Page 473 - Week 02 - Wednesday, 19 March 2014
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So what were the additional $49 million of increased costs? That is something that nobody knows, and this is all separate to everything else out at the Cotter Dam. It is separate to the saddle dams. It is separate to the roads. It is separate to the visitors centre. It is separate to the walking paths. It is separate to the signage—everything. There is $49 million of costs attributed to the cost of the abutment and dam wall which is unknown. And I do hope the Auditor-General will be able to shed some light on this issue because that is a huge amount of money.
Look at the opportunity cost of that $49 million and think of what that $49 million could do elsewhere in the ACT or what that $49 million could do had it been returned to the taxpayers. That would be a stimulus package. A stimulus package would be to not take the money in the first place and to allow individuals to actually make their own choices rather than have a government which is so prescriptive in influencing consumers and citizens with their ideological projects.
There are of course other projects which are listed in Dr Bourke’s motion. The Constitution Avenue upgrade is an interesting one. I think everybody likes the idea of the Constitution Avenue upgrade and the artist’s impression, which was released about four or five years ago, of the tree lined streets, the cafes, the bicycles everywhere, everyone’s all rosy. But that was years ago, that artist’s impression. And we keep getting told, “It is six months away. We are going to start soon. We are going to start soon.” I do hope the government is going to give a definitive time line as to when the Constitution Avenue upgrade is actually going to happen and when we are going to see these cafe-lined streets with bicycles everywhere, as it was in the artist’s impression years ago.
The Gungahlin leisure centre, of course was a promise in 2008 by the Labor Party. A 2008 election promise was: “We will deliver a pool for Gungahlin. We will also deliver a cinema.” Again, we have been waiting for a very long time. And of course with health facilities, those too were running overtime and over budget.
As for the Majura parkway, it goes to show that it is a real snub to this government when Infrastructure Australia gave the go-ahead for that project but would not even give the go-ahead for a $15 million study into light rail because they said not even the study was worth while. And that is something I will go to shortly.
Part (4) of Dr Bourke’s motion discusses transformational projects. The health infrastructure program has been in part put on hold because there was not enough money; yet there is money for other projects. So you do see the priorities of this government, when they are willing to spend money on a light rail project but they are not willing to spend money on the health infrastructure program.
With regard to the city to the lake project, the artist impressions came well before anything substantial. It was very much sold to everyone, oversold to everyone, as the bee’s knees of capital works. But I think we will be waiting a fair while before we go on the land bridge over Lake Burley Griffin.
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