❓ Hon Peter Foss asks about the progress and priority of Sotico Pty Ltd's step-down offer and its impact on Forest Products Commission proposals. Hon Kim Chance responds, detailing negotiations and the importance of the offer to the government's budget.
AnsweredQoN 738Legislative Council
QuestionView source ↗
Since Sotico Pty Ltd made its offer of a step-down - (1) What efforts has the minister made to arrive at a satisfactory arrangement with Sotico for that step-down to take place? (2) What priority does the attainment of the step-down have in his portfolio? (3) Is there a critical time by which he needs to know the amount of any step-down in order to complete assessment of the proposals under the Forest Products Commission request for proposal 2649? Hon KIM CHANCE
AnswerView source ↗
(1)-(2) The Sotico offer does form an important factor in permitting the Government to fulfil its obligations within budget. As such, it had immediate appeal to me. I had a discussion with Mr Ron Adams, in the first instance on a private basis. I then took the matter to the cabinet standing committee relevant to that function and the matter was subsequently discussed in Cabinet. Following that stage of the process, as I recall it, Sotico later came to the cabinet standing committee and explained in more detail the process that it had outlined, and that essentially began a process of negotiation on a number of related issues, some of them quite complex. I will explain the principal cause of that complexity. What Sotico had put to us, while it was an attractive proposition to government, required the Government to make a substantial concession to Sotico, although there were clear benefits to the Government and to the whole package by doing so. Those benefits are not secret, but they are sufficiently large to have attracted the Government to the proposition in the first instance. The change that had to be made was to treat Sotico as if it were an exit applicant in some sense, and in particular that issue arose concerning the treatment of redundancies. In order to meet Sotico’s proposition, we had to effectively treat it as if it were a business exit applicant, when in fact it was clear it was not exiting the industry. That has taken some time and it has required negotiations outside my portfolio, as the member can imagine, because they are questions that fall within the ambit of the Minister for State Development. The PRESIDENT: Order! Perhaps the Leader will wrap up his answer. Hon KIM CHANCE: It was given a high priority because it was probably the biggest breakthrough the Government has had in being able to complete the delivery of the Government’s package within budget. (3) Yes; any early date is the critical time. If I were to put a date on it - I do this for my own purposes, simply because it makes the arithmetic easier - it is the end of this calendar year, or as near to that date as possible, because that then allows two years of step-down calculations.
(1) What efforts has the minister made to arrive at a satisfactory arrangement with Sotico for that step-down to take place? (2) What priority does the attainment of the step-down have in his portfolio? (3) Is there a critical time by which he needs to know the amount of any step-down in order to complete assessment of the proposals under the Forest Products Commission request for proposal 2649? Hon KIM CHANCE replied: (1)-(2) The Sotico offer does form an important factor in permitting the Government to fulfil its obligations within budget. As such, it had immediate appeal to me. I had a discussion with Mr Ron Adams, in the first instance on a private basis. I then took the matter to the cabinet standing committee relevant to that function and the matter was subsequently discussed in Cabinet. Following that stage of the process, as I recall it, Sotico later came to the cabinet standing committee and explained in more detail the process that it had outlined, and that essentially began a process of negotiation on a number of related issues, some of them quite complex. I will explain the principal cause of that complexity. What Sotico had put to us, while it was an attractive proposition to government, required the Government to make a substantial concession to Sotico, although there were clear benefits to the Government and to the whole package by doing so. Those benefits are not secret, but they are sufficiently large to have attracted the Government to the proposition in the first instance. The change that had to be made was to treat Sotico as if it were an exit applicant in some sense, and in particular that issue arose concerning the treatment of redundancies. In order to meet Sotico’s proposition, we had to effectively treat it as if it were a business exit applicant, when in fact it was clear it was not exiting the industry. That has taken some time and it has required negotiations outside my portfolio, as the member can imagine, because they are questions that fall within the ambit of the Minister for State Development. The PRESIDENT: Order! Perhaps the Leader will wrap up his answer. Hon KIM CHANCE: It was given a high priority because it was probably the biggest breakthrough the Government has had in being able to complete the delivery of the Government’s package within budget. (3) Yes; any early date is the critical time. If I were to put a date on it - I do this for my own purposes, simply because it makes the arithmetic easier - it is the end of this calendar year, or as near to that date as possible, because that then allows two years of step-down calculations.
(2) What priority does the attainment of the step-down have in his portfolio? (3) Is there a critical time by which he needs to know the amount of any step-down in order to complete assessment of the proposals under the Forest Products Commission request for proposal 2649? Hon KIM CHANCE replied: (1)-(2) The Sotico offer does form an important factor in permitting the Government to fulfil its obligations within budget. As such, it had immediate appeal to me. I had a discussion with Mr Ron Adams, in the first instance on a private basis. I then took the matter to the cabinet standing committee relevant to that function and the matter was subsequently discussed in Cabinet. Following that stage of the process, as I recall it, Sotico later came to the cabinet standing committee and explained in more detail the process that it had outlined, and that essentially began a process of negotiation on a number of related issues, some of them quite complex. I will explain the principal cause of that complexity. What Sotico had put to us, while it was an attractive proposition to government, required the Government to make a substantial concession to Sotico, although there were clear benefits to the Government and to the whole package by doing so. Those benefits are not secret, but they are sufficiently large to have attracted the Government to the proposition in the first instance. The change that had to be made was to treat Sotico as if it were an exit applicant in some sense, and in particular that issue arose concerning the treatment of redundancies. In order to meet Sotico’s proposition, we had to effectively treat it as if it were a business exit applicant, when in fact it was clear it was not exiting the industry. That has taken some time and it has required negotiations outside my portfolio, as the member can imagine, because they are questions that fall within the ambit of the Minister for State Development. The PRESIDENT: Order! Perhaps the Leader will wrap up his answer. Hon KIM CHANCE: It was given a high priority because it was probably the biggest breakthrough the Government has had in being able to complete the delivery of the Government’s package within budget. (3) Yes; any early date is the critical time. If I were to put a date on it - I do this for my own purposes, simply because it makes the arithmetic easier - it is the end of this calendar year, or as near to that date as possible, because that then allows two years of step-down calculations.
(3) Is there a critical time by which he needs to know the amount of any step-down in order to complete assessment of the proposals under the Forest Products Commission request for proposal 2649? Hon KIM CHANCE replied: (1)-(2) The Sotico offer does form an important factor in permitting the Government to fulfil its obligations within budget. As such, it had immediate appeal to me. I had a discussion with Mr Ron Adams, in the first instance on a private basis. I then took the matter to the cabinet standing committee relevant to that function and the matter was subsequently discussed in Cabinet. Following that stage of the process, as I recall it, Sotico later came to the cabinet standing committee and explained in more detail the process that it had outlined, and that essentially began a process of negotiation on a number of related issues, some of them quite complex. I will explain the principal cause of that complexity. What Sotico had put to us, while it was an attractive proposition to government, required the Government to make a substantial concession to Sotico, although there were clear benefits to the Government and to the whole package by doing so. Those benefits are not secret, but they are sufficiently large to have attracted the Government to the proposition in the first instance. The change that had to be made was to treat Sotico as if it were an exit applicant in some sense, and in particular that issue arose concerning the treatment of redundancies. In order to meet Sotico’s proposition, we had to effectively treat it as if it were a business exit applicant, when in fact it was clear it was not exiting the industry. That has taken some time and it has required negotiations outside my portfolio, as the member can imagine, because they are questions that fall within the ambit of the Minister for State Development. The PRESIDENT: Order! Perhaps the Leader will wrap up his answer. Hon KIM CHANCE: It was given a high priority because it was probably the biggest breakthrough the Government has had in being able to complete the delivery of the Government’s package within budget. (3) Yes; any early date is the critical time. If I were to put a date on it - I do this for my own purposes, simply because it makes the arithmetic easier - it is the end of this calendar year, or as near to that date as possible, because that then allows two years of step-down calculations.
Hon KIM CHANCE replied: (1)-(2) The Sotico offer does form an important factor in permitting the Government to fulfil its obligations within budget. As such, it had immediate appeal to me. I had a discussion with Mr Ron Adams, in the first instance on a private basis. I then took the matter to the cabinet standing committee relevant to that function and the matter was subsequently discussed in Cabinet. Following that stage of the process, as I recall it, Sotico later came to the cabinet standing committee and explained in more detail the process that it had outlined, and that essentially began a process of negotiation on a number of related issues, some of them quite complex. I will explain the principal cause of that complexity. What Sotico had put to us, while it was an attractive proposition to government, required the Government to make a substantial concession to Sotico, although there were clear benefits to the Government and to the whole package by doing so. Those benefits are not secret, but they are sufficiently large to have attracted the Government to the proposition in the first instance. The change that had to be made was to treat Sotico as if it were an exit applicant in some sense, and in particular that issue arose concerning the treatment of redundancies. In order to meet Sotico’s proposition, we had to effectively treat it as if it were a business exit applicant, when in fact it was clear it was not exiting the industry. That has taken some time and it has required negotiations outside my portfolio, as the member can imagine, because they are questions that fall within the ambit of the Minister for State Development. The PRESIDENT: Order! Perhaps the Leader will wrap up his answer. Hon KIM CHANCE: It was given a high priority because it was probably the biggest breakthrough the Government has had in being able to complete the delivery of the Government’s package within budget. (3) Yes; any early date is the critical time. If I were to put a date on it - I do this for my own purposes, simply because it makes the arithmetic easier - it is the end of this calendar year, or as near to that date as possible, because that then allows two years of step-down calculations.
(1)-(2) The Sotico offer does form an important factor in permitting the Government to fulfil its obligations within budget. As such, it had immediate appeal to me. I had a discussion with Mr Ron Adams, in the first instance on a private basis. I then took the matter to the cabinet standing committee relevant to that function and the matter was subsequently discussed in Cabinet. Following that stage of the process, as I recall it, Sotico later came to the cabinet standing committee and explained in more detail the process that it had outlined, and that essentially began a process of negotiation on a number of related issues, some of them quite complex. I will explain the principal cause of that complexity. What Sotico had put to us, while it was an attractive proposition to government, required the Government to make a substantial concession to Sotico, although there were clear benefits to the Government and to the whole package by doing so. Those benefits are not secret, but they are sufficiently large to have attracted the Government to the proposition in the first instance. The change that had to be made was to treat Sotico as if it were an exit applicant in some sense, and in particular that issue arose concerning the treatment of redundancies. In order to meet Sotico’s proposition, we had to effectively treat it as if it were a business exit applicant, when in fact it was clear it was not exiting the industry. That has taken some time and it has required negotiations outside my portfolio, as the member can imagine, because they are questions that fall within the ambit of the Minister for State Development. The PRESIDENT: Order! Perhaps the Leader will wrap up his answer. Hon KIM CHANCE: It was given a high priority because it was probably the biggest breakthrough the Government has had in being able to complete the delivery of the Government’s package within budget. (3) Yes; any early date is the critical time. If I were to put a date on it - I do this for my own purposes, simply because it makes the arithmetic easier - it is the end of this calendar year, or as near to that date as possible, because that then allows two years of step-down calculations.
I will explain the principal cause of that complexity. What Sotico had put to us, while it was an attractive proposition to government, required the Government to make a substantial concession to Sotico, although there were clear benefits to the Government and to the whole package by doing so. Those benefits are not secret, but they are sufficiently large to have attracted the Government to the proposition in the first instance. The change that had to be made was to treat Sotico as if it were an exit applicant in some sense, and in particular that issue arose concerning the treatment of redundancies. In order to meet Sotico’s proposition, we had to effectively treat it as if it were a business exit applicant, when in fact it was clear it was not exiting the industry. That has taken some time and it has required negotiations outside my portfolio, as the member can imagine, because they are questions that fall within the ambit of the Minister for State Development. The PRESIDENT: Order! Perhaps the Leader will wrap up his answer. Hon KIM CHANCE: It was given a high priority because it was probably the biggest breakthrough the Government has had in being able to complete the delivery of the Government’s package within budget. (3) Yes; any early date is the critical time. If I were to put a date on it - I do this for my own purposes, simply because it makes the arithmetic easier - it is the end of this calendar year, or as near to that date as possible, because that then allows two years of step-down calculations.
The PRESIDENT: Order! Perhaps the Leader will wrap up his answer. Hon KIM CHANCE: It was given a high priority because it was probably the biggest breakthrough the Government has had in being able to complete the delivery of the Government’s package within budget. (3) Yes; any early date is the critical time. If I were to put a date on it - I do this for my own purposes, simply because it makes the arithmetic easier - it is the end of this calendar year, or as near to that date as possible, because that then allows two years of step-down calculations.
Hon KIM CHANCE: It was given a high priority because it was probably the biggest breakthrough the Government has had in being able to complete the delivery of the Government’s package within budget. (3) Yes; any early date is the critical time. If I were to put a date on it - I do this for my own purposes, simply because it makes the arithmetic easier - it is the end of this calendar year, or as near to that date as possible, because that then allows two years of step-down calculations.
(3) Yes; any early date is the critical time. If I were to put a date on it - I do this for my own purposes, simply because it makes the arithmetic easier - it is the end of this calendar year, or as near to that date as possible, because that then allows two years of step-down calculations.
(1) What efforts has the minister made to arrive at a satisfactory arrangement with Sotico for that step-down to take place? (2) What priority does the attainment of the step-down have in his portfolio? (3) Is there a critical time by which he needs to know the amount of any step-down in order to complete assessment of the proposals under the Forest Products Commission request for proposal 2649? Hon KIM CHANCE replied: (1)-(2) The Sotico offer does form an important factor in permitting the Government to fulfil its obligations within budget. As such, it had immediate appeal to me. I had a discussion with Mr Ron Adams, in the first instance on a private basis. I then took the matter to the cabinet standing committee relevant to that function and the matter was subsequently discussed in Cabinet. Following that stage of the process, as I recall it, Sotico later came to the cabinet standing committee and explained in more detail the process that it had outlined, and that essentially began a process of negotiation on a number of related issues, some of them quite complex. I will explain the principal cause of that complexity. What Sotico had put to us, while it was an attractive proposition to government, required the Government to make a substantial concession to Sotico, although there were clear benefits to the Government and to the whole package by doing so. Those benefits are not secret, but they are sufficiently large to have attracted the Government to the proposition in the first instance. The change that had to be made was to treat Sotico as if it were an exit applicant in some sense, and in particular that issue arose concerning the treatment of redundancies. In order to meet Sotico’s proposition, we had to effectively treat it as if it were a business exit applicant, when in fact it was clear it was not exiting the industry. That has taken some time and it has required negotiations outside my portfolio, as the member can imagine, because they are questions that fall within the ambit of the Minister for State Development. The PRESIDENT: Order! Perhaps the Leader will wrap up his answer. Hon KIM CHANCE: It was given a high priority because it was probably the biggest breakthrough the Government has had in being able to complete the delivery of the Government’s package within budget. (3) Yes; any early date is the critical time. If I were to put a date on it - I do this for my own purposes, simply because it makes the arithmetic easier - it is the end of this calendar year, or as near to that date as possible, because that then allows two years of step-down calculations.
(2) What priority does the attainment of the step-down have in his portfolio? (3) Is there a critical time by which he needs to know the amount of any step-down in order to complete assessment of the proposals under the Forest Products Commission request for proposal 2649? Hon KIM CHANCE replied: (1)-(2) The Sotico offer does form an important factor in permitting the Government to fulfil its obligations within budget. As such, it had immediate appeal to me. I had a discussion with Mr Ron Adams, in the first instance on a private basis. I then took the matter to the cabinet standing committee relevant to that function and the matter was subsequently discussed in Cabinet. Following that stage of the process, as I recall it, Sotico later came to the cabinet standing committee and explained in more detail the process that it had outlined, and that essentially began a process of negotiation on a number of related issues, some of them quite complex. I will explain the principal cause of that complexity. What Sotico had put to us, while it was an attractive proposition to government, required the Government to make a substantial concession to Sotico, although there were clear benefits to the Government and to the whole package by doing so. Those benefits are not secret, but they are sufficiently large to have attracted the Government to the proposition in the first instance. The change that had to be made was to treat Sotico as if it were an exit applicant in some sense, and in particular that issue arose concerning the treatment of redundancies. In order to meet Sotico’s proposition, we had to effectively treat it as if it were a business exit applicant, when in fact it was clear it was not exiting the industry. That has taken some time and it has required negotiations outside my portfolio, as the member can imagine, because they are questions that fall within the ambit of the Minister for State Development. The PRESIDENT: Order! Perhaps the Leader will wrap up his answer. Hon KIM CHANCE: It was given a high priority because it was probably the biggest breakthrough the Government has had in being able to complete the delivery of the Government’s package within budget. (3) Yes; any early date is the critical time. If I were to put a date on it - I do this for my own purposes, simply because it makes the arithmetic easier - it is the end of this calendar year, or as near to that date as possible, because that then allows two years of step-down calculations.
(3) Is there a critical time by which he needs to know the amount of any step-down in order to complete assessment of the proposals under the Forest Products Commission request for proposal 2649? Hon KIM CHANCE replied: (1)-(2) The Sotico offer does form an important factor in permitting the Government to fulfil its obligations within budget. As such, it had immediate appeal to me. I had a discussion with Mr Ron Adams, in the first instance on a private basis. I then took the matter to the cabinet standing committee relevant to that function and the matter was subsequently discussed in Cabinet. Following that stage of the process, as I recall it, Sotico later came to the cabinet standing committee and explained in more detail the process that it had outlined, and that essentially began a process of negotiation on a number of related issues, some of them quite complex. I will explain the principal cause of that complexity. What Sotico had put to us, while it was an attractive proposition to government, required the Government to make a substantial concession to Sotico, although there were clear benefits to the Government and to the whole package by doing so. Those benefits are not secret, but they are sufficiently large to have attracted the Government to the proposition in the first instance. The change that had to be made was to treat Sotico as if it were an exit applicant in some sense, and in particular that issue arose concerning the treatment of redundancies. In order to meet Sotico’s proposition, we had to effectively treat it as if it were a business exit applicant, when in fact it was clear it was not exiting the industry. That has taken some time and it has required negotiations outside my portfolio, as the member can imagine, because they are questions that fall within the ambit of the Minister for State Development. The PRESIDENT: Order! Perhaps the Leader will wrap up his answer. Hon KIM CHANCE: It was given a high priority because it was probably the biggest breakthrough the Government has had in being able to complete the delivery of the Government’s package within budget. (3) Yes; any early date is the critical time. If I were to put a date on it - I do this for my own purposes, simply because it makes the arithmetic easier - it is the end of this calendar year, or as near to that date as possible, because that then allows two years of step-down calculations.
Hon KIM CHANCE replied: (1)-(2) The Sotico offer does form an important factor in permitting the Government to fulfil its obligations within budget. As such, it had immediate appeal to me. I had a discussion with Mr Ron Adams, in the first instance on a private basis. I then took the matter to the cabinet standing committee relevant to that function and the matter was subsequently discussed in Cabinet. Following that stage of the process, as I recall it, Sotico later came to the cabinet standing committee and explained in more detail the process that it had outlined, and that essentially began a process of negotiation on a number of related issues, some of them quite complex. I will explain the principal cause of that complexity. What Sotico had put to us, while it was an attractive proposition to government, required the Government to make a substantial concession to Sotico, although there were clear benefits to the Government and to the whole package by doing so. Those benefits are not secret, but they are sufficiently large to have attracted the Government to the proposition in the first instance. The change that had to be made was to treat Sotico as if it were an exit applicant in some sense, and in particular that issue arose concerning the treatment of redundancies. In order to meet Sotico’s proposition, we had to effectively treat it as if it were a business exit applicant, when in fact it was clear it was not exiting the industry. That has taken some time and it has required negotiations outside my portfolio, as the member can imagine, because they are questions that fall within the ambit of the Minister for State Development. The PRESIDENT: Order! Perhaps the Leader will wrap up his answer. Hon KIM CHANCE: It was given a high priority because it was probably the biggest breakthrough the Government has had in being able to complete the delivery of the Government’s package within budget. (3) Yes; any early date is the critical time. If I were to put a date on it - I do this for my own purposes, simply because it makes the arithmetic easier - it is the end of this calendar year, or as near to that date as possible, because that then allows two years of step-down calculations.
(1)-(2) The Sotico offer does form an important factor in permitting the Government to fulfil its obligations within budget. As such, it had immediate appeal to me. I had a discussion with Mr Ron Adams, in the first instance on a private basis. I then took the matter to the cabinet standing committee relevant to that function and the matter was subsequently discussed in Cabinet. Following that stage of the process, as I recall it, Sotico later came to the cabinet standing committee and explained in more detail the process that it had outlined, and that essentially began a process of negotiation on a number of related issues, some of them quite complex. I will explain the principal cause of that complexity. What Sotico had put to us, while it was an attractive proposition to government, required the Government to make a substantial concession to Sotico, although there were clear benefits to the Government and to the whole package by doing so. Those benefits are not secret, but they are sufficiently large to have attracted the Government to the proposition in the first instance. The change that had to be made was to treat Sotico as if it were an exit applicant in some sense, and in particular that issue arose concerning the treatment of redundancies. In order to meet Sotico’s proposition, we had to effectively treat it as if it were a business exit applicant, when in fact it was clear it was not exiting the industry. That has taken some time and it has required negotiations outside my portfolio, as the member can imagine, because they are questions that fall within the ambit of the Minister for State Development. The PRESIDENT: Order! Perhaps the Leader will wrap up his answer. Hon KIM CHANCE: It was given a high priority because it was probably the biggest breakthrough the Government has had in being able to complete the delivery of the Government’s package within budget. (3) Yes; any early date is the critical time. If I were to put a date on it - I do this for my own purposes, simply because it makes the arithmetic easier - it is the end of this calendar year, or as near to that date as possible, because that then allows two years of step-down calculations.
I will explain the principal cause of that complexity. What Sotico had put to us, while it was an attractive proposition to government, required the Government to make a substantial concession to Sotico, although there were clear benefits to the Government and to the whole package by doing so. Those benefits are not secret, but they are sufficiently large to have attracted the Government to the proposition in the first instance. The change that had to be made was to treat Sotico as if it were an exit applicant in some sense, and in particular that issue arose concerning the treatment of redundancies. In order to meet Sotico’s proposition, we had to effectively treat it as if it were a business exit applicant, when in fact it was clear it was not exiting the industry. That has taken some time and it has required negotiations outside my portfolio, as the member can imagine, because they are questions that fall within the ambit of the Minister for State Development. The PRESIDENT: Order! Perhaps the Leader will wrap up his answer. Hon KIM CHANCE: It was given a high priority because it was probably the biggest breakthrough the Government has had in being able to complete the delivery of the Government’s package within budget. (3) Yes; any early date is the critical time. If I were to put a date on it - I do this for my own purposes, simply because it makes the arithmetic easier - it is the end of this calendar year, or as near to that date as possible, because that then allows two years of step-down calculations.
The PRESIDENT: Order! Perhaps the Leader will wrap up his answer. Hon KIM CHANCE: It was given a high priority because it was probably the biggest breakthrough the Government has had in being able to complete the delivery of the Government’s package within budget. (3) Yes; any early date is the critical time. If I were to put a date on it - I do this for my own purposes, simply because it makes the arithmetic easier - it is the end of this calendar year, or as near to that date as possible, because that then allows two years of step-down calculations.
Hon KIM CHANCE: It was given a high priority because it was probably the biggest breakthrough the Government has had in being able to complete the delivery of the Government’s package within budget. (3) Yes; any early date is the critical time. If I were to put a date on it - I do this for my own purposes, simply because it makes the arithmetic easier - it is the end of this calendar year, or as near to that date as possible, because that then allows two years of step-down calculations.
(3) Yes; any early date is the critical time. If I were to put a date on it - I do this for my own purposes, simply because it makes the arithmetic easier - it is the end of this calendar year, or as near to that date as possible, because that then allows two years of step-down calculations.
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