the original cost? The government would have been spending $10 million in 2008. I think Mr Corbell would say that it had the courage to take over $25 million to fix the problems. Again, it is an example of waste. There was all this extra planning for a different solution that would never be used because the government was forced to abandon it because it got it wrong from the start. That is the whole point, Mr Corbell. It is your disdain for the truth in this way that frustrates people. It is important that the true story is told.
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