Page 2433 - Week 08 - Wednesday, 13 August 2014
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support the construction industry in the city, creates more opportunities for the rejuvenation and revitalisation of our city. It is an important project for the territory in the longer term. I need to repeat that we are talking about occupying a building in late 2018. We have a process ahead of us to get the best possible price from the market. As I indicated yesterday, now is the perfect time to be getting the best possible deal.
My aspirations for this project are that we can get to the point where we move our staff out of C and D-grade accommodation into higher quality accommodation and that we can get it at the most competitive price because there is interest across a wide number of stakeholders. I would anticipate expressions of interest through this process from section 63, from the buildings on the corner of Northbourne and Barry Drive that have been proposed by the Walker Corporation. I would expect a range of interest in relation to possible location on section 19. I am also anticipating interest, particularly if there are decisions taken by the commonwealth to move out of Civic with a number of their departments, in adaptive re-use or upgrading of a number of buildings that are currently occupied by the commonwealth.
This is a timely project for the ACT. It is one that will save us money in the long term but, importantly, get our staff into high quality buildings. That is a key priority for the government. We are going to take our time. We have got a number of processes to go through. Let us see what the market can deliver for us, exactly as we did in Gungahlin. Those opposite supported the Gungahlin process, and I still believe they support the Gungahlin process, because we have got a very good outcome for Gungahlin and for the ACT public service, and it has provided jobs in the construction phase.
We look forward to a similarly successful process, because there is keen interest in the marketplace from the widest possible range of industry players. The Property Council are supportive of this process and have indicated that publicly. We look forward to further market soundings as we move through each stage of this process. That is the correct way to approach the market and the way we intend to proceed with this project. We will not be supporting the opposition leader’s petty, mindless motion today.
MR RATTENBURY (Molonglo) (11.14): I know it is pretty challenging for the opposition to have to come in here and find four things to complain about each Wednesday, but at least we might have had a motion that had a bit more substance to it. As the Treasurer has pointed out, Mr Hanson has not really done his homework on this motion. The narrative that Mr Hanson is trying to bring to the table does not stack up. He is trying—
Mr Hanson: Bring back Caroline.
MR RATTENBURY: We will come to exactly that. The narrative that Mr Hanson is trying to bring to the table is that the government proposed a government office building in 2011, and he says that they are still on their mission to build a so-called death star. What he completely fails to note anywhere in his motion is that the current proposal that is out for market testing is a very different proposal from that put forward in 2011.
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