❓ Question regarding cost overruns and mismanagement of the Perth Arena project under the previous government, with accusations of concealing information.
AnsweredQoN 54Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
PERTH ARENA — AUDITOR GENERAL’S REPORT
I note with interest that the Auditor General tabled a report today, “The Planning and Management of Perth Arena”. Stemming from these findings, what lesson can we learn from the previous government’s inability to deliver major capital works projects? Mr T.R. BUSWELL
I note with interest that the Auditor General tabled a report today, “The Planning and Management of Perth Arena”. Stemming from these findings, what lesson can we learn from the previous government’s inability to deliver major capital works projects? Mr T.R. BUSWELL
AnswerView source ↗
That is a very good question from the member for Mount Lawley, whom I am sure has read this report. Several members interjected. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : One lesson I have learnt is never, ever let the member for Midland near a government chequebook again. I encourage all members of the house to read this report, because it has some salient — Mr E.S. Ripper : It has a lot of lessons for the government in it. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : It has a lot of lessons for the Leader of the Opposition; I can tell him that right now. We will get to those. Mr E.S. Ripper : What about the waterfront, the Northbridge link and the Treasurer’s advance? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : There are a number of very salient lessons in this for all in government, but the finger of blame points very clearly at the former minister, the former Treasurer and all of those — Mr E.S. Ripper : Is that what the Auditor General says? Quote him. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I will get to that as well. It is very interesting. Keep digging because we can put it all back in on top of the opposition! I thought I would take a couple of minutes to background the house on the history of Perth Arena. It was announced with much fanfare by the then Premier in 2005. How much do members think was the estimated cost in 2005? It was $160 million. And the former government said it would be ready for the Hopman Cup 2009. That is only two years ago! In July 2006, the former government came out and said that it will now cost $250 million, but it will still be ready in 2009. Then in July 2008, they said it would cost $335 million, and would be finished in 2010. What do we know now? I think it will cost more than half a billion dollars, and it will not be finished until April 2012! However, the interesting thing is how the contract was struck. In 2006 the project went out for tender. It went out for tender on a design-and-construct basis. The tender came back at around $470 million. The previous government said, “Hold on; we have a bit of a problem because we’ve told everyone it will cost $330 million, and we are now being told it will cost $470 million. What should we do? We will doctor up the process.” This is what happened. The car park was taken out. A $70 million car park was taken out and stuck underneath with a $20 million provision given. The fit-out was abandoned. We would have a wonderful stadium with no seats! The third thing the former government said was, “We’ll change the design while you’re building. So, start BGC, and we’ll change the design while you are building it. We are that clever that we can save $35 million.” None of that happened. Do members know what the final cost will be? It will be pretty much the original tendered cost, except — Mrs M.H. Roberts : Who was the minister when that was happening? You were the minister! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : Hang on; we will get to the member for Midland! It will be pretty much the original tendered cost, except the project is over budget and over time. The Auditor General has made a couple of points. The first point, which I think is valid, says it shows how announcing costs and time frames of a project ahead of them being known is fraught with danger. What he says about this project is a bit like Peter Garrett’s insulation project that was rushed out the door to make that minister look good, and it was a complete failure. I will tell members what else the Auditor General said; he said — DHW officers advised us that they provided fortnightly verbal briefings to the Minister … The member for Midland knew about this. She was advised every fortnight. One might think that she would tell cabinet about it. Was the current Leader of the Opposition ever told about it when he was Treasurer? Did he ever get an update on those regular fortnightly meetings about the risks and the cost blow-outs? He did not! Mr E.S. Ripper : Are you told about the waterfront? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Leader of the Opposition did not get any updates, did he? He was kept in the dark. As the then Treasurer, the Leader of the Opposition should have been inquiring because the cost was going up and the time line was heading out. One would have thought that if the member for Midland were a half-decent minister, she might have informed cabinet, but cabinet was never informed. Mrs M.H. Roberts : It’s not what the report says. Tell the truth! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I will quote the report for the member for Midland. Page 19 of the report reads — DHW officers advised us that they provided fortnightly verbal briefings to the Minister — That was the member for Midland — highlighting key risks and issues. Mrs M.H. Roberts : Not on the arena—on all issues. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : Therefore, the Auditor General just put that comment in his report on the arena? What were they talking to the member for Midland about? Was it about the dry season? I have no idea! It is in the report on Perth Arena that the former minister told no-one! The ALP can rest easy because this is the person who wants to lead members opposite; this is the person who claimed if she had been leader, Labor would still be over on this side of the house. Which two metalworkers kept the member for Midland out? Was it the member for Joondalup? Mr E.S. Ripper : What happened to your leadership? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I resigned, and I am glad I did. Did the member for Cockburn keep the member for Midland out? She does not want to be leader; she is just having a lot of meetings with Dave Kelly and Joe Bullock! How sweet it is in the ALP! I will close by saying that there is a silver lining. Mr P. Papalia : Isn’t it lucky that this came out today? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Auditor General is an independent officer of Parliament, and bless him for it. He could even go home and have a sandwich. The last point I want to make is that the Auditor General has done us all a favour. Mr P. Papalia interjected. The SPEAKER : Member for Warnbro, there are plenty of opportunities to ask questions in this place. I formally call you for the first time. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Auditor General basically said it was a complete fiasco, but there is a silver lining. Mr E.S. Ripper : Which page is that on? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : It is on page 26. The Leader of the Opposition should read it and weep. It says that the governance framework and risk management has been strengthened since early 2009. Do members know why it was strengthened? Because there was a change of government. We came into power and said, “Give us a list of the top 20 projects, how much they cost and when they will be finished.” We were asked why we wanted to know that. Why on earth would we need to know what $20 billion of capital works is going to cost? No-one had ever asked for that. There are new people in charge of capital works in this state. We will learn from these lessons. Those opposite, particularly the member for Midland, should hang their heads in shame. The SPEAKER : Before I give the call to the member for Rockingham, I formally call the member for Kimberley for the first time.
Mr T.R. BUSWELL replied: That is a very good question from the member for Mount Lawley, whom I am sure has read this report. Several members interjected. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : One lesson I have learnt is never, ever let the member for Midland near a government chequebook again. I encourage all members of the house to read this report, because it has some salient — Mr E.S. Ripper : It has a lot of lessons for the government in it. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : It has a lot of lessons for the Leader of the Opposition; I can tell him that right now. We will get to those. Mr E.S. Ripper : What about the waterfront, the Northbridge link and the Treasurer’s advance? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : There are a number of very salient lessons in this for all in government, but the finger of blame points very clearly at the former minister, the former Treasurer and all of those — Mr E.S. Ripper : Is that what the Auditor General says? Quote him. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I will get to that as well. It is very interesting. Keep digging because we can put it all back in on top of the opposition! I thought I would take a couple of minutes to background the house on the history of Perth Arena. It was announced with much fanfare by the then Premier in 2005. How much do members think was the estimated cost in 2005? It was $160 million. And the former government said it would be ready for the Hopman Cup 2009. That is only two years ago! In July 2006, the former government came out and said that it will now cost $250 million, but it will still be ready in 2009. Then in July 2008, they said it would cost $335 million, and would be finished in 2010. What do we know now? I think it will cost more than half a billion dollars, and it will not be finished until April 2012! However, the interesting thing is how the contract was struck. In 2006 the project went out for tender. It went out for tender on a design-and-construct basis. The tender came back at around $470 million. The previous government said, “Hold on; we have a bit of a problem because we’ve told everyone it will cost $330 million, and we are now being told it will cost $470 million. What should we do? We will doctor up the process.” This is what happened. The car park was taken out. A $70 million car park was taken out and stuck underneath with a $20 million provision given. The fit-out was abandoned. We would have a wonderful stadium with no seats! The third thing the former government said was, “We’ll change the design while you’re building. So, start BGC, and we’ll change the design while you are building it. We are that clever that we can save $35 million.” None of that happened. Do members know what the final cost will be? It will be pretty much the original tendered cost, except — Mrs M.H. Roberts : Who was the minister when that was happening? You were the minister! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : Hang on; we will get to the member for Midland! It will be pretty much the original tendered cost, except the project is over budget and over time. The Auditor General has made a couple of points. The first point, which I think is valid, says it shows how announcing costs and time frames of a project ahead of them being known is fraught with danger. What he says about this project is a bit like Peter Garrett’s insulation project that was rushed out the door to make that minister look good, and it was a complete failure. I will tell members what else the Auditor General said; he said — DHW officers advised us that they provided fortnightly verbal briefings to the Minister … The member for Midland knew about this. She was advised every fortnight. One might think that she would tell cabinet about it. Was the current Leader of the Opposition ever told about it when he was Treasurer? Did he ever get an update on those regular fortnightly meetings about the risks and the cost blow-outs? He did not! Mr E.S. Ripper : Are you told about the waterfront? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Leader of the Opposition did not get any updates, did he? He was kept in the dark. As the then Treasurer, the Leader of the Opposition should have been inquiring because the cost was going up and the time line was heading out. One would have thought that if the member for Midland were a half-decent minister, she might have informed cabinet, but cabinet was never informed. Mrs M.H. Roberts : It’s not what the report says. Tell the truth! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I will quote the report for the member for Midland. Page 19 of the report reads — DHW officers advised us that they provided fortnightly verbal briefings to the Minister — That was the member for Midland — highlighting key risks and issues. Mrs M.H. Roberts : Not on the arena—on all issues. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : Therefore, the Auditor General just put that comment in his report on the arena? What were they talking to the member for Midland about? Was it about the dry season? I have no idea! It is in the report on Perth Arena that the former minister told no-one! The ALP can rest easy because this is the person who wants to lead members opposite; this is the person who claimed if she had been leader, Labor would still be over on this side of the house. Which two metalworkers kept the member for Midland out? Was it the member for Joondalup? Mr E.S. Ripper : What happened to your leadership? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I resigned, and I am glad I did. Did the member for Cockburn keep the member for Midland out? She does not want to be leader; she is just having a lot of meetings with Dave Kelly and Joe Bullock! How sweet it is in the ALP! I will close by saying that there is a silver lining. Mr P. Papalia : Isn’t it lucky that this came out today? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Auditor General is an independent officer of Parliament, and bless him for it. He could even go home and have a sandwich. The last point I want to make is that the Auditor General has done us all a favour. Mr P. Papalia interjected. The SPEAKER : Member for Warnbro, there are plenty of opportunities to ask questions in this place. I formally call you for the first time. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Auditor General basically said it was a complete fiasco, but there is a silver lining. Mr E.S. Ripper : Which page is that on? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : It is on page 26. The Leader of the Opposition should read it and weep. It says that the governance framework and risk management has been strengthened since early 2009. Do members know why it was strengthened? Because there was a change of government. We came into power and said, “Give us a list of the top 20 projects, how much they cost and when they will be finished.” We were asked why we wanted to know that. Why on earth would we need to know what $20 billion of capital works is going to cost? No-one had ever asked for that. There are new people in charge of capital works in this state. We will learn from these lessons. Those opposite, particularly the member for Midland, should hang their heads in shame. The SPEAKER : Before I give the call to the member for Rockingham, I formally call the member for Kimberley for the first time.
That is a very good question from the member for Mount Lawley, whom I am sure has read this report. Several members interjected. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : One lesson I have learnt is never, ever let the member for Midland near a government chequebook again. I encourage all members of the house to read this report, because it has some salient — Mr E.S. Ripper : It has a lot of lessons for the government in it. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : It has a lot of lessons for the Leader of the Opposition; I can tell him that right now. We will get to those. Mr E.S. Ripper : What about the waterfront, the Northbridge link and the Treasurer’s advance? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : There are a number of very salient lessons in this for all in government, but the finger of blame points very clearly at the former minister, the former Treasurer and all of those — Mr E.S. Ripper : Is that what the Auditor General says? Quote him. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I will get to that as well. It is very interesting. Keep digging because we can put it all back in on top of the opposition! I thought I would take a couple of minutes to background the house on the history of Perth Arena. It was announced with much fanfare by the then Premier in 2005. How much do members think was the estimated cost in 2005? It was $160 million. And the former government said it would be ready for the Hopman Cup 2009. That is only two years ago! In July 2006, the former government came out and said that it will now cost $250 million, but it will still be ready in 2009. Then in July 2008, they said it would cost $335 million, and would be finished in 2010. What do we know now? I think it will cost more than half a billion dollars, and it will not be finished until April 2012! However, the interesting thing is how the contract was struck. In 2006 the project went out for tender. It went out for tender on a design-and-construct basis. The tender came back at around $470 million. The previous government said, “Hold on; we have a bit of a problem because we’ve told everyone it will cost $330 million, and we are now being told it will cost $470 million. What should we do? We will doctor up the process.” This is what happened. The car park was taken out. A $70 million car park was taken out and stuck underneath with a $20 million provision given. The fit-out was abandoned. We would have a wonderful stadium with no seats! The third thing the former government said was, “We’ll change the design while you’re building. So, start BGC, and we’ll change the design while you are building it. We are that clever that we can save $35 million.” None of that happened. Do members know what the final cost will be? It will be pretty much the original tendered cost, except — Mrs M.H. Roberts : Who was the minister when that was happening? You were the minister! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : Hang on; we will get to the member for Midland! It will be pretty much the original tendered cost, except the project is over budget and over time. The Auditor General has made a couple of points. The first point, which I think is valid, says it shows how announcing costs and time frames of a project ahead of them being known is fraught with danger. What he says about this project is a bit like Peter Garrett’s insulation project that was rushed out the door to make that minister look good, and it was a complete failure. I will tell members what else the Auditor General said; he said — DHW officers advised us that they provided fortnightly verbal briefings to the Minister … The member for Midland knew about this. She was advised every fortnight. One might think that she would tell cabinet about it. Was the current Leader of the Opposition ever told about it when he was Treasurer? Did he ever get an update on those regular fortnightly meetings about the risks and the cost blow-outs? He did not! Mr E.S. Ripper : Are you told about the waterfront? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Leader of the Opposition did not get any updates, did he? He was kept in the dark. As the then Treasurer, the Leader of the Opposition should have been inquiring because the cost was going up and the time line was heading out. One would have thought that if the member for Midland were a half-decent minister, she might have informed cabinet, but cabinet was never informed. Mrs M.H. Roberts : It’s not what the report says. Tell the truth! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I will quote the report for the member for Midland. Page 19 of the report reads — DHW officers advised us that they provided fortnightly verbal briefings to the Minister — That was the member for Midland — highlighting key risks and issues. Mrs M.H. Roberts : Not on the arena—on all issues. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : Therefore, the Auditor General just put that comment in his report on the arena? What were they talking to the member for Midland about? Was it about the dry season? I have no idea! It is in the report on Perth Arena that the former minister told no-one! The ALP can rest easy because this is the person who wants to lead members opposite; this is the person who claimed if she had been leader, Labor would still be over on this side of the house. Which two metalworkers kept the member for Midland out? Was it the member for Joondalup? Mr E.S. Ripper : What happened to your leadership? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I resigned, and I am glad I did. Did the member for Cockburn keep the member for Midland out? She does not want to be leader; she is just having a lot of meetings with Dave Kelly and Joe Bullock! How sweet it is in the ALP! I will close by saying that there is a silver lining. Mr P. Papalia : Isn’t it lucky that this came out today? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Auditor General is an independent officer of Parliament, and bless him for it. He could even go home and have a sandwich. The last point I want to make is that the Auditor General has done us all a favour. Mr P. Papalia interjected. The SPEAKER : Member for Warnbro, there are plenty of opportunities to ask questions in this place. I formally call you for the first time. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Auditor General basically said it was a complete fiasco, but there is a silver lining. Mr E.S. Ripper : Which page is that on? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : It is on page 26. The Leader of the Opposition should read it and weep. It says that the governance framework and risk management has been strengthened since early 2009. Do members know why it was strengthened? Because there was a change of government. We came into power and said, “Give us a list of the top 20 projects, how much they cost and when they will be finished.” We were asked why we wanted to know that. Why on earth would we need to know what $20 billion of capital works is going to cost? No-one had ever asked for that. There are new people in charge of capital works in this state. We will learn from these lessons. Those opposite, particularly the member for Midland, should hang their heads in shame. The SPEAKER : Before I give the call to the member for Rockingham, I formally call the member for Kimberley for the first time.
Several members interjected. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : One lesson I have learnt is never, ever let the member for Midland near a government chequebook again. I encourage all members of the house to read this report, because it has some salient — Mr E.S. Ripper : It has a lot of lessons for the government in it. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : It has a lot of lessons for the Leader of the Opposition; I can tell him that right now. We will get to those. Mr E.S. Ripper : What about the waterfront, the Northbridge link and the Treasurer’s advance? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : There are a number of very salient lessons in this for all in government, but the finger of blame points very clearly at the former minister, the former Treasurer and all of those — Mr E.S. Ripper : Is that what the Auditor General says? Quote him. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I will get to that as well. It is very interesting. Keep digging because we can put it all back in on top of the opposition! I thought I would take a couple of minutes to background the house on the history of Perth Arena. It was announced with much fanfare by the then Premier in 2005. How much do members think was the estimated cost in 2005? It was $160 million. And the former government said it would be ready for the Hopman Cup 2009. That is only two years ago! In July 2006, the former government came out and said that it will now cost $250 million, but it will still be ready in 2009. Then in July 2008, they said it would cost $335 million, and would be finished in 2010. What do we know now? I think it will cost more than half a billion dollars, and it will not be finished until April 2012! However, the interesting thing is how the contract was struck. In 2006 the project went out for tender. It went out for tender on a design-and-construct basis. The tender came back at around $470 million. The previous government said, “Hold on; we have a bit of a problem because we’ve told everyone it will cost $330 million, and we are now being told it will cost $470 million. What should we do? We will doctor up the process.” This is what happened. The car park was taken out. A $70 million car park was taken out and stuck underneath with a $20 million provision given. The fit-out was abandoned. We would have a wonderful stadium with no seats! The third thing the former government said was, “We’ll change the design while you’re building. So, start BGC, and we’ll change the design while you are building it. We are that clever that we can save $35 million.” None of that happened. Do members know what the final cost will be? It will be pretty much the original tendered cost, except — Mrs M.H. Roberts : Who was the minister when that was happening? You were the minister! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : Hang on; we will get to the member for Midland! It will be pretty much the original tendered cost, except the project is over budget and over time. The Auditor General has made a couple of points. The first point, which I think is valid, says it shows how announcing costs and time frames of a project ahead of them being known is fraught with danger. What he says about this project is a bit like Peter Garrett’s insulation project that was rushed out the door to make that minister look good, and it was a complete failure. I will tell members what else the Auditor General said; he said — DHW officers advised us that they provided fortnightly verbal briefings to the Minister … The member for Midland knew about this. She was advised every fortnight. One might think that she would tell cabinet about it. Was the current Leader of the Opposition ever told about it when he was Treasurer? Did he ever get an update on those regular fortnightly meetings about the risks and the cost blow-outs? He did not! Mr E.S. Ripper : Are you told about the waterfront? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Leader of the Opposition did not get any updates, did he? He was kept in the dark. As the then Treasurer, the Leader of the Opposition should have been inquiring because the cost was going up and the time line was heading out. One would have thought that if the member for Midland were a half-decent minister, she might have informed cabinet, but cabinet was never informed. Mrs M.H. Roberts : It’s not what the report says. Tell the truth! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I will quote the report for the member for Midland. Page 19 of the report reads — DHW officers advised us that they provided fortnightly verbal briefings to the Minister — That was the member for Midland — highlighting key risks and issues. Mrs M.H. Roberts : Not on the arena—on all issues. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : Therefore, the Auditor General just put that comment in his report on the arena? What were they talking to the member for Midland about? Was it about the dry season? I have no idea! It is in the report on Perth Arena that the former minister told no-one! The ALP can rest easy because this is the person who wants to lead members opposite; this is the person who claimed if she had been leader, Labor would still be over on this side of the house. Which two metalworkers kept the member for Midland out? Was it the member for Joondalup? Mr E.S. Ripper : What happened to your leadership? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I resigned, and I am glad I did. Did the member for Cockburn keep the member for Midland out? She does not want to be leader; she is just having a lot of meetings with Dave Kelly and Joe Bullock! How sweet it is in the ALP! I will close by saying that there is a silver lining. Mr P. Papalia : Isn’t it lucky that this came out today? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Auditor General is an independent officer of Parliament, and bless him for it. He could even go home and have a sandwich. The last point I want to make is that the Auditor General has done us all a favour. Mr P. Papalia interjected. The SPEAKER : Member for Warnbro, there are plenty of opportunities to ask questions in this place. I formally call you for the first time. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Auditor General basically said it was a complete fiasco, but there is a silver lining. Mr E.S. Ripper : Which page is that on? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : It is on page 26. The Leader of the Opposition should read it and weep. It says that the governance framework and risk management has been strengthened since early 2009. Do members know why it was strengthened? Because there was a change of government. We came into power and said, “Give us a list of the top 20 projects, how much they cost and when they will be finished.” We were asked why we wanted to know that. Why on earth would we need to know what $20 billion of capital works is going to cost? No-one had ever asked for that. There are new people in charge of capital works in this state. We will learn from these lessons. Those opposite, particularly the member for Midland, should hang their heads in shame. The SPEAKER : Before I give the call to the member for Rockingham, I formally call the member for Kimberley for the first time.
Mr T.R. BUSWELL : One lesson I have learnt is never, ever let the member for Midland near a government chequebook again. I encourage all members of the house to read this report, because it has some salient — Mr E.S. Ripper : It has a lot of lessons for the government in it. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : It has a lot of lessons for the Leader of the Opposition; I can tell him that right now. We will get to those. Mr E.S. Ripper : What about the waterfront, the Northbridge link and the Treasurer’s advance? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : There are a number of very salient lessons in this for all in government, but the finger of blame points very clearly at the former minister, the former Treasurer and all of those — Mr E.S. Ripper : Is that what the Auditor General says? Quote him. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I will get to that as well. It is very interesting. Keep digging because we can put it all back in on top of the opposition! I thought I would take a couple of minutes to background the house on the history of Perth Arena. It was announced with much fanfare by the then Premier in 2005. How much do members think was the estimated cost in 2005? It was $160 million. And the former government said it would be ready for the Hopman Cup 2009. That is only two years ago! In July 2006, the former government came out and said that it will now cost $250 million, but it will still be ready in 2009. Then in July 2008, they said it would cost $335 million, and would be finished in 2010. What do we know now? I think it will cost more than half a billion dollars, and it will not be finished until April 2012! However, the interesting thing is how the contract was struck. In 2006 the project went out for tender. It went out for tender on a design-and-construct basis. The tender came back at around $470 million. The previous government said, “Hold on; we have a bit of a problem because we’ve told everyone it will cost $330 million, and we are now being told it will cost $470 million. What should we do? We will doctor up the process.” This is what happened. The car park was taken out. A $70 million car park was taken out and stuck underneath with a $20 million provision given. The fit-out was abandoned. We would have a wonderful stadium with no seats! The third thing the former government said was, “We’ll change the design while you’re building. So, start BGC, and we’ll change the design while you are building it. We are that clever that we can save $35 million.” None of that happened. Do members know what the final cost will be? It will be pretty much the original tendered cost, except — Mrs M.H. Roberts : Who was the minister when that was happening? You were the minister! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : Hang on; we will get to the member for Midland! It will be pretty much the original tendered cost, except the project is over budget and over time. The Auditor General has made a couple of points. The first point, which I think is valid, says it shows how announcing costs and time frames of a project ahead of them being known is fraught with danger. What he says about this project is a bit like Peter Garrett’s insulation project that was rushed out the door to make that minister look good, and it was a complete failure. I will tell members what else the Auditor General said; he said — DHW officers advised us that they provided fortnightly verbal briefings to the Minister … The member for Midland knew about this. She was advised every fortnight. One might think that she would tell cabinet about it. Was the current Leader of the Opposition ever told about it when he was Treasurer? Did he ever get an update on those regular fortnightly meetings about the risks and the cost blow-outs? He did not! Mr E.S. Ripper : Are you told about the waterfront? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Leader of the Opposition did not get any updates, did he? He was kept in the dark. As the then Treasurer, the Leader of the Opposition should have been inquiring because the cost was going up and the time line was heading out. One would have thought that if the member for Midland were a half-decent minister, she might have informed cabinet, but cabinet was never informed. Mrs M.H. Roberts : It’s not what the report says. Tell the truth! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I will quote the report for the member for Midland. Page 19 of the report reads — DHW officers advised us that they provided fortnightly verbal briefings to the Minister — That was the member for Midland — highlighting key risks and issues. Mrs M.H. Roberts : Not on the arena—on all issues. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : Therefore, the Auditor General just put that comment in his report on the arena? What were they talking to the member for Midland about? Was it about the dry season? I have no idea! It is in the report on Perth Arena that the former minister told no-one! The ALP can rest easy because this is the person who wants to lead members opposite; this is the person who claimed if she had been leader, Labor would still be over on this side of the house. Which two metalworkers kept the member for Midland out? Was it the member for Joondalup? Mr E.S. Ripper : What happened to your leadership? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I resigned, and I am glad I did. Did the member for Cockburn keep the member for Midland out? She does not want to be leader; she is just having a lot of meetings with Dave Kelly and Joe Bullock! How sweet it is in the ALP! I will close by saying that there is a silver lining. Mr P. Papalia : Isn’t it lucky that this came out today? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Auditor General is an independent officer of Parliament, and bless him for it. He could even go home and have a sandwich. The last point I want to make is that the Auditor General has done us all a favour. Mr P. Papalia interjected. The SPEAKER : Member for Warnbro, there are plenty of opportunities to ask questions in this place. I formally call you for the first time. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Auditor General basically said it was a complete fiasco, but there is a silver lining. Mr E.S. Ripper : Which page is that on? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : It is on page 26. The Leader of the Opposition should read it and weep. It says that the governance framework and risk management has been strengthened since early 2009. Do members know why it was strengthened? Because there was a change of government. We came into power and said, “Give us a list of the top 20 projects, how much they cost and when they will be finished.” We were asked why we wanted to know that. Why on earth would we need to know what $20 billion of capital works is going to cost? No-one had ever asked for that. There are new people in charge of capital works in this state. We will learn from these lessons. Those opposite, particularly the member for Midland, should hang their heads in shame. The SPEAKER : Before I give the call to the member for Rockingham, I formally call the member for Kimberley for the first time.
Mr E.S. Ripper : It has a lot of lessons for the government in it. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : It has a lot of lessons for the Leader of the Opposition; I can tell him that right now. We will get to those. Mr E.S. Ripper : What about the waterfront, the Northbridge link and the Treasurer’s advance? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : There are a number of very salient lessons in this for all in government, but the finger of blame points very clearly at the former minister, the former Treasurer and all of those — Mr E.S. Ripper : Is that what the Auditor General says? Quote him. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I will get to that as well. It is very interesting. Keep digging because we can put it all back in on top of the opposition! I thought I would take a couple of minutes to background the house on the history of Perth Arena. It was announced with much fanfare by the then Premier in 2005. How much do members think was the estimated cost in 2005? It was $160 million. And the former government said it would be ready for the Hopman Cup 2009. That is only two years ago! In July 2006, the former government came out and said that it will now cost $250 million, but it will still be ready in 2009. Then in July 2008, they said it would cost $335 million, and would be finished in 2010. What do we know now? I think it will cost more than half a billion dollars, and it will not be finished until April 2012! However, the interesting thing is how the contract was struck. In 2006 the project went out for tender. It went out for tender on a design-and-construct basis. The tender came back at around $470 million. The previous government said, “Hold on; we have a bit of a problem because we’ve told everyone it will cost $330 million, and we are now being told it will cost $470 million. What should we do? We will doctor up the process.” This is what happened. The car park was taken out. A $70 million car park was taken out and stuck underneath with a $20 million provision given. The fit-out was abandoned. We would have a wonderful stadium with no seats! The third thing the former government said was, “We’ll change the design while you’re building. So, start BGC, and we’ll change the design while you are building it. We are that clever that we can save $35 million.” None of that happened. Do members know what the final cost will be? It will be pretty much the original tendered cost, except — Mrs M.H. Roberts : Who was the minister when that was happening? You were the minister! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : Hang on; we will get to the member for Midland! It will be pretty much the original tendered cost, except the project is over budget and over time. The Auditor General has made a couple of points. The first point, which I think is valid, says it shows how announcing costs and time frames of a project ahead of them being known is fraught with danger. What he says about this project is a bit like Peter Garrett’s insulation project that was rushed out the door to make that minister look good, and it was a complete failure. I will tell members what else the Auditor General said; he said — DHW officers advised us that they provided fortnightly verbal briefings to the Minister … The member for Midland knew about this. She was advised every fortnight. One might think that she would tell cabinet about it. Was the current Leader of the Opposition ever told about it when he was Treasurer? Did he ever get an update on those regular fortnightly meetings about the risks and the cost blow-outs? He did not! Mr E.S. Ripper : Are you told about the waterfront? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Leader of the Opposition did not get any updates, did he? He was kept in the dark. As the then Treasurer, the Leader of the Opposition should have been inquiring because the cost was going up and the time line was heading out. One would have thought that if the member for Midland were a half-decent minister, she might have informed cabinet, but cabinet was never informed. Mrs M.H. Roberts : It’s not what the report says. Tell the truth! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I will quote the report for the member for Midland. Page 19 of the report reads — DHW officers advised us that they provided fortnightly verbal briefings to the Minister — That was the member for Midland — highlighting key risks and issues. Mrs M.H. Roberts : Not on the arena—on all issues. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : Therefore, the Auditor General just put that comment in his report on the arena? What were they talking to the member for Midland about? Was it about the dry season? I have no idea! It is in the report on Perth Arena that the former minister told no-one! The ALP can rest easy because this is the person who wants to lead members opposite; this is the person who claimed if she had been leader, Labor would still be over on this side of the house. Which two metalworkers kept the member for Midland out? Was it the member for Joondalup? Mr E.S. Ripper : What happened to your leadership? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I resigned, and I am glad I did. Did the member for Cockburn keep the member for Midland out? She does not want to be leader; she is just having a lot of meetings with Dave Kelly and Joe Bullock! How sweet it is in the ALP! I will close by saying that there is a silver lining. Mr P. Papalia : Isn’t it lucky that this came out today? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Auditor General is an independent officer of Parliament, and bless him for it. He could even go home and have a sandwich. The last point I want to make is that the Auditor General has done us all a favour. Mr P. Papalia interjected. The SPEAKER : Member for Warnbro, there are plenty of opportunities to ask questions in this place. I formally call you for the first time. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Auditor General basically said it was a complete fiasco, but there is a silver lining. Mr E.S. Ripper : Which page is that on? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : It is on page 26. The Leader of the Opposition should read it and weep. It says that the governance framework and risk management has been strengthened since early 2009. Do members know why it was strengthened? Because there was a change of government. We came into power and said, “Give us a list of the top 20 projects, how much they cost and when they will be finished.” We were asked why we wanted to know that. Why on earth would we need to know what $20 billion of capital works is going to cost? No-one had ever asked for that. There are new people in charge of capital works in this state. We will learn from these lessons. Those opposite, particularly the member for Midland, should hang their heads in shame. The SPEAKER : Before I give the call to the member for Rockingham, I formally call the member for Kimberley for the first time.
Mr T.R. BUSWELL : It has a lot of lessons for the Leader of the Opposition; I can tell him that right now. We will get to those. Mr E.S. Ripper : What about the waterfront, the Northbridge link and the Treasurer’s advance? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : There are a number of very salient lessons in this for all in government, but the finger of blame points very clearly at the former minister, the former Treasurer and all of those — Mr E.S. Ripper : Is that what the Auditor General says? Quote him. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I will get to that as well. It is very interesting. Keep digging because we can put it all back in on top of the opposition! I thought I would take a couple of minutes to background the house on the history of Perth Arena. It was announced with much fanfare by the then Premier in 2005. How much do members think was the estimated cost in 2005? It was $160 million. And the former government said it would be ready for the Hopman Cup 2009. That is only two years ago! In July 2006, the former government came out and said that it will now cost $250 million, but it will still be ready in 2009. Then in July 2008, they said it would cost $335 million, and would be finished in 2010. What do we know now? I think it will cost more than half a billion dollars, and it will not be finished until April 2012! However, the interesting thing is how the contract was struck. In 2006 the project went out for tender. It went out for tender on a design-and-construct basis. The tender came back at around $470 million. The previous government said, “Hold on; we have a bit of a problem because we’ve told everyone it will cost $330 million, and we are now being told it will cost $470 million. What should we do? We will doctor up the process.” This is what happened. The car park was taken out. A $70 million car park was taken out and stuck underneath with a $20 million provision given. The fit-out was abandoned. We would have a wonderful stadium with no seats! The third thing the former government said was, “We’ll change the design while you’re building. So, start BGC, and we’ll change the design while you are building it. We are that clever that we can save $35 million.” None of that happened. Do members know what the final cost will be? It will be pretty much the original tendered cost, except — Mrs M.H. Roberts : Who was the minister when that was happening? You were the minister! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : Hang on; we will get to the member for Midland! It will be pretty much the original tendered cost, except the project is over budget and over time. The Auditor General has made a couple of points. The first point, which I think is valid, says it shows how announcing costs and time frames of a project ahead of them being known is fraught with danger. What he says about this project is a bit like Peter Garrett’s insulation project that was rushed out the door to make that minister look good, and it was a complete failure. I will tell members what else the Auditor General said; he said — DHW officers advised us that they provided fortnightly verbal briefings to the Minister … The member for Midland knew about this. She was advised every fortnight. One might think that she would tell cabinet about it. Was the current Leader of the Opposition ever told about it when he was Treasurer? Did he ever get an update on those regular fortnightly meetings about the risks and the cost blow-outs? He did not! Mr E.S. Ripper : Are you told about the waterfront? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Leader of the Opposition did not get any updates, did he? He was kept in the dark. As the then Treasurer, the Leader of the Opposition should have been inquiring because the cost was going up and the time line was heading out. One would have thought that if the member for Midland were a half-decent minister, she might have informed cabinet, but cabinet was never informed. Mrs M.H. Roberts : It’s not what the report says. Tell the truth! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I will quote the report for the member for Midland. Page 19 of the report reads — DHW officers advised us that they provided fortnightly verbal briefings to the Minister — That was the member for Midland — highlighting key risks and issues. Mrs M.H. Roberts : Not on the arena—on all issues. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : Therefore, the Auditor General just put that comment in his report on the arena? What were they talking to the member for Midland about? Was it about the dry season? I have no idea! It is in the report on Perth Arena that the former minister told no-one! The ALP can rest easy because this is the person who wants to lead members opposite; this is the person who claimed if she had been leader, Labor would still be over on this side of the house. Which two metalworkers kept the member for Midland out? Was it the member for Joondalup? Mr E.S. Ripper : What happened to your leadership? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I resigned, and I am glad I did. Did the member for Cockburn keep the member for Midland out? She does not want to be leader; she is just having a lot of meetings with Dave Kelly and Joe Bullock! How sweet it is in the ALP! I will close by saying that there is a silver lining. Mr P. Papalia : Isn’t it lucky that this came out today? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Auditor General is an independent officer of Parliament, and bless him for it. He could even go home and have a sandwich. The last point I want to make is that the Auditor General has done us all a favour. Mr P. Papalia interjected. The SPEAKER : Member for Warnbro, there are plenty of opportunities to ask questions in this place. I formally call you for the first time. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Auditor General basically said it was a complete fiasco, but there is a silver lining. Mr E.S. Ripper : Which page is that on? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : It is on page 26. The Leader of the Opposition should read it and weep. It says that the governance framework and risk management has been strengthened since early 2009. Do members know why it was strengthened? Because there was a change of government. We came into power and said, “Give us a list of the top 20 projects, how much they cost and when they will be finished.” We were asked why we wanted to know that. Why on earth would we need to know what $20 billion of capital works is going to cost? No-one had ever asked for that. There are new people in charge of capital works in this state. We will learn from these lessons. Those opposite, particularly the member for Midland, should hang their heads in shame. The SPEAKER : Before I give the call to the member for Rockingham, I formally call the member for Kimberley for the first time.
Mr E.S. Ripper : What about the waterfront, the Northbridge link and the Treasurer’s advance? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : There are a number of very salient lessons in this for all in government, but the finger of blame points very clearly at the former minister, the former Treasurer and all of those — Mr E.S. Ripper : Is that what the Auditor General says? Quote him. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I will get to that as well. It is very interesting. Keep digging because we can put it all back in on top of the opposition! I thought I would take a couple of minutes to background the house on the history of Perth Arena. It was announced with much fanfare by the then Premier in 2005. How much do members think was the estimated cost in 2005? It was $160 million. And the former government said it would be ready for the Hopman Cup 2009. That is only two years ago! In July 2006, the former government came out and said that it will now cost $250 million, but it will still be ready in 2009. Then in July 2008, they said it would cost $335 million, and would be finished in 2010. What do we know now? I think it will cost more than half a billion dollars, and it will not be finished until April 2012! However, the interesting thing is how the contract was struck. In 2006 the project went out for tender. It went out for tender on a design-and-construct basis. The tender came back at around $470 million. The previous government said, “Hold on; we have a bit of a problem because we’ve told everyone it will cost $330 million, and we are now being told it will cost $470 million. What should we do? We will doctor up the process.” This is what happened. The car park was taken out. A $70 million car park was taken out and stuck underneath with a $20 million provision given. The fit-out was abandoned. We would have a wonderful stadium with no seats! The third thing the former government said was, “We’ll change the design while you’re building. So, start BGC, and we’ll change the design while you are building it. We are that clever that we can save $35 million.” None of that happened. Do members know what the final cost will be? It will be pretty much the original tendered cost, except — Mrs M.H. Roberts : Who was the minister when that was happening? You were the minister! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : Hang on; we will get to the member for Midland! It will be pretty much the original tendered cost, except the project is over budget and over time. The Auditor General has made a couple of points. The first point, which I think is valid, says it shows how announcing costs and time frames of a project ahead of them being known is fraught with danger. What he says about this project is a bit like Peter Garrett’s insulation project that was rushed out the door to make that minister look good, and it was a complete failure. I will tell members what else the Auditor General said; he said — DHW officers advised us that they provided fortnightly verbal briefings to the Minister … The member for Midland knew about this. She was advised every fortnight. One might think that she would tell cabinet about it. Was the current Leader of the Opposition ever told about it when he was Treasurer? Did he ever get an update on those regular fortnightly meetings about the risks and the cost blow-outs? He did not! Mr E.S. Ripper : Are you told about the waterfront? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Leader of the Opposition did not get any updates, did he? He was kept in the dark. As the then Treasurer, the Leader of the Opposition should have been inquiring because the cost was going up and the time line was heading out. One would have thought that if the member for Midland were a half-decent minister, she might have informed cabinet, but cabinet was never informed. Mrs M.H. Roberts : It’s not what the report says. Tell the truth! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I will quote the report for the member for Midland. Page 19 of the report reads — DHW officers advised us that they provided fortnightly verbal briefings to the Minister — That was the member for Midland — highlighting key risks and issues. Mrs M.H. Roberts : Not on the arena—on all issues. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : Therefore, the Auditor General just put that comment in his report on the arena? What were they talking to the member for Midland about? Was it about the dry season? I have no idea! It is in the report on Perth Arena that the former minister told no-one! The ALP can rest easy because this is the person who wants to lead members opposite; this is the person who claimed if she had been leader, Labor would still be over on this side of the house. Which two metalworkers kept the member for Midland out? Was it the member for Joondalup? Mr E.S. Ripper : What happened to your leadership? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I resigned, and I am glad I did. Did the member for Cockburn keep the member for Midland out? She does not want to be leader; she is just having a lot of meetings with Dave Kelly and Joe Bullock! How sweet it is in the ALP! I will close by saying that there is a silver lining. Mr P. Papalia : Isn’t it lucky that this came out today? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Auditor General is an independent officer of Parliament, and bless him for it. He could even go home and have a sandwich. The last point I want to make is that the Auditor General has done us all a favour. Mr P. Papalia interjected. The SPEAKER : Member for Warnbro, there are plenty of opportunities to ask questions in this place. I formally call you for the first time. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Auditor General basically said it was a complete fiasco, but there is a silver lining. Mr E.S. Ripper : Which page is that on? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : It is on page 26. The Leader of the Opposition should read it and weep. It says that the governance framework and risk management has been strengthened since early 2009. Do members know why it was strengthened? Because there was a change of government. We came into power and said, “Give us a list of the top 20 projects, how much they cost and when they will be finished.” We were asked why we wanted to know that. Why on earth would we need to know what $20 billion of capital works is going to cost? No-one had ever asked for that. There are new people in charge of capital works in this state. We will learn from these lessons. Those opposite, particularly the member for Midland, should hang their heads in shame. The SPEAKER : Before I give the call to the member for Rockingham, I formally call the member for Kimberley for the first time.
Mr T.R. BUSWELL : There are a number of very salient lessons in this for all in government, but the finger of blame points very clearly at the former minister, the former Treasurer and all of those — Mr E.S. Ripper : Is that what the Auditor General says? Quote him. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I will get to that as well. It is very interesting. Keep digging because we can put it all back in on top of the opposition! I thought I would take a couple of minutes to background the house on the history of Perth Arena. It was announced with much fanfare by the then Premier in 2005. How much do members think was the estimated cost in 2005? It was $160 million. And the former government said it would be ready for the Hopman Cup 2009. That is only two years ago! In July 2006, the former government came out and said that it will now cost $250 million, but it will still be ready in 2009. Then in July 2008, they said it would cost $335 million, and would be finished in 2010. What do we know now? I think it will cost more than half a billion dollars, and it will not be finished until April 2012! However, the interesting thing is how the contract was struck. In 2006 the project went out for tender. It went out for tender on a design-and-construct basis. The tender came back at around $470 million. The previous government said, “Hold on; we have a bit of a problem because we’ve told everyone it will cost $330 million, and we are now being told it will cost $470 million. What should we do? We will doctor up the process.” This is what happened. The car park was taken out. A $70 million car park was taken out and stuck underneath with a $20 million provision given. The fit-out was abandoned. We would have a wonderful stadium with no seats! The third thing the former government said was, “We’ll change the design while you’re building. So, start BGC, and we’ll change the design while you are building it. We are that clever that we can save $35 million.” None of that happened. Do members know what the final cost will be? It will be pretty much the original tendered cost, except — Mrs M.H. Roberts : Who was the minister when that was happening? You were the minister! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : Hang on; we will get to the member for Midland! It will be pretty much the original tendered cost, except the project is over budget and over time. The Auditor General has made a couple of points. The first point, which I think is valid, says it shows how announcing costs and time frames of a project ahead of them being known is fraught with danger. What he says about this project is a bit like Peter Garrett’s insulation project that was rushed out the door to make that minister look good, and it was a complete failure. I will tell members what else the Auditor General said; he said — DHW officers advised us that they provided fortnightly verbal briefings to the Minister … The member for Midland knew about this. She was advised every fortnight. One might think that she would tell cabinet about it. Was the current Leader of the Opposition ever told about it when he was Treasurer? Did he ever get an update on those regular fortnightly meetings about the risks and the cost blow-outs? He did not! Mr E.S. Ripper : Are you told about the waterfront? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Leader of the Opposition did not get any updates, did he? He was kept in the dark. As the then Treasurer, the Leader of the Opposition should have been inquiring because the cost was going up and the time line was heading out. One would have thought that if the member for Midland were a half-decent minister, she might have informed cabinet, but cabinet was never informed. Mrs M.H. Roberts : It’s not what the report says. Tell the truth! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I will quote the report for the member for Midland. Page 19 of the report reads — DHW officers advised us that they provided fortnightly verbal briefings to the Minister — That was the member for Midland — highlighting key risks and issues. Mrs M.H. Roberts : Not on the arena—on all issues. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : Therefore, the Auditor General just put that comment in his report on the arena? What were they talking to the member for Midland about? Was it about the dry season? I have no idea! It is in the report on Perth Arena that the former minister told no-one! The ALP can rest easy because this is the person who wants to lead members opposite; this is the person who claimed if she had been leader, Labor would still be over on this side of the house. Which two metalworkers kept the member for Midland out? Was it the member for Joondalup? Mr E.S. Ripper : What happened to your leadership? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I resigned, and I am glad I did. Did the member for Cockburn keep the member for Midland out? She does not want to be leader; she is just having a lot of meetings with Dave Kelly and Joe Bullock! How sweet it is in the ALP! I will close by saying that there is a silver lining. Mr P. Papalia : Isn’t it lucky that this came out today? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Auditor General is an independent officer of Parliament, and bless him for it. He could even go home and have a sandwich. The last point I want to make is that the Auditor General has done us all a favour. Mr P. Papalia interjected. The SPEAKER : Member for Warnbro, there are plenty of opportunities to ask questions in this place. I formally call you for the first time. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Auditor General basically said it was a complete fiasco, but there is a silver lining. Mr E.S. Ripper : Which page is that on? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : It is on page 26. The Leader of the Opposition should read it and weep. It says that the governance framework and risk management has been strengthened since early 2009. Do members know why it was strengthened? Because there was a change of government. We came into power and said, “Give us a list of the top 20 projects, how much they cost and when they will be finished.” We were asked why we wanted to know that. Why on earth would we need to know what $20 billion of capital works is going to cost? No-one had ever asked for that. There are new people in charge of capital works in this state. We will learn from these lessons. Those opposite, particularly the member for Midland, should hang their heads in shame. The SPEAKER : Before I give the call to the member for Rockingham, I formally call the member for Kimberley for the first time.
Mr E.S. Ripper : Is that what the Auditor General says? Quote him. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I will get to that as well. It is very interesting. Keep digging because we can put it all back in on top of the opposition! I thought I would take a couple of minutes to background the house on the history of Perth Arena. It was announced with much fanfare by the then Premier in 2005. How much do members think was the estimated cost in 2005? It was $160 million. And the former government said it would be ready for the Hopman Cup 2009. That is only two years ago! In July 2006, the former government came out and said that it will now cost $250 million, but it will still be ready in 2009. Then in July 2008, they said it would cost $335 million, and would be finished in 2010. What do we know now? I think it will cost more than half a billion dollars, and it will not be finished until April 2012! However, the interesting thing is how the contract was struck. In 2006 the project went out for tender. It went out for tender on a design-and-construct basis. The tender came back at around $470 million. The previous government said, “Hold on; we have a bit of a problem because we’ve told everyone it will cost $330 million, and we are now being told it will cost $470 million. What should we do? We will doctor up the process.” This is what happened. The car park was taken out. A $70 million car park was taken out and stuck underneath with a $20 million provision given. The fit-out was abandoned. We would have a wonderful stadium with no seats! The third thing the former government said was, “We’ll change the design while you’re building. So, start BGC, and we’ll change the design while you are building it. We are that clever that we can save $35 million.” None of that happened. Do members know what the final cost will be? It will be pretty much the original tendered cost, except — Mrs M.H. Roberts : Who was the minister when that was happening? You were the minister! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : Hang on; we will get to the member for Midland! It will be pretty much the original tendered cost, except the project is over budget and over time. The Auditor General has made a couple of points. The first point, which I think is valid, says it shows how announcing costs and time frames of a project ahead of them being known is fraught with danger. What he says about this project is a bit like Peter Garrett’s insulation project that was rushed out the door to make that minister look good, and it was a complete failure. I will tell members what else the Auditor General said; he said — DHW officers advised us that they provided fortnightly verbal briefings to the Minister … The member for Midland knew about this. She was advised every fortnight. One might think that she would tell cabinet about it. Was the current Leader of the Opposition ever told about it when he was Treasurer? Did he ever get an update on those regular fortnightly meetings about the risks and the cost blow-outs? He did not! Mr E.S. Ripper : Are you told about the waterfront? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Leader of the Opposition did not get any updates, did he? He was kept in the dark. As the then Treasurer, the Leader of the Opposition should have been inquiring because the cost was going up and the time line was heading out. One would have thought that if the member for Midland were a half-decent minister, she might have informed cabinet, but cabinet was never informed. Mrs M.H. Roberts : It’s not what the report says. Tell the truth! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I will quote the report for the member for Midland. Page 19 of the report reads — DHW officers advised us that they provided fortnightly verbal briefings to the Minister — That was the member for Midland — highlighting key risks and issues. Mrs M.H. Roberts : Not on the arena—on all issues. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : Therefore, the Auditor General just put that comment in his report on the arena? What were they talking to the member for Midland about? Was it about the dry season? I have no idea! It is in the report on Perth Arena that the former minister told no-one! The ALP can rest easy because this is the person who wants to lead members opposite; this is the person who claimed if she had been leader, Labor would still be over on this side of the house. Which two metalworkers kept the member for Midland out? Was it the member for Joondalup? Mr E.S. Ripper : What happened to your leadership? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I resigned, and I am glad I did. Did the member for Cockburn keep the member for Midland out? She does not want to be leader; she is just having a lot of meetings with Dave Kelly and Joe Bullock! How sweet it is in the ALP! I will close by saying that there is a silver lining. Mr P. Papalia : Isn’t it lucky that this came out today? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Auditor General is an independent officer of Parliament, and bless him for it. He could even go home and have a sandwich. The last point I want to make is that the Auditor General has done us all a favour. Mr P. Papalia interjected. The SPEAKER : Member for Warnbro, there are plenty of opportunities to ask questions in this place. I formally call you for the first time. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Auditor General basically said it was a complete fiasco, but there is a silver lining. Mr E.S. Ripper : Which page is that on? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : It is on page 26. The Leader of the Opposition should read it and weep. It says that the governance framework and risk management has been strengthened since early 2009. Do members know why it was strengthened? Because there was a change of government. We came into power and said, “Give us a list of the top 20 projects, how much they cost and when they will be finished.” We were asked why we wanted to know that. Why on earth would we need to know what $20 billion of capital works is going to cost? No-one had ever asked for that. There are new people in charge of capital works in this state. We will learn from these lessons. Those opposite, particularly the member for Midland, should hang their heads in shame. The SPEAKER : Before I give the call to the member for Rockingham, I formally call the member for Kimberley for the first time.
Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I will get to that as well. It is very interesting. Keep digging because we can put it all back in on top of the opposition! I thought I would take a couple of minutes to background the house on the history of Perth Arena. It was announced with much fanfare by the then Premier in 2005. How much do members think was the estimated cost in 2005? It was $160 million. And the former government said it would be ready for the Hopman Cup 2009. That is only two years ago! In July 2006, the former government came out and said that it will now cost $250 million, but it will still be ready in 2009. Then in July 2008, they said it would cost $335 million, and would be finished in 2010. What do we know now? I think it will cost more than half a billion dollars, and it will not be finished until April 2012! However, the interesting thing is how the contract was struck. In 2006 the project went out for tender. It went out for tender on a design-and-construct basis. The tender came back at around $470 million. The previous government said, “Hold on; we have a bit of a problem because we’ve told everyone it will cost $330 million, and we are now being told it will cost $470 million. What should we do? We will doctor up the process.” This is what happened. The car park was taken out. A $70 million car park was taken out and stuck underneath with a $20 million provision given. The fit-out was abandoned. We would have a wonderful stadium with no seats! The third thing the former government said was, “We’ll change the design while you’re building. So, start BGC, and we’ll change the design while you are building it. We are that clever that we can save $35 million.” None of that happened. Do members know what the final cost will be? It will be pretty much the original tendered cost, except — Mrs M.H. Roberts : Who was the minister when that was happening? You were the minister! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : Hang on; we will get to the member for Midland! It will be pretty much the original tendered cost, except the project is over budget and over time. The Auditor General has made a couple of points. The first point, which I think is valid, says it shows how announcing costs and time frames of a project ahead of them being known is fraught with danger. What he says about this project is a bit like Peter Garrett’s insulation project that was rushed out the door to make that minister look good, and it was a complete failure. I will tell members what else the Auditor General said; he said — DHW officers advised us that they provided fortnightly verbal briefings to the Minister … The member for Midland knew about this. She was advised every fortnight. One might think that she would tell cabinet about it. Was the current Leader of the Opposition ever told about it when he was Treasurer? Did he ever get an update on those regular fortnightly meetings about the risks and the cost blow-outs? He did not! Mr E.S. Ripper : Are you told about the waterfront? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Leader of the Opposition did not get any updates, did he? He was kept in the dark. As the then Treasurer, the Leader of the Opposition should have been inquiring because the cost was going up and the time line was heading out. One would have thought that if the member for Midland were a half-decent minister, she might have informed cabinet, but cabinet was never informed. Mrs M.H. Roberts : It’s not what the report says. Tell the truth! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I will quote the report for the member for Midland. Page 19 of the report reads — DHW officers advised us that they provided fortnightly verbal briefings to the Minister — That was the member for Midland — highlighting key risks and issues. Mrs M.H. Roberts : Not on the arena—on all issues. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : Therefore, the Auditor General just put that comment in his report on the arena? What were they talking to the member for Midland about? Was it about the dry season? I have no idea! It is in the report on Perth Arena that the former minister told no-one! The ALP can rest easy because this is the person who wants to lead members opposite; this is the person who claimed if she had been leader, Labor would still be over on this side of the house. Which two metalworkers kept the member for Midland out? Was it the member for Joondalup? Mr E.S. Ripper : What happened to your leadership? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I resigned, and I am glad I did. Did the member for Cockburn keep the member for Midland out? She does not want to be leader; she is just having a lot of meetings with Dave Kelly and Joe Bullock! How sweet it is in the ALP! I will close by saying that there is a silver lining. Mr P. Papalia : Isn’t it lucky that this came out today? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Auditor General is an independent officer of Parliament, and bless him for it. He could even go home and have a sandwich. The last point I want to make is that the Auditor General has done us all a favour. Mr P. Papalia interjected. The SPEAKER : Member for Warnbro, there are plenty of opportunities to ask questions in this place. I formally call you for the first time. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Auditor General basically said it was a complete fiasco, but there is a silver lining. Mr E.S. Ripper : Which page is that on? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : It is on page 26. The Leader of the Opposition should read it and weep. It says that the governance framework and risk management has been strengthened since early 2009. Do members know why it was strengthened? Because there was a change of government. We came into power and said, “Give us a list of the top 20 projects, how much they cost and when they will be finished.” We were asked why we wanted to know that. Why on earth would we need to know what $20 billion of capital works is going to cost? No-one had ever asked for that. There are new people in charge of capital works in this state. We will learn from these lessons. Those opposite, particularly the member for Midland, should hang their heads in shame. The SPEAKER : Before I give the call to the member for Rockingham, I formally call the member for Kimberley for the first time.
I thought I would take a couple of minutes to background the house on the history of Perth Arena. It was announced with much fanfare by the then Premier in 2005. How much do members think was the estimated cost in 2005? It was $160 million. And the former government said it would be ready for the Hopman Cup 2009. That is only two years ago! In July 2006, the former government came out and said that it will now cost $250 million, but it will still be ready in 2009. Then in July 2008, they said it would cost $335 million, and would be finished in 2010. What do we know now? I think it will cost more than half a billion dollars, and it will not be finished until April 2012! However, the interesting thing is how the contract was struck. In 2006 the project went out for tender. It went out for tender on a design-and-construct basis. The tender came back at around $470 million. The previous government said, “Hold on; we have a bit of a problem because we’ve told everyone it will cost $330 million, and we are now being told it will cost $470 million. What should we do? We will doctor up the process.” This is what happened. The car park was taken out. A $70 million car park was taken out and stuck underneath with a $20 million provision given. The fit-out was abandoned. We would have a wonderful stadium with no seats! The third thing the former government said was, “We’ll change the design while you’re building. So, start BGC, and we’ll change the design while you are building it. We are that clever that we can save $35 million.” None of that happened. Do members know what the final cost will be? It will be pretty much the original tendered cost, except — Mrs M.H. Roberts : Who was the minister when that was happening? You were the minister! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : Hang on; we will get to the member for Midland! It will be pretty much the original tendered cost, except the project is over budget and over time. The Auditor General has made a couple of points. The first point, which I think is valid, says it shows how announcing costs and time frames of a project ahead of them being known is fraught with danger. What he says about this project is a bit like Peter Garrett’s insulation project that was rushed out the door to make that minister look good, and it was a complete failure. I will tell members what else the Auditor General said; he said — DHW officers advised us that they provided fortnightly verbal briefings to the Minister … The member for Midland knew about this. She was advised every fortnight. One might think that she would tell cabinet about it. Was the current Leader of the Opposition ever told about it when he was Treasurer? Did he ever get an update on those regular fortnightly meetings about the risks and the cost blow-outs? He did not! Mr E.S. Ripper : Are you told about the waterfront? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Leader of the Opposition did not get any updates, did he? He was kept in the dark. As the then Treasurer, the Leader of the Opposition should have been inquiring because the cost was going up and the time line was heading out. One would have thought that if the member for Midland were a half-decent minister, she might have informed cabinet, but cabinet was never informed. Mrs M.H. Roberts : It’s not what the report says. Tell the truth! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I will quote the report for the member for Midland. Page 19 of the report reads — DHW officers advised us that they provided fortnightly verbal briefings to the Minister — That was the member for Midland — highlighting key risks and issues. Mrs M.H. Roberts : Not on the arena—on all issues. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : Therefore, the Auditor General just put that comment in his report on the arena? What were they talking to the member for Midland about? Was it about the dry season? I have no idea! It is in the report on Perth Arena that the former minister told no-one! The ALP can rest easy because this is the person who wants to lead members opposite; this is the person who claimed if she had been leader, Labor would still be over on this side of the house. Which two metalworkers kept the member for Midland out? Was it the member for Joondalup? Mr E.S. Ripper : What happened to your leadership? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I resigned, and I am glad I did. Did the member for Cockburn keep the member for Midland out? She does not want to be leader; she is just having a lot of meetings with Dave Kelly and Joe Bullock! How sweet it is in the ALP! I will close by saying that there is a silver lining. Mr P. Papalia : Isn’t it lucky that this came out today? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Auditor General is an independent officer of Parliament, and bless him for it. He could even go home and have a sandwich. The last point I want to make is that the Auditor General has done us all a favour. Mr P. Papalia interjected. The SPEAKER : Member for Warnbro, there are plenty of opportunities to ask questions in this place. I formally call you for the first time. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Auditor General basically said it was a complete fiasco, but there is a silver lining. Mr E.S. Ripper : Which page is that on? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : It is on page 26. The Leader of the Opposition should read it and weep. It says that the governance framework and risk management has been strengthened since early 2009. Do members know why it was strengthened? Because there was a change of government. We came into power and said, “Give us a list of the top 20 projects, how much they cost and when they will be finished.” We were asked why we wanted to know that. Why on earth would we need to know what $20 billion of capital works is going to cost? No-one had ever asked for that. There are new people in charge of capital works in this state. We will learn from these lessons. Those opposite, particularly the member for Midland, should hang their heads in shame. The SPEAKER : Before I give the call to the member for Rockingham, I formally call the member for Kimberley for the first time.
In 2006 the project went out for tender. It went out for tender on a design-and-construct basis. The tender came back at around $470 million. The previous government said, “Hold on; we have a bit of a problem because we’ve told everyone it will cost $330 million, and we are now being told it will cost $470 million. What should we do? We will doctor up the process.” This is what happened. The car park was taken out. A $70 million car park was taken out and stuck underneath with a $20 million provision given. The fit-out was abandoned. We would have a wonderful stadium with no seats! The third thing the former government said was, “We’ll change the design while you’re building. So, start BGC, and we’ll change the design while you are building it. We are that clever that we can save $35 million.” None of that happened. Do members know what the final cost will be? It will be pretty much the original tendered cost, except — Mrs M.H. Roberts : Who was the minister when that was happening? You were the minister! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : Hang on; we will get to the member for Midland! It will be pretty much the original tendered cost, except the project is over budget and over time. The Auditor General has made a couple of points. The first point, which I think is valid, says it shows how announcing costs and time frames of a project ahead of them being known is fraught with danger. What he says about this project is a bit like Peter Garrett’s insulation project that was rushed out the door to make that minister look good, and it was a complete failure. I will tell members what else the Auditor General said; he said — DHW officers advised us that they provided fortnightly verbal briefings to the Minister … The member for Midland knew about this. She was advised every fortnight. One might think that she would tell cabinet about it. Was the current Leader of the Opposition ever told about it when he was Treasurer? Did he ever get an update on those regular fortnightly meetings about the risks and the cost blow-outs? He did not! Mr E.S. Ripper : Are you told about the waterfront? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Leader of the Opposition did not get any updates, did he? He was kept in the dark. As the then Treasurer, the Leader of the Opposition should have been inquiring because the cost was going up and the time line was heading out. One would have thought that if the member for Midland were a half-decent minister, she might have informed cabinet, but cabinet was never informed. Mrs M.H. Roberts : It’s not what the report says. Tell the truth! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I will quote the report for the member for Midland. Page 19 of the report reads — DHW officers advised us that they provided fortnightly verbal briefings to the Minister — That was the member for Midland — highlighting key risks and issues. Mrs M.H. Roberts : Not on the arena—on all issues. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : Therefore, the Auditor General just put that comment in his report on the arena? What were they talking to the member for Midland about? Was it about the dry season? I have no idea! It is in the report on Perth Arena that the former minister told no-one! The ALP can rest easy because this is the person who wants to lead members opposite; this is the person who claimed if she had been leader, Labor would still be over on this side of the house. Which two metalworkers kept the member for Midland out? Was it the member for Joondalup? Mr E.S. Ripper : What happened to your leadership? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I resigned, and I am glad I did. Did the member for Cockburn keep the member for Midland out? She does not want to be leader; she is just having a lot of meetings with Dave Kelly and Joe Bullock! How sweet it is in the ALP! I will close by saying that there is a silver lining. Mr P. Papalia : Isn’t it lucky that this came out today? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Auditor General is an independent officer of Parliament, and bless him for it. He could even go home and have a sandwich. The last point I want to make is that the Auditor General has done us all a favour. Mr P. Papalia interjected. The SPEAKER : Member for Warnbro, there are plenty of opportunities to ask questions in this place. I formally call you for the first time. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Auditor General basically said it was a complete fiasco, but there is a silver lining. Mr E.S. Ripper : Which page is that on? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : It is on page 26. The Leader of the Opposition should read it and weep. It says that the governance framework and risk management has been strengthened since early 2009. Do members know why it was strengthened? Because there was a change of government. We came into power and said, “Give us a list of the top 20 projects, how much they cost and when they will be finished.” We were asked why we wanted to know that. Why on earth would we need to know what $20 billion of capital works is going to cost? No-one had ever asked for that. There are new people in charge of capital works in this state. We will learn from these lessons. Those opposite, particularly the member for Midland, should hang their heads in shame. The SPEAKER : Before I give the call to the member for Rockingham, I formally call the member for Kimberley for the first time.
Mrs M.H. Roberts : Who was the minister when that was happening? You were the minister! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : Hang on; we will get to the member for Midland! It will be pretty much the original tendered cost, except the project is over budget and over time. The Auditor General has made a couple of points. The first point, which I think is valid, says it shows how announcing costs and time frames of a project ahead of them being known is fraught with danger. What he says about this project is a bit like Peter Garrett’s insulation project that was rushed out the door to make that minister look good, and it was a complete failure. I will tell members what else the Auditor General said; he said — DHW officers advised us that they provided fortnightly verbal briefings to the Minister … The member for Midland knew about this. She was advised every fortnight. One might think that she would tell cabinet about it. Was the current Leader of the Opposition ever told about it when he was Treasurer? Did he ever get an update on those regular fortnightly meetings about the risks and the cost blow-outs? He did not! Mr E.S. Ripper : Are you told about the waterfront? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Leader of the Opposition did not get any updates, did he? He was kept in the dark. As the then Treasurer, the Leader of the Opposition should have been inquiring because the cost was going up and the time line was heading out. One would have thought that if the member for Midland were a half-decent minister, she might have informed cabinet, but cabinet was never informed. Mrs M.H. Roberts : It’s not what the report says. Tell the truth! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I will quote the report for the member for Midland. Page 19 of the report reads — DHW officers advised us that they provided fortnightly verbal briefings to the Minister — That was the member for Midland — highlighting key risks and issues. Mrs M.H. Roberts : Not on the arena—on all issues. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : Therefore, the Auditor General just put that comment in his report on the arena? What were they talking to the member for Midland about? Was it about the dry season? I have no idea! It is in the report on Perth Arena that the former minister told no-one! The ALP can rest easy because this is the person who wants to lead members opposite; this is the person who claimed if she had been leader, Labor would still be over on this side of the house. Which two metalworkers kept the member for Midland out? Was it the member for Joondalup? Mr E.S. Ripper : What happened to your leadership? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I resigned, and I am glad I did. Did the member for Cockburn keep the member for Midland out? She does not want to be leader; she is just having a lot of meetings with Dave Kelly and Joe Bullock! How sweet it is in the ALP! I will close by saying that there is a silver lining. Mr P. Papalia : Isn’t it lucky that this came out today? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Auditor General is an independent officer of Parliament, and bless him for it. He could even go home and have a sandwich. The last point I want to make is that the Auditor General has done us all a favour. Mr P. Papalia interjected. The SPEAKER : Member for Warnbro, there are plenty of opportunities to ask questions in this place. I formally call you for the first time. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Auditor General basically said it was a complete fiasco, but there is a silver lining. Mr E.S. Ripper : Which page is that on? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : It is on page 26. The Leader of the Opposition should read it and weep. It says that the governance framework and risk management has been strengthened since early 2009. Do members know why it was strengthened? Because there was a change of government. We came into power and said, “Give us a list of the top 20 projects, how much they cost and when they will be finished.” We were asked why we wanted to know that. Why on earth would we need to know what $20 billion of capital works is going to cost? No-one had ever asked for that. There are new people in charge of capital works in this state. We will learn from these lessons. Those opposite, particularly the member for Midland, should hang their heads in shame. The SPEAKER : Before I give the call to the member for Rockingham, I formally call the member for Kimberley for the first time.
Mr T.R. BUSWELL : Hang on; we will get to the member for Midland! It will be pretty much the original tendered cost, except the project is over budget and over time. The Auditor General has made a couple of points. The first point, which I think is valid, says it shows how announcing costs and time frames of a project ahead of them being known is fraught with danger. What he says about this project is a bit like Peter Garrett’s insulation project that was rushed out the door to make that minister look good, and it was a complete failure. I will tell members what else the Auditor General said; he said — DHW officers advised us that they provided fortnightly verbal briefings to the Minister … The member for Midland knew about this. She was advised every fortnight. One might think that she would tell cabinet about it. Was the current Leader of the Opposition ever told about it when he was Treasurer? Did he ever get an update on those regular fortnightly meetings about the risks and the cost blow-outs? He did not! Mr E.S. Ripper : Are you told about the waterfront? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Leader of the Opposition did not get any updates, did he? He was kept in the dark. As the then Treasurer, the Leader of the Opposition should have been inquiring because the cost was going up and the time line was heading out. One would have thought that if the member for Midland were a half-decent minister, she might have informed cabinet, but cabinet was never informed. Mrs M.H. Roberts : It’s not what the report says. Tell the truth! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I will quote the report for the member for Midland. Page 19 of the report reads — DHW officers advised us that they provided fortnightly verbal briefings to the Minister — That was the member for Midland — highlighting key risks and issues. Mrs M.H. Roberts : Not on the arena—on all issues. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : Therefore, the Auditor General just put that comment in his report on the arena? What were they talking to the member for Midland about? Was it about the dry season? I have no idea! It is in the report on Perth Arena that the former minister told no-one! The ALP can rest easy because this is the person who wants to lead members opposite; this is the person who claimed if she had been leader, Labor would still be over on this side of the house. Which two metalworkers kept the member for Midland out? Was it the member for Joondalup? Mr E.S. Ripper : What happened to your leadership? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I resigned, and I am glad I did. Did the member for Cockburn keep the member for Midland out? She does not want to be leader; she is just having a lot of meetings with Dave Kelly and Joe Bullock! How sweet it is in the ALP! I will close by saying that there is a silver lining. Mr P. Papalia : Isn’t it lucky that this came out today? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Auditor General is an independent officer of Parliament, and bless him for it. He could even go home and have a sandwich. The last point I want to make is that the Auditor General has done us all a favour. Mr P. Papalia interjected. The SPEAKER : Member for Warnbro, there are plenty of opportunities to ask questions in this place. I formally call you for the first time. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Auditor General basically said it was a complete fiasco, but there is a silver lining. Mr E.S. Ripper : Which page is that on? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : It is on page 26. The Leader of the Opposition should read it and weep. It says that the governance framework and risk management has been strengthened since early 2009. Do members know why it was strengthened? Because there was a change of government. We came into power and said, “Give us a list of the top 20 projects, how much they cost and when they will be finished.” We were asked why we wanted to know that. Why on earth would we need to know what $20 billion of capital works is going to cost? No-one had ever asked for that. There are new people in charge of capital works in this state. We will learn from these lessons. Those opposite, particularly the member for Midland, should hang their heads in shame. The SPEAKER : Before I give the call to the member for Rockingham, I formally call the member for Kimberley for the first time.
It will be pretty much the original tendered cost, except the project is over budget and over time. The Auditor General has made a couple of points. The first point, which I think is valid, says it shows how announcing costs and time frames of a project ahead of them being known is fraught with danger. What he says about this project is a bit like Peter Garrett’s insulation project that was rushed out the door to make that minister look good, and it was a complete failure. I will tell members what else the Auditor General said; he said — DHW officers advised us that they provided fortnightly verbal briefings to the Minister … The member for Midland knew about this. She was advised every fortnight. One might think that she would tell cabinet about it. Was the current Leader of the Opposition ever told about it when he was Treasurer? Did he ever get an update on those regular fortnightly meetings about the risks and the cost blow-outs? He did not! Mr E.S. Ripper : Are you told about the waterfront? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Leader of the Opposition did not get any updates, did he? He was kept in the dark. As the then Treasurer, the Leader of the Opposition should have been inquiring because the cost was going up and the time line was heading out. One would have thought that if the member for Midland were a half-decent minister, she might have informed cabinet, but cabinet was never informed. Mrs M.H. Roberts : It’s not what the report says. Tell the truth! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I will quote the report for the member for Midland. Page 19 of the report reads — DHW officers advised us that they provided fortnightly verbal briefings to the Minister — That was the member for Midland — highlighting key risks and issues. Mrs M.H. Roberts : Not on the arena—on all issues. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : Therefore, the Auditor General just put that comment in his report on the arena? What were they talking to the member for Midland about? Was it about the dry season? I have no idea! It is in the report on Perth Arena that the former minister told no-one! The ALP can rest easy because this is the person who wants to lead members opposite; this is the person who claimed if she had been leader, Labor would still be over on this side of the house. Which two metalworkers kept the member for Midland out? Was it the member for Joondalup? Mr E.S. Ripper : What happened to your leadership? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I resigned, and I am glad I did. Did the member for Cockburn keep the member for Midland out? She does not want to be leader; she is just having a lot of meetings with Dave Kelly and Joe Bullock! How sweet it is in the ALP! I will close by saying that there is a silver lining. Mr P. Papalia : Isn’t it lucky that this came out today? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Auditor General is an independent officer of Parliament, and bless him for it. He could even go home and have a sandwich. The last point I want to make is that the Auditor General has done us all a favour. Mr P. Papalia interjected. The SPEAKER : Member for Warnbro, there are plenty of opportunities to ask questions in this place. I formally call you for the first time. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Auditor General basically said it was a complete fiasco, but there is a silver lining. Mr E.S. Ripper : Which page is that on? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : It is on page 26. The Leader of the Opposition should read it and weep. It says that the governance framework and risk management has been strengthened since early 2009. Do members know why it was strengthened? Because there was a change of government. We came into power and said, “Give us a list of the top 20 projects, how much they cost and when they will be finished.” We were asked why we wanted to know that. Why on earth would we need to know what $20 billion of capital works is going to cost? No-one had ever asked for that. There are new people in charge of capital works in this state. We will learn from these lessons. Those opposite, particularly the member for Midland, should hang their heads in shame. The SPEAKER : Before I give the call to the member for Rockingham, I formally call the member for Kimberley for the first time.
I will tell members what else the Auditor General said; he said — DHW officers advised us that they provided fortnightly verbal briefings to the Minister … The member for Midland knew about this. She was advised every fortnight. One might think that she would tell cabinet about it. Was the current Leader of the Opposition ever told about it when he was Treasurer? Did he ever get an update on those regular fortnightly meetings about the risks and the cost blow-outs? He did not! Mr E.S. Ripper : Are you told about the waterfront? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Leader of the Opposition did not get any updates, did he? He was kept in the dark. As the then Treasurer, the Leader of the Opposition should have been inquiring because the cost was going up and the time line was heading out. One would have thought that if the member for Midland were a half-decent minister, she might have informed cabinet, but cabinet was never informed. Mrs M.H. Roberts : It’s not what the report says. Tell the truth! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I will quote the report for the member for Midland. Page 19 of the report reads — DHW officers advised us that they provided fortnightly verbal briefings to the Minister — That was the member for Midland — highlighting key risks and issues. Mrs M.H. Roberts : Not on the arena—on all issues. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : Therefore, the Auditor General just put that comment in his report on the arena? What were they talking to the member for Midland about? Was it about the dry season? I have no idea! It is in the report on Perth Arena that the former minister told no-one! The ALP can rest easy because this is the person who wants to lead members opposite; this is the person who claimed if she had been leader, Labor would still be over on this side of the house. Which two metalworkers kept the member for Midland out? Was it the member for Joondalup? Mr E.S. Ripper : What happened to your leadership? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I resigned, and I am glad I did. Did the member for Cockburn keep the member for Midland out? She does not want to be leader; she is just having a lot of meetings with Dave Kelly and Joe Bullock! How sweet it is in the ALP! I will close by saying that there is a silver lining. Mr P. Papalia : Isn’t it lucky that this came out today? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Auditor General is an independent officer of Parliament, and bless him for it. He could even go home and have a sandwich. The last point I want to make is that the Auditor General has done us all a favour. Mr P. Papalia interjected. The SPEAKER : Member for Warnbro, there are plenty of opportunities to ask questions in this place. I formally call you for the first time. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Auditor General basically said it was a complete fiasco, but there is a silver lining. Mr E.S. Ripper : Which page is that on? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : It is on page 26. The Leader of the Opposition should read it and weep. It says that the governance framework and risk management has been strengthened since early 2009. Do members know why it was strengthened? Because there was a change of government. We came into power and said, “Give us a list of the top 20 projects, how much they cost and when they will be finished.” We were asked why we wanted to know that. Why on earth would we need to know what $20 billion of capital works is going to cost? No-one had ever asked for that. There are new people in charge of capital works in this state. We will learn from these lessons. Those opposite, particularly the member for Midland, should hang their heads in shame. The SPEAKER : Before I give the call to the member for Rockingham, I formally call the member for Kimberley for the first time.
Mr E.S. Ripper : Are you told about the waterfront? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Leader of the Opposition did not get any updates, did he? He was kept in the dark. As the then Treasurer, the Leader of the Opposition should have been inquiring because the cost was going up and the time line was heading out. One would have thought that if the member for Midland were a half-decent minister, she might have informed cabinet, but cabinet was never informed. Mrs M.H. Roberts : It’s not what the report says. Tell the truth! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I will quote the report for the member for Midland. Page 19 of the report reads — DHW officers advised us that they provided fortnightly verbal briefings to the Minister — That was the member for Midland — highlighting key risks and issues. Mrs M.H. Roberts : Not on the arena—on all issues. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : Therefore, the Auditor General just put that comment in his report on the arena? What were they talking to the member for Midland about? Was it about the dry season? I have no idea! It is in the report on Perth Arena that the former minister told no-one! The ALP can rest easy because this is the person who wants to lead members opposite; this is the person who claimed if she had been leader, Labor would still be over on this side of the house. Which two metalworkers kept the member for Midland out? Was it the member for Joondalup? Mr E.S. Ripper : What happened to your leadership? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I resigned, and I am glad I did. Did the member for Cockburn keep the member for Midland out? She does not want to be leader; she is just having a lot of meetings with Dave Kelly and Joe Bullock! How sweet it is in the ALP! I will close by saying that there is a silver lining. Mr P. Papalia : Isn’t it lucky that this came out today? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Auditor General is an independent officer of Parliament, and bless him for it. He could even go home and have a sandwich. The last point I want to make is that the Auditor General has done us all a favour. Mr P. Papalia interjected. The SPEAKER : Member for Warnbro, there are plenty of opportunities to ask questions in this place. I formally call you for the first time. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Auditor General basically said it was a complete fiasco, but there is a silver lining. Mr E.S. Ripper : Which page is that on? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : It is on page 26. The Leader of the Opposition should read it and weep. It says that the governance framework and risk management has been strengthened since early 2009. Do members know why it was strengthened? Because there was a change of government. We came into power and said, “Give us a list of the top 20 projects, how much they cost and when they will be finished.” We were asked why we wanted to know that. Why on earth would we need to know what $20 billion of capital works is going to cost? No-one had ever asked for that. There are new people in charge of capital works in this state. We will learn from these lessons. Those opposite, particularly the member for Midland, should hang their heads in shame. The SPEAKER : Before I give the call to the member for Rockingham, I formally call the member for Kimberley for the first time.
Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Leader of the Opposition did not get any updates, did he? He was kept in the dark. As the then Treasurer, the Leader of the Opposition should have been inquiring because the cost was going up and the time line was heading out. One would have thought that if the member for Midland were a half-decent minister, she might have informed cabinet, but cabinet was never informed. Mrs M.H. Roberts : It’s not what the report says. Tell the truth! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I will quote the report for the member for Midland. Page 19 of the report reads — DHW officers advised us that they provided fortnightly verbal briefings to the Minister — That was the member for Midland — highlighting key risks and issues. Mrs M.H. Roberts : Not on the arena—on all issues. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : Therefore, the Auditor General just put that comment in his report on the arena? What were they talking to the member for Midland about? Was it about the dry season? I have no idea! It is in the report on Perth Arena that the former minister told no-one! The ALP can rest easy because this is the person who wants to lead members opposite; this is the person who claimed if she had been leader, Labor would still be over on this side of the house. Which two metalworkers kept the member for Midland out? Was it the member for Joondalup? Mr E.S. Ripper : What happened to your leadership? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I resigned, and I am glad I did. Did the member for Cockburn keep the member for Midland out? She does not want to be leader; she is just having a lot of meetings with Dave Kelly and Joe Bullock! How sweet it is in the ALP! I will close by saying that there is a silver lining. Mr P. Papalia : Isn’t it lucky that this came out today? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Auditor General is an independent officer of Parliament, and bless him for it. He could even go home and have a sandwich. The last point I want to make is that the Auditor General has done us all a favour. Mr P. Papalia interjected. The SPEAKER : Member for Warnbro, there are plenty of opportunities to ask questions in this place. I formally call you for the first time. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Auditor General basically said it was a complete fiasco, but there is a silver lining. Mr E.S. Ripper : Which page is that on? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : It is on page 26. The Leader of the Opposition should read it and weep. It says that the governance framework and risk management has been strengthened since early 2009. Do members know why it was strengthened? Because there was a change of government. We came into power and said, “Give us a list of the top 20 projects, how much they cost and when they will be finished.” We were asked why we wanted to know that. Why on earth would we need to know what $20 billion of capital works is going to cost? No-one had ever asked for that. There are new people in charge of capital works in this state. We will learn from these lessons. Those opposite, particularly the member for Midland, should hang their heads in shame. The SPEAKER : Before I give the call to the member for Rockingham, I formally call the member for Kimberley for the first time.
Mrs M.H. Roberts : It’s not what the report says. Tell the truth! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I will quote the report for the member for Midland. Page 19 of the report reads — DHW officers advised us that they provided fortnightly verbal briefings to the Minister — That was the member for Midland — highlighting key risks and issues. Mrs M.H. Roberts : Not on the arena—on all issues. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : Therefore, the Auditor General just put that comment in his report on the arena? What were they talking to the member for Midland about? Was it about the dry season? I have no idea! It is in the report on Perth Arena that the former minister told no-one! The ALP can rest easy because this is the person who wants to lead members opposite; this is the person who claimed if she had been leader, Labor would still be over on this side of the house. Which two metalworkers kept the member for Midland out? Was it the member for Joondalup? Mr E.S. Ripper : What happened to your leadership? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I resigned, and I am glad I did. Did the member for Cockburn keep the member for Midland out? She does not want to be leader; she is just having a lot of meetings with Dave Kelly and Joe Bullock! How sweet it is in the ALP! I will close by saying that there is a silver lining. Mr P. Papalia : Isn’t it lucky that this came out today? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Auditor General is an independent officer of Parliament, and bless him for it. He could even go home and have a sandwich. The last point I want to make is that the Auditor General has done us all a favour. Mr P. Papalia interjected. The SPEAKER : Member for Warnbro, there are plenty of opportunities to ask questions in this place. I formally call you for the first time. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Auditor General basically said it was a complete fiasco, but there is a silver lining. Mr E.S. Ripper : Which page is that on? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : It is on page 26. The Leader of the Opposition should read it and weep. It says that the governance framework and risk management has been strengthened since early 2009. Do members know why it was strengthened? Because there was a change of government. We came into power and said, “Give us a list of the top 20 projects, how much they cost and when they will be finished.” We were asked why we wanted to know that. Why on earth would we need to know what $20 billion of capital works is going to cost? No-one had ever asked for that. There are new people in charge of capital works in this state. We will learn from these lessons. Those opposite, particularly the member for Midland, should hang their heads in shame. The SPEAKER : Before I give the call to the member for Rockingham, I formally call the member for Kimberley for the first time.
Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I will quote the report for the member for Midland. Page 19 of the report reads — DHW officers advised us that they provided fortnightly verbal briefings to the Minister — That was the member for Midland — highlighting key risks and issues. Mrs M.H. Roberts : Not on the arena—on all issues. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : Therefore, the Auditor General just put that comment in his report on the arena? What were they talking to the member for Midland about? Was it about the dry season? I have no idea! It is in the report on Perth Arena that the former minister told no-one! The ALP can rest easy because this is the person who wants to lead members opposite; this is the person who claimed if she had been leader, Labor would still be over on this side of the house. Which two metalworkers kept the member for Midland out? Was it the member for Joondalup? Mr E.S. Ripper : What happened to your leadership? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I resigned, and I am glad I did. Did the member for Cockburn keep the member for Midland out? She does not want to be leader; she is just having a lot of meetings with Dave Kelly and Joe Bullock! How sweet it is in the ALP! I will close by saying that there is a silver lining. Mr P. Papalia : Isn’t it lucky that this came out today? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Auditor General is an independent officer of Parliament, and bless him for it. He could even go home and have a sandwich. The last point I want to make is that the Auditor General has done us all a favour. Mr P. Papalia interjected. The SPEAKER : Member for Warnbro, there are plenty of opportunities to ask questions in this place. I formally call you for the first time. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Auditor General basically said it was a complete fiasco, but there is a silver lining. Mr E.S. Ripper : Which page is that on? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : It is on page 26. The Leader of the Opposition should read it and weep. It says that the governance framework and risk management has been strengthened since early 2009. Do members know why it was strengthened? Because there was a change of government. We came into power and said, “Give us a list of the top 20 projects, how much they cost and when they will be finished.” We were asked why we wanted to know that. Why on earth would we need to know what $20 billion of capital works is going to cost? No-one had ever asked for that. There are new people in charge of capital works in this state. We will learn from these lessons. Those opposite, particularly the member for Midland, should hang their heads in shame. The SPEAKER : Before I give the call to the member for Rockingham, I formally call the member for Kimberley for the first time.
Mr T.R. BUSWELL : Therefore, the Auditor General just put that comment in his report on the arena? What were they talking to the member for Midland about? Was it about the dry season? I have no idea! It is in the report on Perth Arena that the former minister told no-one! The ALP can rest easy because this is the person who wants to lead members opposite; this is the person who claimed if she had been leader, Labor would still be over on this side of the house. Which two metalworkers kept the member for Midland out? Was it the member for Joondalup? Mr E.S. Ripper : What happened to your leadership? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I resigned, and I am glad I did. Did the member for Cockburn keep the member for Midland out? She does not want to be leader; she is just having a lot of meetings with Dave Kelly and Joe Bullock! How sweet it is in the ALP! I will close by saying that there is a silver lining. Mr P. Papalia : Isn’t it lucky that this came out today? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Auditor General is an independent officer of Parliament, and bless him for it. He could even go home and have a sandwich. The last point I want to make is that the Auditor General has done us all a favour. Mr P. Papalia interjected. The SPEAKER : Member for Warnbro, there are plenty of opportunities to ask questions in this place. I formally call you for the first time. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Auditor General basically said it was a complete fiasco, but there is a silver lining. Mr E.S. Ripper : Which page is that on? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : It is on page 26. The Leader of the Opposition should read it and weep. It says that the governance framework and risk management has been strengthened since early 2009. Do members know why it was strengthened? Because there was a change of government. We came into power and said, “Give us a list of the top 20 projects, how much they cost and when they will be finished.” We were asked why we wanted to know that. Why on earth would we need to know what $20 billion of capital works is going to cost? No-one had ever asked for that. There are new people in charge of capital works in this state. We will learn from these lessons. Those opposite, particularly the member for Midland, should hang their heads in shame. The SPEAKER : Before I give the call to the member for Rockingham, I formally call the member for Kimberley for the first time.
Mr E.S. Ripper : What happened to your leadership? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I resigned, and I am glad I did. Did the member for Cockburn keep the member for Midland out? She does not want to be leader; she is just having a lot of meetings with Dave Kelly and Joe Bullock! How sweet it is in the ALP! I will close by saying that there is a silver lining. Mr P. Papalia : Isn’t it lucky that this came out today? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Auditor General is an independent officer of Parliament, and bless him for it. He could even go home and have a sandwich. The last point I want to make is that the Auditor General has done us all a favour. Mr P. Papalia interjected. The SPEAKER : Member for Warnbro, there are plenty of opportunities to ask questions in this place. I formally call you for the first time. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Auditor General basically said it was a complete fiasco, but there is a silver lining. Mr E.S. Ripper : Which page is that on? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : It is on page 26. The Leader of the Opposition should read it and weep. It says that the governance framework and risk management has been strengthened since early 2009. Do members know why it was strengthened? Because there was a change of government. We came into power and said, “Give us a list of the top 20 projects, how much they cost and when they will be finished.” We were asked why we wanted to know that. Why on earth would we need to know what $20 billion of capital works is going to cost? No-one had ever asked for that. There are new people in charge of capital works in this state. We will learn from these lessons. Those opposite, particularly the member for Midland, should hang their heads in shame. The SPEAKER : Before I give the call to the member for Rockingham, I formally call the member for Kimberley for the first time.
Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I resigned, and I am glad I did. Did the member for Cockburn keep the member for Midland out? She does not want to be leader; she is just having a lot of meetings with Dave Kelly and Joe Bullock! How sweet it is in the ALP! I will close by saying that there is a silver lining. Mr P. Papalia : Isn’t it lucky that this came out today? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Auditor General is an independent officer of Parliament, and bless him for it. He could even go home and have a sandwich. The last point I want to make is that the Auditor General has done us all a favour. Mr P. Papalia interjected. The SPEAKER : Member for Warnbro, there are plenty of opportunities to ask questions in this place. I formally call you for the first time. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Auditor General basically said it was a complete fiasco, but there is a silver lining. Mr E.S. Ripper : Which page is that on? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : It is on page 26. The Leader of the Opposition should read it and weep. It says that the governance framework and risk management has been strengthened since early 2009. Do members know why it was strengthened? Because there was a change of government. We came into power and said, “Give us a list of the top 20 projects, how much they cost and when they will be finished.” We were asked why we wanted to know that. Why on earth would we need to know what $20 billion of capital works is going to cost? No-one had ever asked for that. There are new people in charge of capital works in this state. We will learn from these lessons. Those opposite, particularly the member for Midland, should hang their heads in shame. The SPEAKER : Before I give the call to the member for Rockingham, I formally call the member for Kimberley for the first time.
Mr P. Papalia : Isn’t it lucky that this came out today? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Auditor General is an independent officer of Parliament, and bless him for it. He could even go home and have a sandwich. The last point I want to make is that the Auditor General has done us all a favour. Mr P. Papalia interjected. The SPEAKER : Member for Warnbro, there are plenty of opportunities to ask questions in this place. I formally call you for the first time. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Auditor General basically said it was a complete fiasco, but there is a silver lining. Mr E.S. Ripper : Which page is that on? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : It is on page 26. The Leader of the Opposition should read it and weep. It says that the governance framework and risk management has been strengthened since early 2009. Do members know why it was strengthened? Because there was a change of government. We came into power and said, “Give us a list of the top 20 projects, how much they cost and when they will be finished.” We were asked why we wanted to know that. Why on earth would we need to know what $20 billion of capital works is going to cost? No-one had ever asked for that. There are new people in charge of capital works in this state. We will learn from these lessons. Those opposite, particularly the member for Midland, should hang their heads in shame. The SPEAKER : Before I give the call to the member for Rockingham, I formally call the member for Kimberley for the first time.
Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Auditor General is an independent officer of Parliament, and bless him for it. He could even go home and have a sandwich. The last point I want to make is that the Auditor General has done us all a favour. Mr P. Papalia interjected. The SPEAKER : Member for Warnbro, there are plenty of opportunities to ask questions in this place. I formally call you for the first time. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Auditor General basically said it was a complete fiasco, but there is a silver lining. Mr E.S. Ripper : Which page is that on? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : It is on page 26. The Leader of the Opposition should read it and weep. It says that the governance framework and risk management has been strengthened since early 2009. Do members know why it was strengthened? Because there was a change of government. We came into power and said, “Give us a list of the top 20 projects, how much they cost and when they will be finished.” We were asked why we wanted to know that. Why on earth would we need to know what $20 billion of capital works is going to cost? No-one had ever asked for that. There are new people in charge of capital works in this state. We will learn from these lessons. Those opposite, particularly the member for Midland, should hang their heads in shame. The SPEAKER : Before I give the call to the member for Rockingham, I formally call the member for Kimberley for the first time.
Mr P. Papalia interjected. The SPEAKER : Member for Warnbro, there are plenty of opportunities to ask questions in this place. I formally call you for the first time. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Auditor General basically said it was a complete fiasco, but there is a silver lining. Mr E.S. Ripper : Which page is that on? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : It is on page 26. The Leader of the Opposition should read it and weep. It says that the governance framework and risk management has been strengthened since early 2009. Do members know why it was strengthened? Because there was a change of government. We came into power and said, “Give us a list of the top 20 projects, how much they cost and when they will be finished.” We were asked why we wanted to know that. Why on earth would we need to know what $20 billion of capital works is going to cost? No-one had ever asked for that. There are new people in charge of capital works in this state. We will learn from these lessons. Those opposite, particularly the member for Midland, should hang their heads in shame. The SPEAKER : Before I give the call to the member for Rockingham, I formally call the member for Kimberley for the first time.
The SPEAKER : Member for Warnbro, there are plenty of opportunities to ask questions in this place. I formally call you for the first time. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Auditor General basically said it was a complete fiasco, but there is a silver lining. Mr E.S. Ripper : Which page is that on? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : It is on page 26. The Leader of the Opposition should read it and weep. It says that the governance framework and risk management has been strengthened since early 2009. Do members know why it was strengthened? Because there was a change of government. We came into power and said, “Give us a list of the top 20 projects, how much they cost and when they will be finished.” We were asked why we wanted to know that. Why on earth would we need to know what $20 billion of capital works is going to cost? No-one had ever asked for that. There are new people in charge of capital works in this state. We will learn from these lessons. Those opposite, particularly the member for Midland, should hang their heads in shame. The SPEAKER : Before I give the call to the member for Rockingham, I formally call the member for Kimberley for the first time.
Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Auditor General basically said it was a complete fiasco, but there is a silver lining. Mr E.S. Ripper : Which page is that on? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : It is on page 26. The Leader of the Opposition should read it and weep. It says that the governance framework and risk management has been strengthened since early 2009. Do members know why it was strengthened? Because there was a change of government. We came into power and said, “Give us a list of the top 20 projects, how much they cost and when they will be finished.” We were asked why we wanted to know that. Why on earth would we need to know what $20 billion of capital works is going to cost? No-one had ever asked for that. There are new people in charge of capital works in this state. We will learn from these lessons. Those opposite, particularly the member for Midland, should hang their heads in shame. The SPEAKER : Before I give the call to the member for Rockingham, I formally call the member for Kimberley for the first time.
Mr E.S. Ripper : Which page is that on? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : It is on page 26. The Leader of the Opposition should read it and weep. It says that the governance framework and risk management has been strengthened since early 2009. Do members know why it was strengthened? Because there was a change of government. We came into power and said, “Give us a list of the top 20 projects, how much they cost and when they will be finished.” We were asked why we wanted to know that. Why on earth would we need to know what $20 billion of capital works is going to cost? No-one had ever asked for that. There are new people in charge of capital works in this state. We will learn from these lessons. Those opposite, particularly the member for Midland, should hang their heads in shame. The SPEAKER : Before I give the call to the member for Rockingham, I formally call the member for Kimberley for the first time.
Mr T.R. BUSWELL : It is on page 26. The Leader of the Opposition should read it and weep. It says that the governance framework and risk management has been strengthened since early 2009. Do members know why it was strengthened? Because there was a change of government. We came into power and said, “Give us a list of the top 20 projects, how much they cost and when they will be finished.” We were asked why we wanted to know that. Why on earth would we need to know what $20 billion of capital works is going to cost? No-one had ever asked for that. There are new people in charge of capital works in this state. We will learn from these lessons. Those opposite, particularly the member for Midland, should hang their heads in shame. The SPEAKER : Before I give the call to the member for Rockingham, I formally call the member for Kimberley for the first time.
The SPEAKER : Before I give the call to the member for Rockingham, I formally call the member for Kimberley for the first time.
Mr T.R. BUSWELL replied: That is a very good question from the member for Mount Lawley, whom I am sure has read this report. Several members interjected. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : One lesson I have learnt is never, ever let the member for Midland near a government chequebook again. I encourage all members of the house to read this report, because it has some salient — Mr E.S. Ripper : It has a lot of lessons for the government in it. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : It has a lot of lessons for the Leader of the Opposition; I can tell him that right now. We will get to those. Mr E.S. Ripper : What about the waterfront, the Northbridge link and the Treasurer’s advance? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : There are a number of very salient lessons in this for all in government, but the finger of blame points very clearly at the former minister, the former Treasurer and all of those — Mr E.S. Ripper : Is that what the Auditor General says? Quote him. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I will get to that as well. It is very interesting. Keep digging because we can put it all back in on top of the opposition! I thought I would take a couple of minutes to background the house on the history of Perth Arena. It was announced with much fanfare by the then Premier in 2005. How much do members think was the estimated cost in 2005? It was $160 million. And the former government said it would be ready for the Hopman Cup 2009. That is only two years ago! In July 2006, the former government came out and said that it will now cost $250 million, but it will still be ready in 2009. Then in July 2008, they said it would cost $335 million, and would be finished in 2010. What do we know now? I think it will cost more than half a billion dollars, and it will not be finished until April 2012! However, the interesting thing is how the contract was struck. In 2006 the project went out for tender. It went out for tender on a design-and-construct basis. The tender came back at around $470 million. The previous government said, “Hold on; we have a bit of a problem because we’ve told everyone it will cost $330 million, and we are now being told it will cost $470 million. What should we do? We will doctor up the process.” This is what happened. The car park was taken out. A $70 million car park was taken out and stuck underneath with a $20 million provision given. The fit-out was abandoned. We would have a wonderful stadium with no seats! The third thing the former government said was, “We’ll change the design while you’re building. So, start BGC, and we’ll change the design while you are building it. We are that clever that we can save $35 million.” None of that happened. Do members know what the final cost will be? It will be pretty much the original tendered cost, except — Mrs M.H. Roberts : Who was the minister when that was happening? You were the minister! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : Hang on; we will get to the member for Midland! It will be pretty much the original tendered cost, except the project is over budget and over time. The Auditor General has made a couple of points. The first point, which I think is valid, says it shows how announcing costs and time frames of a project ahead of them being known is fraught with danger. What he says about this project is a bit like Peter Garrett’s insulation project that was rushed out the door to make that minister look good, and it was a complete failure. I will tell members what else the Auditor General said; he said — DHW officers advised us that they provided fortnightly verbal briefings to the Minister … The member for Midland knew about this. She was advised every fortnight. One might think that she would tell cabinet about it. Was the current Leader of the Opposition ever told about it when he was Treasurer? Did he ever get an update on those regular fortnightly meetings about the risks and the cost blow-outs? He did not! Mr E.S. Ripper : Are you told about the waterfront? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Leader of the Opposition did not get any updates, did he? He was kept in the dark. As the then Treasurer, the Leader of the Opposition should have been inquiring because the cost was going up and the time line was heading out. One would have thought that if the member for Midland were a half-decent minister, she might have informed cabinet, but cabinet was never informed. Mrs M.H. Roberts : It’s not what the report says. Tell the truth! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I will quote the report for the member for Midland. Page 19 of the report reads — DHW officers advised us that they provided fortnightly verbal briefings to the Minister — That was the member for Midland — highlighting key risks and issues. Mrs M.H. Roberts : Not on the arena—on all issues. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : Therefore, the Auditor General just put that comment in his report on the arena? What were they talking to the member for Midland about? Was it about the dry season? I have no idea! It is in the report on Perth Arena that the former minister told no-one! The ALP can rest easy because this is the person who wants to lead members opposite; this is the person who claimed if she had been leader, Labor would still be over on this side of the house. Which two metalworkers kept the member for Midland out? Was it the member for Joondalup? Mr E.S. Ripper : What happened to your leadership? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I resigned, and I am glad I did. Did the member for Cockburn keep the member for Midland out? She does not want to be leader; she is just having a lot of meetings with Dave Kelly and Joe Bullock! How sweet it is in the ALP! I will close by saying that there is a silver lining. Mr P. Papalia : Isn’t it lucky that this came out today? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Auditor General is an independent officer of Parliament, and bless him for it. He could even go home and have a sandwich. The last point I want to make is that the Auditor General has done us all a favour. Mr P. Papalia interjected. The SPEAKER : Member for Warnbro, there are plenty of opportunities to ask questions in this place. I formally call you for the first time. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Auditor General basically said it was a complete fiasco, but there is a silver lining. Mr E.S. Ripper : Which page is that on? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : It is on page 26. The Leader of the Opposition should read it and weep. It says that the governance framework and risk management has been strengthened since early 2009. Do members know why it was strengthened? Because there was a change of government. We came into power and said, “Give us a list of the top 20 projects, how much they cost and when they will be finished.” We were asked why we wanted to know that. Why on earth would we need to know what $20 billion of capital works is going to cost? No-one had ever asked for that. There are new people in charge of capital works in this state. We will learn from these lessons. Those opposite, particularly the member for Midland, should hang their heads in shame. The SPEAKER : Before I give the call to the member for Rockingham, I formally call the member for Kimberley for the first time.
That is a very good question from the member for Mount Lawley, whom I am sure has read this report. Several members interjected. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : One lesson I have learnt is never, ever let the member for Midland near a government chequebook again. I encourage all members of the house to read this report, because it has some salient — Mr E.S. Ripper : It has a lot of lessons for the government in it. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : It has a lot of lessons for the Leader of the Opposition; I can tell him that right now. We will get to those. Mr E.S. Ripper : What about the waterfront, the Northbridge link and the Treasurer’s advance? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : There are a number of very salient lessons in this for all in government, but the finger of blame points very clearly at the former minister, the former Treasurer and all of those — Mr E.S. Ripper : Is that what the Auditor General says? Quote him. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I will get to that as well. It is very interesting. Keep digging because we can put it all back in on top of the opposition! I thought I would take a couple of minutes to background the house on the history of Perth Arena. It was announced with much fanfare by the then Premier in 2005. How much do members think was the estimated cost in 2005? It was $160 million. And the former government said it would be ready for the Hopman Cup 2009. That is only two years ago! In July 2006, the former government came out and said that it will now cost $250 million, but it will still be ready in 2009. Then in July 2008, they said it would cost $335 million, and would be finished in 2010. What do we know now? I think it will cost more than half a billion dollars, and it will not be finished until April 2012! However, the interesting thing is how the contract was struck. In 2006 the project went out for tender. It went out for tender on a design-and-construct basis. The tender came back at around $470 million. The previous government said, “Hold on; we have a bit of a problem because we’ve told everyone it will cost $330 million, and we are now being told it will cost $470 million. What should we do? We will doctor up the process.” This is what happened. The car park was taken out. A $70 million car park was taken out and stuck underneath with a $20 million provision given. The fit-out was abandoned. We would have a wonderful stadium with no seats! The third thing the former government said was, “We’ll change the design while you’re building. So, start BGC, and we’ll change the design while you are building it. We are that clever that we can save $35 million.” None of that happened. Do members know what the final cost will be? It will be pretty much the original tendered cost, except — Mrs M.H. Roberts : Who was the minister when that was happening? You were the minister! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : Hang on; we will get to the member for Midland! It will be pretty much the original tendered cost, except the project is over budget and over time. The Auditor General has made a couple of points. The first point, which I think is valid, says it shows how announcing costs and time frames of a project ahead of them being known is fraught with danger. What he says about this project is a bit like Peter Garrett’s insulation project that was rushed out the door to make that minister look good, and it was a complete failure. I will tell members what else the Auditor General said; he said — DHW officers advised us that they provided fortnightly verbal briefings to the Minister … The member for Midland knew about this. She was advised every fortnight. One might think that she would tell cabinet about it. Was the current Leader of the Opposition ever told about it when he was Treasurer? Did he ever get an update on those regular fortnightly meetings about the risks and the cost blow-outs? He did not! Mr E.S. Ripper : Are you told about the waterfront? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Leader of the Opposition did not get any updates, did he? He was kept in the dark. As the then Treasurer, the Leader of the Opposition should have been inquiring because the cost was going up and the time line was heading out. One would have thought that if the member for Midland were a half-decent minister, she might have informed cabinet, but cabinet was never informed. Mrs M.H. Roberts : It’s not what the report says. Tell the truth! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I will quote the report for the member for Midland. Page 19 of the report reads — DHW officers advised us that they provided fortnightly verbal briefings to the Minister — That was the member for Midland — highlighting key risks and issues. Mrs M.H. Roberts : Not on the arena—on all issues. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : Therefore, the Auditor General just put that comment in his report on the arena? What were they talking to the member for Midland about? Was it about the dry season? I have no idea! It is in the report on Perth Arena that the former minister told no-one! The ALP can rest easy because this is the person who wants to lead members opposite; this is the person who claimed if she had been leader, Labor would still be over on this side of the house. Which two metalworkers kept the member for Midland out? Was it the member for Joondalup? Mr E.S. Ripper : What happened to your leadership? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I resigned, and I am glad I did. Did the member for Cockburn keep the member for Midland out? She does not want to be leader; she is just having a lot of meetings with Dave Kelly and Joe Bullock! How sweet it is in the ALP! I will close by saying that there is a silver lining. Mr P. Papalia : Isn’t it lucky that this came out today? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Auditor General is an independent officer of Parliament, and bless him for it. He could even go home and have a sandwich. The last point I want to make is that the Auditor General has done us all a favour. Mr P. Papalia interjected. The SPEAKER : Member for Warnbro, there are plenty of opportunities to ask questions in this place. I formally call you for the first time. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Auditor General basically said it was a complete fiasco, but there is a silver lining. Mr E.S. Ripper : Which page is that on? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : It is on page 26. The Leader of the Opposition should read it and weep. It says that the governance framework and risk management has been strengthened since early 2009. Do members know why it was strengthened? Because there was a change of government. We came into power and said, “Give us a list of the top 20 projects, how much they cost and when they will be finished.” We were asked why we wanted to know that. Why on earth would we need to know what $20 billion of capital works is going to cost? No-one had ever asked for that. There are new people in charge of capital works in this state. We will learn from these lessons. Those opposite, particularly the member for Midland, should hang their heads in shame. The SPEAKER : Before I give the call to the member for Rockingham, I formally call the member for Kimberley for the first time.
Several members interjected. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : One lesson I have learnt is never, ever let the member for Midland near a government chequebook again. I encourage all members of the house to read this report, because it has some salient — Mr E.S. Ripper : It has a lot of lessons for the government in it. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : It has a lot of lessons for the Leader of the Opposition; I can tell him that right now. We will get to those. Mr E.S. Ripper : What about the waterfront, the Northbridge link and the Treasurer’s advance? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : There are a number of very salient lessons in this for all in government, but the finger of blame points very clearly at the former minister, the former Treasurer and all of those — Mr E.S. Ripper : Is that what the Auditor General says? Quote him. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I will get to that as well. It is very interesting. Keep digging because we can put it all back in on top of the opposition! I thought I would take a couple of minutes to background the house on the history of Perth Arena. It was announced with much fanfare by the then Premier in 2005. How much do members think was the estimated cost in 2005? It was $160 million. And the former government said it would be ready for the Hopman Cup 2009. That is only two years ago! In July 2006, the former government came out and said that it will now cost $250 million, but it will still be ready in 2009. Then in July 2008, they said it would cost $335 million, and would be finished in 2010. What do we know now? I think it will cost more than half a billion dollars, and it will not be finished until April 2012! However, the interesting thing is how the contract was struck. In 2006 the project went out for tender. It went out for tender on a design-and-construct basis. The tender came back at around $470 million. The previous government said, “Hold on; we have a bit of a problem because we’ve told everyone it will cost $330 million, and we are now being told it will cost $470 million. What should we do? We will doctor up the process.” This is what happened. The car park was taken out. A $70 million car park was taken out and stuck underneath with a $20 million provision given. The fit-out was abandoned. We would have a wonderful stadium with no seats! The third thing the former government said was, “We’ll change the design while you’re building. So, start BGC, and we’ll change the design while you are building it. We are that clever that we can save $35 million.” None of that happened. Do members know what the final cost will be? It will be pretty much the original tendered cost, except — Mrs M.H. Roberts : Who was the minister when that was happening? You were the minister! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : Hang on; we will get to the member for Midland! It will be pretty much the original tendered cost, except the project is over budget and over time. The Auditor General has made a couple of points. The first point, which I think is valid, says it shows how announcing costs and time frames of a project ahead of them being known is fraught with danger. What he says about this project is a bit like Peter Garrett’s insulation project that was rushed out the door to make that minister look good, and it was a complete failure. I will tell members what else the Auditor General said; he said — DHW officers advised us that they provided fortnightly verbal briefings to the Minister … The member for Midland knew about this. She was advised every fortnight. One might think that she would tell cabinet about it. Was the current Leader of the Opposition ever told about it when he was Treasurer? Did he ever get an update on those regular fortnightly meetings about the risks and the cost blow-outs? He did not! Mr E.S. Ripper : Are you told about the waterfront? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Leader of the Opposition did not get any updates, did he? He was kept in the dark. As the then Treasurer, the Leader of the Opposition should have been inquiring because the cost was going up and the time line was heading out. One would have thought that if the member for Midland were a half-decent minister, she might have informed cabinet, but cabinet was never informed. Mrs M.H. Roberts : It’s not what the report says. Tell the truth! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I will quote the report for the member for Midland. Page 19 of the report reads — DHW officers advised us that they provided fortnightly verbal briefings to the Minister — That was the member for Midland — highlighting key risks and issues. Mrs M.H. Roberts : Not on the arena—on all issues. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : Therefore, the Auditor General just put that comment in his report on the arena? What were they talking to the member for Midland about? Was it about the dry season? I have no idea! It is in the report on Perth Arena that the former minister told no-one! The ALP can rest easy because this is the person who wants to lead members opposite; this is the person who claimed if she had been leader, Labor would still be over on this side of the house. Which two metalworkers kept the member for Midland out? Was it the member for Joondalup? Mr E.S. Ripper : What happened to your leadership? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I resigned, and I am glad I did. Did the member for Cockburn keep the member for Midland out? She does not want to be leader; she is just having a lot of meetings with Dave Kelly and Joe Bullock! How sweet it is in the ALP! I will close by saying that there is a silver lining. Mr P. Papalia : Isn’t it lucky that this came out today? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Auditor General is an independent officer of Parliament, and bless him for it. He could even go home and have a sandwich. The last point I want to make is that the Auditor General has done us all a favour. Mr P. Papalia interjected. The SPEAKER : Member for Warnbro, there are plenty of opportunities to ask questions in this place. I formally call you for the first time. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Auditor General basically said it was a complete fiasco, but there is a silver lining. Mr E.S. Ripper : Which page is that on? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : It is on page 26. The Leader of the Opposition should read it and weep. It says that the governance framework and risk management has been strengthened since early 2009. Do members know why it was strengthened? Because there was a change of government. We came into power and said, “Give us a list of the top 20 projects, how much they cost and when they will be finished.” We were asked why we wanted to know that. Why on earth would we need to know what $20 billion of capital works is going to cost? No-one had ever asked for that. There are new people in charge of capital works in this state. We will learn from these lessons. Those opposite, particularly the member for Midland, should hang their heads in shame. The SPEAKER : Before I give the call to the member for Rockingham, I formally call the member for Kimberley for the first time.
Mr T.R. BUSWELL : One lesson I have learnt is never, ever let the member for Midland near a government chequebook again. I encourage all members of the house to read this report, because it has some salient — Mr E.S. Ripper : It has a lot of lessons for the government in it. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : It has a lot of lessons for the Leader of the Opposition; I can tell him that right now. We will get to those. Mr E.S. Ripper : What about the waterfront, the Northbridge link and the Treasurer’s advance? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : There are a number of very salient lessons in this for all in government, but the finger of blame points very clearly at the former minister, the former Treasurer and all of those — Mr E.S. Ripper : Is that what the Auditor General says? Quote him. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I will get to that as well. It is very interesting. Keep digging because we can put it all back in on top of the opposition! I thought I would take a couple of minutes to background the house on the history of Perth Arena. It was announced with much fanfare by the then Premier in 2005. How much do members think was the estimated cost in 2005? It was $160 million. And the former government said it would be ready for the Hopman Cup 2009. That is only two years ago! In July 2006, the former government came out and said that it will now cost $250 million, but it will still be ready in 2009. Then in July 2008, they said it would cost $335 million, and would be finished in 2010. What do we know now? I think it will cost more than half a billion dollars, and it will not be finished until April 2012! However, the interesting thing is how the contract was struck. In 2006 the project went out for tender. It went out for tender on a design-and-construct basis. The tender came back at around $470 million. The previous government said, “Hold on; we have a bit of a problem because we’ve told everyone it will cost $330 million, and we are now being told it will cost $470 million. What should we do? We will doctor up the process.” This is what happened. The car park was taken out. A $70 million car park was taken out and stuck underneath with a $20 million provision given. The fit-out was abandoned. We would have a wonderful stadium with no seats! The third thing the former government said was, “We’ll change the design while you’re building. So, start BGC, and we’ll change the design while you are building it. We are that clever that we can save $35 million.” None of that happened. Do members know what the final cost will be? It will be pretty much the original tendered cost, except — Mrs M.H. Roberts : Who was the minister when that was happening? You were the minister! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : Hang on; we will get to the member for Midland! It will be pretty much the original tendered cost, except the project is over budget and over time. The Auditor General has made a couple of points. The first point, which I think is valid, says it shows how announcing costs and time frames of a project ahead of them being known is fraught with danger. What he says about this project is a bit like Peter Garrett’s insulation project that was rushed out the door to make that minister look good, and it was a complete failure. I will tell members what else the Auditor General said; he said — DHW officers advised us that they provided fortnightly verbal briefings to the Minister … The member for Midland knew about this. She was advised every fortnight. One might think that she would tell cabinet about it. Was the current Leader of the Opposition ever told about it when he was Treasurer? Did he ever get an update on those regular fortnightly meetings about the risks and the cost blow-outs? He did not! Mr E.S. Ripper : Are you told about the waterfront? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Leader of the Opposition did not get any updates, did he? He was kept in the dark. As the then Treasurer, the Leader of the Opposition should have been inquiring because the cost was going up and the time line was heading out. One would have thought that if the member for Midland were a half-decent minister, she might have informed cabinet, but cabinet was never informed. Mrs M.H. Roberts : It’s not what the report says. Tell the truth! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I will quote the report for the member for Midland. Page 19 of the report reads — DHW officers advised us that they provided fortnightly verbal briefings to the Minister — That was the member for Midland — highlighting key risks and issues. Mrs M.H. Roberts : Not on the arena—on all issues. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : Therefore, the Auditor General just put that comment in his report on the arena? What were they talking to the member for Midland about? Was it about the dry season? I have no idea! It is in the report on Perth Arena that the former minister told no-one! The ALP can rest easy because this is the person who wants to lead members opposite; this is the person who claimed if she had been leader, Labor would still be over on this side of the house. Which two metalworkers kept the member for Midland out? Was it the member for Joondalup? Mr E.S. Ripper : What happened to your leadership? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I resigned, and I am glad I did. Did the member for Cockburn keep the member for Midland out? She does not want to be leader; she is just having a lot of meetings with Dave Kelly and Joe Bullock! How sweet it is in the ALP! I will close by saying that there is a silver lining. Mr P. Papalia : Isn’t it lucky that this came out today? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Auditor General is an independent officer of Parliament, and bless him for it. He could even go home and have a sandwich. The last point I want to make is that the Auditor General has done us all a favour. Mr P. Papalia interjected. The SPEAKER : Member for Warnbro, there are plenty of opportunities to ask questions in this place. I formally call you for the first time. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Auditor General basically said it was a complete fiasco, but there is a silver lining. Mr E.S. Ripper : Which page is that on? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : It is on page 26. The Leader of the Opposition should read it and weep. It says that the governance framework and risk management has been strengthened since early 2009. Do members know why it was strengthened? Because there was a change of government. We came into power and said, “Give us a list of the top 20 projects, how much they cost and when they will be finished.” We were asked why we wanted to know that. Why on earth would we need to know what $20 billion of capital works is going to cost? No-one had ever asked for that. There are new people in charge of capital works in this state. We will learn from these lessons. Those opposite, particularly the member for Midland, should hang their heads in shame. The SPEAKER : Before I give the call to the member for Rockingham, I formally call the member for Kimberley for the first time.
Mr E.S. Ripper : It has a lot of lessons for the government in it. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : It has a lot of lessons for the Leader of the Opposition; I can tell him that right now. We will get to those. Mr E.S. Ripper : What about the waterfront, the Northbridge link and the Treasurer’s advance? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : There are a number of very salient lessons in this for all in government, but the finger of blame points very clearly at the former minister, the former Treasurer and all of those — Mr E.S. Ripper : Is that what the Auditor General says? Quote him. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I will get to that as well. It is very interesting. Keep digging because we can put it all back in on top of the opposition! I thought I would take a couple of minutes to background the house on the history of Perth Arena. It was announced with much fanfare by the then Premier in 2005. How much do members think was the estimated cost in 2005? It was $160 million. And the former government said it would be ready for the Hopman Cup 2009. That is only two years ago! In July 2006, the former government came out and said that it will now cost $250 million, but it will still be ready in 2009. Then in July 2008, they said it would cost $335 million, and would be finished in 2010. What do we know now? I think it will cost more than half a billion dollars, and it will not be finished until April 2012! However, the interesting thing is how the contract was struck. In 2006 the project went out for tender. It went out for tender on a design-and-construct basis. The tender came back at around $470 million. The previous government said, “Hold on; we have a bit of a problem because we’ve told everyone it will cost $330 million, and we are now being told it will cost $470 million. What should we do? We will doctor up the process.” This is what happened. The car park was taken out. A $70 million car park was taken out and stuck underneath with a $20 million provision given. The fit-out was abandoned. We would have a wonderful stadium with no seats! The third thing the former government said was, “We’ll change the design while you’re building. So, start BGC, and we’ll change the design while you are building it. We are that clever that we can save $35 million.” None of that happened. Do members know what the final cost will be? It will be pretty much the original tendered cost, except — Mrs M.H. Roberts : Who was the minister when that was happening? You were the minister! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : Hang on; we will get to the member for Midland! It will be pretty much the original tendered cost, except the project is over budget and over time. The Auditor General has made a couple of points. The first point, which I think is valid, says it shows how announcing costs and time frames of a project ahead of them being known is fraught with danger. What he says about this project is a bit like Peter Garrett’s insulation project that was rushed out the door to make that minister look good, and it was a complete failure. I will tell members what else the Auditor General said; he said — DHW officers advised us that they provided fortnightly verbal briefings to the Minister … The member for Midland knew about this. She was advised every fortnight. One might think that she would tell cabinet about it. Was the current Leader of the Opposition ever told about it when he was Treasurer? Did he ever get an update on those regular fortnightly meetings about the risks and the cost blow-outs? He did not! Mr E.S. Ripper : Are you told about the waterfront? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Leader of the Opposition did not get any updates, did he? He was kept in the dark. As the then Treasurer, the Leader of the Opposition should have been inquiring because the cost was going up and the time line was heading out. One would have thought that if the member for Midland were a half-decent minister, she might have informed cabinet, but cabinet was never informed. Mrs M.H. Roberts : It’s not what the report says. Tell the truth! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I will quote the report for the member for Midland. Page 19 of the report reads — DHW officers advised us that they provided fortnightly verbal briefings to the Minister — That was the member for Midland — highlighting key risks and issues. Mrs M.H. Roberts : Not on the arena—on all issues. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : Therefore, the Auditor General just put that comment in his report on the arena? What were they talking to the member for Midland about? Was it about the dry season? I have no idea! It is in the report on Perth Arena that the former minister told no-one! The ALP can rest easy because this is the person who wants to lead members opposite; this is the person who claimed if she had been leader, Labor would still be over on this side of the house. Which two metalworkers kept the member for Midland out? Was it the member for Joondalup? Mr E.S. Ripper : What happened to your leadership? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I resigned, and I am glad I did. Did the member for Cockburn keep the member for Midland out? She does not want to be leader; she is just having a lot of meetings with Dave Kelly and Joe Bullock! How sweet it is in the ALP! I will close by saying that there is a silver lining. Mr P. Papalia : Isn’t it lucky that this came out today? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Auditor General is an independent officer of Parliament, and bless him for it. He could even go home and have a sandwich. The last point I want to make is that the Auditor General has done us all a favour. Mr P. Papalia interjected. The SPEAKER : Member for Warnbro, there are plenty of opportunities to ask questions in this place. I formally call you for the first time. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Auditor General basically said it was a complete fiasco, but there is a silver lining. Mr E.S. Ripper : Which page is that on? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : It is on page 26. The Leader of the Opposition should read it and weep. It says that the governance framework and risk management has been strengthened since early 2009. Do members know why it was strengthened? Because there was a change of government. We came into power and said, “Give us a list of the top 20 projects, how much they cost and when they will be finished.” We were asked why we wanted to know that. Why on earth would we need to know what $20 billion of capital works is going to cost? No-one had ever asked for that. There are new people in charge of capital works in this state. We will learn from these lessons. Those opposite, particularly the member for Midland, should hang their heads in shame. The SPEAKER : Before I give the call to the member for Rockingham, I formally call the member for Kimberley for the first time.
Mr T.R. BUSWELL : It has a lot of lessons for the Leader of the Opposition; I can tell him that right now. We will get to those. Mr E.S. Ripper : What about the waterfront, the Northbridge link and the Treasurer’s advance? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : There are a number of very salient lessons in this for all in government, but the finger of blame points very clearly at the former minister, the former Treasurer and all of those — Mr E.S. Ripper : Is that what the Auditor General says? Quote him. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I will get to that as well. It is very interesting. Keep digging because we can put it all back in on top of the opposition! I thought I would take a couple of minutes to background the house on the history of Perth Arena. It was announced with much fanfare by the then Premier in 2005. How much do members think was the estimated cost in 2005? It was $160 million. And the former government said it would be ready for the Hopman Cup 2009. That is only two years ago! In July 2006, the former government came out and said that it will now cost $250 million, but it will still be ready in 2009. Then in July 2008, they said it would cost $335 million, and would be finished in 2010. What do we know now? I think it will cost more than half a billion dollars, and it will not be finished until April 2012! However, the interesting thing is how the contract was struck. In 2006 the project went out for tender. It went out for tender on a design-and-construct basis. The tender came back at around $470 million. The previous government said, “Hold on; we have a bit of a problem because we’ve told everyone it will cost $330 million, and we are now being told it will cost $470 million. What should we do? We will doctor up the process.” This is what happened. The car park was taken out. A $70 million car park was taken out and stuck underneath with a $20 million provision given. The fit-out was abandoned. We would have a wonderful stadium with no seats! The third thing the former government said was, “We’ll change the design while you’re building. So, start BGC, and we’ll change the design while you are building it. We are that clever that we can save $35 million.” None of that happened. Do members know what the final cost will be? It will be pretty much the original tendered cost, except — Mrs M.H. Roberts : Who was the minister when that was happening? You were the minister! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : Hang on; we will get to the member for Midland! It will be pretty much the original tendered cost, except the project is over budget and over time. The Auditor General has made a couple of points. The first point, which I think is valid, says it shows how announcing costs and time frames of a project ahead of them being known is fraught with danger. What he says about this project is a bit like Peter Garrett’s insulation project that was rushed out the door to make that minister look good, and it was a complete failure. I will tell members what else the Auditor General said; he said — DHW officers advised us that they provided fortnightly verbal briefings to the Minister … The member for Midland knew about this. She was advised every fortnight. One might think that she would tell cabinet about it. Was the current Leader of the Opposition ever told about it when he was Treasurer? Did he ever get an update on those regular fortnightly meetings about the risks and the cost blow-outs? He did not! Mr E.S. Ripper : Are you told about the waterfront? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Leader of the Opposition did not get any updates, did he? He was kept in the dark. As the then Treasurer, the Leader of the Opposition should have been inquiring because the cost was going up and the time line was heading out. One would have thought that if the member for Midland were a half-decent minister, she might have informed cabinet, but cabinet was never informed. Mrs M.H. Roberts : It’s not what the report says. Tell the truth! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I will quote the report for the member for Midland. Page 19 of the report reads — DHW officers advised us that they provided fortnightly verbal briefings to the Minister — That was the member for Midland — highlighting key risks and issues. Mrs M.H. Roberts : Not on the arena—on all issues. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : Therefore, the Auditor General just put that comment in his report on the arena? What were they talking to the member for Midland about? Was it about the dry season? I have no idea! It is in the report on Perth Arena that the former minister told no-one! The ALP can rest easy because this is the person who wants to lead members opposite; this is the person who claimed if she had been leader, Labor would still be over on this side of the house. Which two metalworkers kept the member for Midland out? Was it the member for Joondalup? Mr E.S. Ripper : What happened to your leadership? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I resigned, and I am glad I did. Did the member for Cockburn keep the member for Midland out? She does not want to be leader; she is just having a lot of meetings with Dave Kelly and Joe Bullock! How sweet it is in the ALP! I will close by saying that there is a silver lining. Mr P. Papalia : Isn’t it lucky that this came out today? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Auditor General is an independent officer of Parliament, and bless him for it. He could even go home and have a sandwich. The last point I want to make is that the Auditor General has done us all a favour. Mr P. Papalia interjected. The SPEAKER : Member for Warnbro, there are plenty of opportunities to ask questions in this place. I formally call you for the first time. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Auditor General basically said it was a complete fiasco, but there is a silver lining. Mr E.S. Ripper : Which page is that on? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : It is on page 26. The Leader of the Opposition should read it and weep. It says that the governance framework and risk management has been strengthened since early 2009. Do members know why it was strengthened? Because there was a change of government. We came into power and said, “Give us a list of the top 20 projects, how much they cost and when they will be finished.” We were asked why we wanted to know that. Why on earth would we need to know what $20 billion of capital works is going to cost? No-one had ever asked for that. There are new people in charge of capital works in this state. We will learn from these lessons. Those opposite, particularly the member for Midland, should hang their heads in shame. The SPEAKER : Before I give the call to the member for Rockingham, I formally call the member for Kimberley for the first time.
Mr E.S. Ripper : What about the waterfront, the Northbridge link and the Treasurer’s advance? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : There are a number of very salient lessons in this for all in government, but the finger of blame points very clearly at the former minister, the former Treasurer and all of those — Mr E.S. Ripper : Is that what the Auditor General says? Quote him. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I will get to that as well. It is very interesting. Keep digging because we can put it all back in on top of the opposition! I thought I would take a couple of minutes to background the house on the history of Perth Arena. It was announced with much fanfare by the then Premier in 2005. How much do members think was the estimated cost in 2005? It was $160 million. And the former government said it would be ready for the Hopman Cup 2009. That is only two years ago! In July 2006, the former government came out and said that it will now cost $250 million, but it will still be ready in 2009. Then in July 2008, they said it would cost $335 million, and would be finished in 2010. What do we know now? I think it will cost more than half a billion dollars, and it will not be finished until April 2012! However, the interesting thing is how the contract was struck. In 2006 the project went out for tender. It went out for tender on a design-and-construct basis. The tender came back at around $470 million. The previous government said, “Hold on; we have a bit of a problem because we’ve told everyone it will cost $330 million, and we are now being told it will cost $470 million. What should we do? We will doctor up the process.” This is what happened. The car park was taken out. A $70 million car park was taken out and stuck underneath with a $20 million provision given. The fit-out was abandoned. We would have a wonderful stadium with no seats! The third thing the former government said was, “We’ll change the design while you’re building. So, start BGC, and we’ll change the design while you are building it. We are that clever that we can save $35 million.” None of that happened. Do members know what the final cost will be? It will be pretty much the original tendered cost, except — Mrs M.H. Roberts : Who was the minister when that was happening? You were the minister! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : Hang on; we will get to the member for Midland! It will be pretty much the original tendered cost, except the project is over budget and over time. The Auditor General has made a couple of points. The first point, which I think is valid, says it shows how announcing costs and time frames of a project ahead of them being known is fraught with danger. What he says about this project is a bit like Peter Garrett’s insulation project that was rushed out the door to make that minister look good, and it was a complete failure. I will tell members what else the Auditor General said; he said — DHW officers advised us that they provided fortnightly verbal briefings to the Minister … The member for Midland knew about this. She was advised every fortnight. One might think that she would tell cabinet about it. Was the current Leader of the Opposition ever told about it when he was Treasurer? Did he ever get an update on those regular fortnightly meetings about the risks and the cost blow-outs? He did not! Mr E.S. Ripper : Are you told about the waterfront? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Leader of the Opposition did not get any updates, did he? He was kept in the dark. As the then Treasurer, the Leader of the Opposition should have been inquiring because the cost was going up and the time line was heading out. One would have thought that if the member for Midland were a half-decent minister, she might have informed cabinet, but cabinet was never informed. Mrs M.H. Roberts : It’s not what the report says. Tell the truth! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I will quote the report for the member for Midland. Page 19 of the report reads — DHW officers advised us that they provided fortnightly verbal briefings to the Minister — That was the member for Midland — highlighting key risks and issues. Mrs M.H. Roberts : Not on the arena—on all issues. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : Therefore, the Auditor General just put that comment in his report on the arena? What were they talking to the member for Midland about? Was it about the dry season? I have no idea! It is in the report on Perth Arena that the former minister told no-one! The ALP can rest easy because this is the person who wants to lead members opposite; this is the person who claimed if she had been leader, Labor would still be over on this side of the house. Which two metalworkers kept the member for Midland out? Was it the member for Joondalup? Mr E.S. Ripper : What happened to your leadership? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I resigned, and I am glad I did. Did the member for Cockburn keep the member for Midland out? She does not want to be leader; she is just having a lot of meetings with Dave Kelly and Joe Bullock! How sweet it is in the ALP! I will close by saying that there is a silver lining. Mr P. Papalia : Isn’t it lucky that this came out today? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Auditor General is an independent officer of Parliament, and bless him for it. He could even go home and have a sandwich. The last point I want to make is that the Auditor General has done us all a favour. Mr P. Papalia interjected. The SPEAKER : Member for Warnbro, there are plenty of opportunities to ask questions in this place. I formally call you for the first time. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Auditor General basically said it was a complete fiasco, but there is a silver lining. Mr E.S. Ripper : Which page is that on? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : It is on page 26. The Leader of the Opposition should read it and weep. It says that the governance framework and risk management has been strengthened since early 2009. Do members know why it was strengthened? Because there was a change of government. We came into power and said, “Give us a list of the top 20 projects, how much they cost and when they will be finished.” We were asked why we wanted to know that. Why on earth would we need to know what $20 billion of capital works is going to cost? No-one had ever asked for that. There are new people in charge of capital works in this state. We will learn from these lessons. Those opposite, particularly the member for Midland, should hang their heads in shame. The SPEAKER : Before I give the call to the member for Rockingham, I formally call the member for Kimberley for the first time.
Mr T.R. BUSWELL : There are a number of very salient lessons in this for all in government, but the finger of blame points very clearly at the former minister, the former Treasurer and all of those — Mr E.S. Ripper : Is that what the Auditor General says? Quote him. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I will get to that as well. It is very interesting. Keep digging because we can put it all back in on top of the opposition! I thought I would take a couple of minutes to background the house on the history of Perth Arena. It was announced with much fanfare by the then Premier in 2005. How much do members think was the estimated cost in 2005? It was $160 million. And the former government said it would be ready for the Hopman Cup 2009. That is only two years ago! In July 2006, the former government came out and said that it will now cost $250 million, but it will still be ready in 2009. Then in July 2008, they said it would cost $335 million, and would be finished in 2010. What do we know now? I think it will cost more than half a billion dollars, and it will not be finished until April 2012! However, the interesting thing is how the contract was struck. In 2006 the project went out for tender. It went out for tender on a design-and-construct basis. The tender came back at around $470 million. The previous government said, “Hold on; we have a bit of a problem because we’ve told everyone it will cost $330 million, and we are now being told it will cost $470 million. What should we do? We will doctor up the process.” This is what happened. The car park was taken out. A $70 million car park was taken out and stuck underneath with a $20 million provision given. The fit-out was abandoned. We would have a wonderful stadium with no seats! The third thing the former government said was, “We’ll change the design while you’re building. So, start BGC, and we’ll change the design while you are building it. We are that clever that we can save $35 million.” None of that happened. Do members know what the final cost will be? It will be pretty much the original tendered cost, except — Mrs M.H. Roberts : Who was the minister when that was happening? You were the minister! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : Hang on; we will get to the member for Midland! It will be pretty much the original tendered cost, except the project is over budget and over time. The Auditor General has made a couple of points. The first point, which I think is valid, says it shows how announcing costs and time frames of a project ahead of them being known is fraught with danger. What he says about this project is a bit like Peter Garrett’s insulation project that was rushed out the door to make that minister look good, and it was a complete failure. I will tell members what else the Auditor General said; he said — DHW officers advised us that they provided fortnightly verbal briefings to the Minister … The member for Midland knew about this. She was advised every fortnight. One might think that she would tell cabinet about it. Was the current Leader of the Opposition ever told about it when he was Treasurer? Did he ever get an update on those regular fortnightly meetings about the risks and the cost blow-outs? He did not! Mr E.S. Ripper : Are you told about the waterfront? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Leader of the Opposition did not get any updates, did he? He was kept in the dark. As the then Treasurer, the Leader of the Opposition should have been inquiring because the cost was going up and the time line was heading out. One would have thought that if the member for Midland were a half-decent minister, she might have informed cabinet, but cabinet was never informed. Mrs M.H. Roberts : It’s not what the report says. Tell the truth! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I will quote the report for the member for Midland. Page 19 of the report reads — DHW officers advised us that they provided fortnightly verbal briefings to the Minister — That was the member for Midland — highlighting key risks and issues. Mrs M.H. Roberts : Not on the arena—on all issues. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : Therefore, the Auditor General just put that comment in his report on the arena? What were they talking to the member for Midland about? Was it about the dry season? I have no idea! It is in the report on Perth Arena that the former minister told no-one! The ALP can rest easy because this is the person who wants to lead members opposite; this is the person who claimed if she had been leader, Labor would still be over on this side of the house. Which two metalworkers kept the member for Midland out? Was it the member for Joondalup? Mr E.S. Ripper : What happened to your leadership? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I resigned, and I am glad I did. Did the member for Cockburn keep the member for Midland out? She does not want to be leader; she is just having a lot of meetings with Dave Kelly and Joe Bullock! How sweet it is in the ALP! I will close by saying that there is a silver lining. Mr P. Papalia : Isn’t it lucky that this came out today? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Auditor General is an independent officer of Parliament, and bless him for it. He could even go home and have a sandwich. The last point I want to make is that the Auditor General has done us all a favour. Mr P. Papalia interjected. The SPEAKER : Member for Warnbro, there are plenty of opportunities to ask questions in this place. I formally call you for the first time. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Auditor General basically said it was a complete fiasco, but there is a silver lining. Mr E.S. Ripper : Which page is that on? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : It is on page 26. The Leader of the Opposition should read it and weep. It says that the governance framework and risk management has been strengthened since early 2009. Do members know why it was strengthened? Because there was a change of government. We came into power and said, “Give us a list of the top 20 projects, how much they cost and when they will be finished.” We were asked why we wanted to know that. Why on earth would we need to know what $20 billion of capital works is going to cost? No-one had ever asked for that. There are new people in charge of capital works in this state. We will learn from these lessons. Those opposite, particularly the member for Midland, should hang their heads in shame. The SPEAKER : Before I give the call to the member for Rockingham, I formally call the member for Kimberley for the first time.
Mr E.S. Ripper : Is that what the Auditor General says? Quote him. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I will get to that as well. It is very interesting. Keep digging because we can put it all back in on top of the opposition! I thought I would take a couple of minutes to background the house on the history of Perth Arena. It was announced with much fanfare by the then Premier in 2005. How much do members think was the estimated cost in 2005? It was $160 million. And the former government said it would be ready for the Hopman Cup 2009. That is only two years ago! In July 2006, the former government came out and said that it will now cost $250 million, but it will still be ready in 2009. Then in July 2008, they said it would cost $335 million, and would be finished in 2010. What do we know now? I think it will cost more than half a billion dollars, and it will not be finished until April 2012! However, the interesting thing is how the contract was struck. In 2006 the project went out for tender. It went out for tender on a design-and-construct basis. The tender came back at around $470 million. The previous government said, “Hold on; we have a bit of a problem because we’ve told everyone it will cost $330 million, and we are now being told it will cost $470 million. What should we do? We will doctor up the process.” This is what happened. The car park was taken out. A $70 million car park was taken out and stuck underneath with a $20 million provision given. The fit-out was abandoned. We would have a wonderful stadium with no seats! The third thing the former government said was, “We’ll change the design while you’re building. So, start BGC, and we’ll change the design while you are building it. We are that clever that we can save $35 million.” None of that happened. Do members know what the final cost will be? It will be pretty much the original tendered cost, except — Mrs M.H. Roberts : Who was the minister when that was happening? You were the minister! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : Hang on; we will get to the member for Midland! It will be pretty much the original tendered cost, except the project is over budget and over time. The Auditor General has made a couple of points. The first point, which I think is valid, says it shows how announcing costs and time frames of a project ahead of them being known is fraught with danger. What he says about this project is a bit like Peter Garrett’s insulation project that was rushed out the door to make that minister look good, and it was a complete failure. I will tell members what else the Auditor General said; he said — DHW officers advised us that they provided fortnightly verbal briefings to the Minister … The member for Midland knew about this. She was advised every fortnight. One might think that she would tell cabinet about it. Was the current Leader of the Opposition ever told about it when he was Treasurer? Did he ever get an update on those regular fortnightly meetings about the risks and the cost blow-outs? He did not! Mr E.S. Ripper : Are you told about the waterfront? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Leader of the Opposition did not get any updates, did he? He was kept in the dark. As the then Treasurer, the Leader of the Opposition should have been inquiring because the cost was going up and the time line was heading out. One would have thought that if the member for Midland were a half-decent minister, she might have informed cabinet, but cabinet was never informed. Mrs M.H. Roberts : It’s not what the report says. Tell the truth! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I will quote the report for the member for Midland. Page 19 of the report reads — DHW officers advised us that they provided fortnightly verbal briefings to the Minister — That was the member for Midland — highlighting key risks and issues. Mrs M.H. Roberts : Not on the arena—on all issues. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : Therefore, the Auditor General just put that comment in his report on the arena? What were they talking to the member for Midland about? Was it about the dry season? I have no idea! It is in the report on Perth Arena that the former minister told no-one! The ALP can rest easy because this is the person who wants to lead members opposite; this is the person who claimed if she had been leader, Labor would still be over on this side of the house. Which two metalworkers kept the member for Midland out? Was it the member for Joondalup? Mr E.S. Ripper : What happened to your leadership? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I resigned, and I am glad I did. Did the member for Cockburn keep the member for Midland out? She does not want to be leader; she is just having a lot of meetings with Dave Kelly and Joe Bullock! How sweet it is in the ALP! I will close by saying that there is a silver lining. Mr P. Papalia : Isn’t it lucky that this came out today? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Auditor General is an independent officer of Parliament, and bless him for it. He could even go home and have a sandwich. The last point I want to make is that the Auditor General has done us all a favour. Mr P. Papalia interjected. The SPEAKER : Member for Warnbro, there are plenty of opportunities to ask questions in this place. I formally call you for the first time. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Auditor General basically said it was a complete fiasco, but there is a silver lining. Mr E.S. Ripper : Which page is that on? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : It is on page 26. The Leader of the Opposition should read it and weep. It says that the governance framework and risk management has been strengthened since early 2009. Do members know why it was strengthened? Because there was a change of government. We came into power and said, “Give us a list of the top 20 projects, how much they cost and when they will be finished.” We were asked why we wanted to know that. Why on earth would we need to know what $20 billion of capital works is going to cost? No-one had ever asked for that. There are new people in charge of capital works in this state. We will learn from these lessons. Those opposite, particularly the member for Midland, should hang their heads in shame. The SPEAKER : Before I give the call to the member for Rockingham, I formally call the member for Kimberley for the first time.
Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I will get to that as well. It is very interesting. Keep digging because we can put it all back in on top of the opposition! I thought I would take a couple of minutes to background the house on the history of Perth Arena. It was announced with much fanfare by the then Premier in 2005. How much do members think was the estimated cost in 2005? It was $160 million. And the former government said it would be ready for the Hopman Cup 2009. That is only two years ago! In July 2006, the former government came out and said that it will now cost $250 million, but it will still be ready in 2009. Then in July 2008, they said it would cost $335 million, and would be finished in 2010. What do we know now? I think it will cost more than half a billion dollars, and it will not be finished until April 2012! However, the interesting thing is how the contract was struck. In 2006 the project went out for tender. It went out for tender on a design-and-construct basis. The tender came back at around $470 million. The previous government said, “Hold on; we have a bit of a problem because we’ve told everyone it will cost $330 million, and we are now being told it will cost $470 million. What should we do? We will doctor up the process.” This is what happened. The car park was taken out. A $70 million car park was taken out and stuck underneath with a $20 million provision given. The fit-out was abandoned. We would have a wonderful stadium with no seats! The third thing the former government said was, “We’ll change the design while you’re building. So, start BGC, and we’ll change the design while you are building it. We are that clever that we can save $35 million.” None of that happened. Do members know what the final cost will be? It will be pretty much the original tendered cost, except — Mrs M.H. Roberts : Who was the minister when that was happening? You were the minister! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : Hang on; we will get to the member for Midland! It will be pretty much the original tendered cost, except the project is over budget and over time. The Auditor General has made a couple of points. The first point, which I think is valid, says it shows how announcing costs and time frames of a project ahead of them being known is fraught with danger. What he says about this project is a bit like Peter Garrett’s insulation project that was rushed out the door to make that minister look good, and it was a complete failure. I will tell members what else the Auditor General said; he said — DHW officers advised us that they provided fortnightly verbal briefings to the Minister … The member for Midland knew about this. She was advised every fortnight. One might think that she would tell cabinet about it. Was the current Leader of the Opposition ever told about it when he was Treasurer? Did he ever get an update on those regular fortnightly meetings about the risks and the cost blow-outs? He did not! Mr E.S. Ripper : Are you told about the waterfront? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Leader of the Opposition did not get any updates, did he? He was kept in the dark. As the then Treasurer, the Leader of the Opposition should have been inquiring because the cost was going up and the time line was heading out. One would have thought that if the member for Midland were a half-decent minister, she might have informed cabinet, but cabinet was never informed. Mrs M.H. Roberts : It’s not what the report says. Tell the truth! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I will quote the report for the member for Midland. Page 19 of the report reads — DHW officers advised us that they provided fortnightly verbal briefings to the Minister — That was the member for Midland — highlighting key risks and issues. Mrs M.H. Roberts : Not on the arena—on all issues. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : Therefore, the Auditor General just put that comment in his report on the arena? What were they talking to the member for Midland about? Was it about the dry season? I have no idea! It is in the report on Perth Arena that the former minister told no-one! The ALP can rest easy because this is the person who wants to lead members opposite; this is the person who claimed if she had been leader, Labor would still be over on this side of the house. Which two metalworkers kept the member for Midland out? Was it the member for Joondalup? Mr E.S. Ripper : What happened to your leadership? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I resigned, and I am glad I did. Did the member for Cockburn keep the member for Midland out? She does not want to be leader; she is just having a lot of meetings with Dave Kelly and Joe Bullock! How sweet it is in the ALP! I will close by saying that there is a silver lining. Mr P. Papalia : Isn’t it lucky that this came out today? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Auditor General is an independent officer of Parliament, and bless him for it. He could even go home and have a sandwich. The last point I want to make is that the Auditor General has done us all a favour. Mr P. Papalia interjected. The SPEAKER : Member for Warnbro, there are plenty of opportunities to ask questions in this place. I formally call you for the first time. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Auditor General basically said it was a complete fiasco, but there is a silver lining. Mr E.S. Ripper : Which page is that on? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : It is on page 26. The Leader of the Opposition should read it and weep. It says that the governance framework and risk management has been strengthened since early 2009. Do members know why it was strengthened? Because there was a change of government. We came into power and said, “Give us a list of the top 20 projects, how much they cost and when they will be finished.” We were asked why we wanted to know that. Why on earth would we need to know what $20 billion of capital works is going to cost? No-one had ever asked for that. There are new people in charge of capital works in this state. We will learn from these lessons. Those opposite, particularly the member for Midland, should hang their heads in shame. The SPEAKER : Before I give the call to the member for Rockingham, I formally call the member for Kimberley for the first time.
I thought I would take a couple of minutes to background the house on the history of Perth Arena. It was announced with much fanfare by the then Premier in 2005. How much do members think was the estimated cost in 2005? It was $160 million. And the former government said it would be ready for the Hopman Cup 2009. That is only two years ago! In July 2006, the former government came out and said that it will now cost $250 million, but it will still be ready in 2009. Then in July 2008, they said it would cost $335 million, and would be finished in 2010. What do we know now? I think it will cost more than half a billion dollars, and it will not be finished until April 2012! However, the interesting thing is how the contract was struck. In 2006 the project went out for tender. It went out for tender on a design-and-construct basis. The tender came back at around $470 million. The previous government said, “Hold on; we have a bit of a problem because we’ve told everyone it will cost $330 million, and we are now being told it will cost $470 million. What should we do? We will doctor up the process.” This is what happened. The car park was taken out. A $70 million car park was taken out and stuck underneath with a $20 million provision given. The fit-out was abandoned. We would have a wonderful stadium with no seats! The third thing the former government said was, “We’ll change the design while you’re building. So, start BGC, and we’ll change the design while you are building it. We are that clever that we can save $35 million.” None of that happened. Do members know what the final cost will be? It will be pretty much the original tendered cost, except — Mrs M.H. Roberts : Who was the minister when that was happening? You were the minister! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : Hang on; we will get to the member for Midland! It will be pretty much the original tendered cost, except the project is over budget and over time. The Auditor General has made a couple of points. The first point, which I think is valid, says it shows how announcing costs and time frames of a project ahead of them being known is fraught with danger. What he says about this project is a bit like Peter Garrett’s insulation project that was rushed out the door to make that minister look good, and it was a complete failure. I will tell members what else the Auditor General said; he said — DHW officers advised us that they provided fortnightly verbal briefings to the Minister … The member for Midland knew about this. She was advised every fortnight. One might think that she would tell cabinet about it. Was the current Leader of the Opposition ever told about it when he was Treasurer? Did he ever get an update on those regular fortnightly meetings about the risks and the cost blow-outs? He did not! Mr E.S. Ripper : Are you told about the waterfront? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Leader of the Opposition did not get any updates, did he? He was kept in the dark. As the then Treasurer, the Leader of the Opposition should have been inquiring because the cost was going up and the time line was heading out. One would have thought that if the member for Midland were a half-decent minister, she might have informed cabinet, but cabinet was never informed. Mrs M.H. Roberts : It’s not what the report says. Tell the truth! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I will quote the report for the member for Midland. Page 19 of the report reads — DHW officers advised us that they provided fortnightly verbal briefings to the Minister — That was the member for Midland — highlighting key risks and issues. Mrs M.H. Roberts : Not on the arena—on all issues. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : Therefore, the Auditor General just put that comment in his report on the arena? What were they talking to the member for Midland about? Was it about the dry season? I have no idea! It is in the report on Perth Arena that the former minister told no-one! The ALP can rest easy because this is the person who wants to lead members opposite; this is the person who claimed if she had been leader, Labor would still be over on this side of the house. Which two metalworkers kept the member for Midland out? Was it the member for Joondalup? Mr E.S. Ripper : What happened to your leadership? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I resigned, and I am glad I did. Did the member for Cockburn keep the member for Midland out? She does not want to be leader; she is just having a lot of meetings with Dave Kelly and Joe Bullock! How sweet it is in the ALP! I will close by saying that there is a silver lining. Mr P. Papalia : Isn’t it lucky that this came out today? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Auditor General is an independent officer of Parliament, and bless him for it. He could even go home and have a sandwich. The last point I want to make is that the Auditor General has done us all a favour. Mr P. Papalia interjected. The SPEAKER : Member for Warnbro, there are plenty of opportunities to ask questions in this place. I formally call you for the first time. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Auditor General basically said it was a complete fiasco, but there is a silver lining. Mr E.S. Ripper : Which page is that on? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : It is on page 26. The Leader of the Opposition should read it and weep. It says that the governance framework and risk management has been strengthened since early 2009. Do members know why it was strengthened? Because there was a change of government. We came into power and said, “Give us a list of the top 20 projects, how much they cost and when they will be finished.” We were asked why we wanted to know that. Why on earth would we need to know what $20 billion of capital works is going to cost? No-one had ever asked for that. There are new people in charge of capital works in this state. We will learn from these lessons. Those opposite, particularly the member for Midland, should hang their heads in shame. The SPEAKER : Before I give the call to the member for Rockingham, I formally call the member for Kimberley for the first time.
In 2006 the project went out for tender. It went out for tender on a design-and-construct basis. The tender came back at around $470 million. The previous government said, “Hold on; we have a bit of a problem because we’ve told everyone it will cost $330 million, and we are now being told it will cost $470 million. What should we do? We will doctor up the process.” This is what happened. The car park was taken out. A $70 million car park was taken out and stuck underneath with a $20 million provision given. The fit-out was abandoned. We would have a wonderful stadium with no seats! The third thing the former government said was, “We’ll change the design while you’re building. So, start BGC, and we’ll change the design while you are building it. We are that clever that we can save $35 million.” None of that happened. Do members know what the final cost will be? It will be pretty much the original tendered cost, except — Mrs M.H. Roberts : Who was the minister when that was happening? You were the minister! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : Hang on; we will get to the member for Midland! It will be pretty much the original tendered cost, except the project is over budget and over time. The Auditor General has made a couple of points. The first point, which I think is valid, says it shows how announcing costs and time frames of a project ahead of them being known is fraught with danger. What he says about this project is a bit like Peter Garrett’s insulation project that was rushed out the door to make that minister look good, and it was a complete failure. I will tell members what else the Auditor General said; he said — DHW officers advised us that they provided fortnightly verbal briefings to the Minister … The member for Midland knew about this. She was advised every fortnight. One might think that she would tell cabinet about it. Was the current Leader of the Opposition ever told about it when he was Treasurer? Did he ever get an update on those regular fortnightly meetings about the risks and the cost blow-outs? He did not! Mr E.S. Ripper : Are you told about the waterfront? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Leader of the Opposition did not get any updates, did he? He was kept in the dark. As the then Treasurer, the Leader of the Opposition should have been inquiring because the cost was going up and the time line was heading out. One would have thought that if the member for Midland were a half-decent minister, she might have informed cabinet, but cabinet was never informed. Mrs M.H. Roberts : It’s not what the report says. Tell the truth! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I will quote the report for the member for Midland. Page 19 of the report reads — DHW officers advised us that they provided fortnightly verbal briefings to the Minister — That was the member for Midland — highlighting key risks and issues. Mrs M.H. Roberts : Not on the arena—on all issues. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : Therefore, the Auditor General just put that comment in his report on the arena? What were they talking to the member for Midland about? Was it about the dry season? I have no idea! It is in the report on Perth Arena that the former minister told no-one! The ALP can rest easy because this is the person who wants to lead members opposite; this is the person who claimed if she had been leader, Labor would still be over on this side of the house. Which two metalworkers kept the member for Midland out? Was it the member for Joondalup? Mr E.S. Ripper : What happened to your leadership? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I resigned, and I am glad I did. Did the member for Cockburn keep the member for Midland out? She does not want to be leader; she is just having a lot of meetings with Dave Kelly and Joe Bullock! How sweet it is in the ALP! I will close by saying that there is a silver lining. Mr P. Papalia : Isn’t it lucky that this came out today? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Auditor General is an independent officer of Parliament, and bless him for it. He could even go home and have a sandwich. The last point I want to make is that the Auditor General has done us all a favour. Mr P. Papalia interjected. The SPEAKER : Member for Warnbro, there are plenty of opportunities to ask questions in this place. I formally call you for the first time. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Auditor General basically said it was a complete fiasco, but there is a silver lining. Mr E.S. Ripper : Which page is that on? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : It is on page 26. The Leader of the Opposition should read it and weep. It says that the governance framework and risk management has been strengthened since early 2009. Do members know why it was strengthened? Because there was a change of government. We came into power and said, “Give us a list of the top 20 projects, how much they cost and when they will be finished.” We were asked why we wanted to know that. Why on earth would we need to know what $20 billion of capital works is going to cost? No-one had ever asked for that. There are new people in charge of capital works in this state. We will learn from these lessons. Those opposite, particularly the member for Midland, should hang their heads in shame. The SPEAKER : Before I give the call to the member for Rockingham, I formally call the member for Kimberley for the first time.
Mrs M.H. Roberts : Who was the minister when that was happening? You were the minister! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : Hang on; we will get to the member for Midland! It will be pretty much the original tendered cost, except the project is over budget and over time. The Auditor General has made a couple of points. The first point, which I think is valid, says it shows how announcing costs and time frames of a project ahead of them being known is fraught with danger. What he says about this project is a bit like Peter Garrett’s insulation project that was rushed out the door to make that minister look good, and it was a complete failure. I will tell members what else the Auditor General said; he said — DHW officers advised us that they provided fortnightly verbal briefings to the Minister … The member for Midland knew about this. She was advised every fortnight. One might think that she would tell cabinet about it. Was the current Leader of the Opposition ever told about it when he was Treasurer? Did he ever get an update on those regular fortnightly meetings about the risks and the cost blow-outs? He did not! Mr E.S. Ripper : Are you told about the waterfront? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Leader of the Opposition did not get any updates, did he? He was kept in the dark. As the then Treasurer, the Leader of the Opposition should have been inquiring because the cost was going up and the time line was heading out. One would have thought that if the member for Midland were a half-decent minister, she might have informed cabinet, but cabinet was never informed. Mrs M.H. Roberts : It’s not what the report says. Tell the truth! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I will quote the report for the member for Midland. Page 19 of the report reads — DHW officers advised us that they provided fortnightly verbal briefings to the Minister — That was the member for Midland — highlighting key risks and issues. Mrs M.H. Roberts : Not on the arena—on all issues. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : Therefore, the Auditor General just put that comment in his report on the arena? What were they talking to the member for Midland about? Was it about the dry season? I have no idea! It is in the report on Perth Arena that the former minister told no-one! The ALP can rest easy because this is the person who wants to lead members opposite; this is the person who claimed if she had been leader, Labor would still be over on this side of the house. Which two metalworkers kept the member for Midland out? Was it the member for Joondalup? Mr E.S. Ripper : What happened to your leadership? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I resigned, and I am glad I did. Did the member for Cockburn keep the member for Midland out? She does not want to be leader; she is just having a lot of meetings with Dave Kelly and Joe Bullock! How sweet it is in the ALP! I will close by saying that there is a silver lining. Mr P. Papalia : Isn’t it lucky that this came out today? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Auditor General is an independent officer of Parliament, and bless him for it. He could even go home and have a sandwich. The last point I want to make is that the Auditor General has done us all a favour. Mr P. Papalia interjected. The SPEAKER : Member for Warnbro, there are plenty of opportunities to ask questions in this place. I formally call you for the first time. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Auditor General basically said it was a complete fiasco, but there is a silver lining. Mr E.S. Ripper : Which page is that on? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : It is on page 26. The Leader of the Opposition should read it and weep. It says that the governance framework and risk management has been strengthened since early 2009. Do members know why it was strengthened? Because there was a change of government. We came into power and said, “Give us a list of the top 20 projects, how much they cost and when they will be finished.” We were asked why we wanted to know that. Why on earth would we need to know what $20 billion of capital works is going to cost? No-one had ever asked for that. There are new people in charge of capital works in this state. We will learn from these lessons. Those opposite, particularly the member for Midland, should hang their heads in shame. The SPEAKER : Before I give the call to the member for Rockingham, I formally call the member for Kimberley for the first time.
Mr T.R. BUSWELL : Hang on; we will get to the member for Midland! It will be pretty much the original tendered cost, except the project is over budget and over time. The Auditor General has made a couple of points. The first point, which I think is valid, says it shows how announcing costs and time frames of a project ahead of them being known is fraught with danger. What he says about this project is a bit like Peter Garrett’s insulation project that was rushed out the door to make that minister look good, and it was a complete failure. I will tell members what else the Auditor General said; he said — DHW officers advised us that they provided fortnightly verbal briefings to the Minister … The member for Midland knew about this. She was advised every fortnight. One might think that she would tell cabinet about it. Was the current Leader of the Opposition ever told about it when he was Treasurer? Did he ever get an update on those regular fortnightly meetings about the risks and the cost blow-outs? He did not! Mr E.S. Ripper : Are you told about the waterfront? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Leader of the Opposition did not get any updates, did he? He was kept in the dark. As the then Treasurer, the Leader of the Opposition should have been inquiring because the cost was going up and the time line was heading out. One would have thought that if the member for Midland were a half-decent minister, she might have informed cabinet, but cabinet was never informed. Mrs M.H. Roberts : It’s not what the report says. Tell the truth! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I will quote the report for the member for Midland. Page 19 of the report reads — DHW officers advised us that they provided fortnightly verbal briefings to the Minister — That was the member for Midland — highlighting key risks and issues. Mrs M.H. Roberts : Not on the arena—on all issues. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : Therefore, the Auditor General just put that comment in his report on the arena? What were they talking to the member for Midland about? Was it about the dry season? I have no idea! It is in the report on Perth Arena that the former minister told no-one! The ALP can rest easy because this is the person who wants to lead members opposite; this is the person who claimed if she had been leader, Labor would still be over on this side of the house. Which two metalworkers kept the member for Midland out? Was it the member for Joondalup? Mr E.S. Ripper : What happened to your leadership? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I resigned, and I am glad I did. Did the member for Cockburn keep the member for Midland out? She does not want to be leader; she is just having a lot of meetings with Dave Kelly and Joe Bullock! How sweet it is in the ALP! I will close by saying that there is a silver lining. Mr P. Papalia : Isn’t it lucky that this came out today? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Auditor General is an independent officer of Parliament, and bless him for it. He could even go home and have a sandwich. The last point I want to make is that the Auditor General has done us all a favour. Mr P. Papalia interjected. The SPEAKER : Member for Warnbro, there are plenty of opportunities to ask questions in this place. I formally call you for the first time. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Auditor General basically said it was a complete fiasco, but there is a silver lining. Mr E.S. Ripper : Which page is that on? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : It is on page 26. The Leader of the Opposition should read it and weep. It says that the governance framework and risk management has been strengthened since early 2009. Do members know why it was strengthened? Because there was a change of government. We came into power and said, “Give us a list of the top 20 projects, how much they cost and when they will be finished.” We were asked why we wanted to know that. Why on earth would we need to know what $20 billion of capital works is going to cost? No-one had ever asked for that. There are new people in charge of capital works in this state. We will learn from these lessons. Those opposite, particularly the member for Midland, should hang their heads in shame. The SPEAKER : Before I give the call to the member for Rockingham, I formally call the member for Kimberley for the first time.
It will be pretty much the original tendered cost, except the project is over budget and over time. The Auditor General has made a couple of points. The first point, which I think is valid, says it shows how announcing costs and time frames of a project ahead of them being known is fraught with danger. What he says about this project is a bit like Peter Garrett’s insulation project that was rushed out the door to make that minister look good, and it was a complete failure. I will tell members what else the Auditor General said; he said — DHW officers advised us that they provided fortnightly verbal briefings to the Minister … The member for Midland knew about this. She was advised every fortnight. One might think that she would tell cabinet about it. Was the current Leader of the Opposition ever told about it when he was Treasurer? Did he ever get an update on those regular fortnightly meetings about the risks and the cost blow-outs? He did not! Mr E.S. Ripper : Are you told about the waterfront? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Leader of the Opposition did not get any updates, did he? He was kept in the dark. As the then Treasurer, the Leader of the Opposition should have been inquiring because the cost was going up and the time line was heading out. One would have thought that if the member for Midland were a half-decent minister, she might have informed cabinet, but cabinet was never informed. Mrs M.H. Roberts : It’s not what the report says. Tell the truth! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I will quote the report for the member for Midland. Page 19 of the report reads — DHW officers advised us that they provided fortnightly verbal briefings to the Minister — That was the member for Midland — highlighting key risks and issues. Mrs M.H. Roberts : Not on the arena—on all issues. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : Therefore, the Auditor General just put that comment in his report on the arena? What were they talking to the member for Midland about? Was it about the dry season? I have no idea! It is in the report on Perth Arena that the former minister told no-one! The ALP can rest easy because this is the person who wants to lead members opposite; this is the person who claimed if she had been leader, Labor would still be over on this side of the house. Which two metalworkers kept the member for Midland out? Was it the member for Joondalup? Mr E.S. Ripper : What happened to your leadership? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I resigned, and I am glad I did. Did the member for Cockburn keep the member for Midland out? She does not want to be leader; she is just having a lot of meetings with Dave Kelly and Joe Bullock! How sweet it is in the ALP! I will close by saying that there is a silver lining. Mr P. Papalia : Isn’t it lucky that this came out today? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Auditor General is an independent officer of Parliament, and bless him for it. He could even go home and have a sandwich. The last point I want to make is that the Auditor General has done us all a favour. Mr P. Papalia interjected. The SPEAKER : Member for Warnbro, there are plenty of opportunities to ask questions in this place. I formally call you for the first time. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Auditor General basically said it was a complete fiasco, but there is a silver lining. Mr E.S. Ripper : Which page is that on? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : It is on page 26. The Leader of the Opposition should read it and weep. It says that the governance framework and risk management has been strengthened since early 2009. Do members know why it was strengthened? Because there was a change of government. We came into power and said, “Give us a list of the top 20 projects, how much they cost and when they will be finished.” We were asked why we wanted to know that. Why on earth would we need to know what $20 billion of capital works is going to cost? No-one had ever asked for that. There are new people in charge of capital works in this state. We will learn from these lessons. Those opposite, particularly the member for Midland, should hang their heads in shame. The SPEAKER : Before I give the call to the member for Rockingham, I formally call the member for Kimberley for the first time.
I will tell members what else the Auditor General said; he said — DHW officers advised us that they provided fortnightly verbal briefings to the Minister … The member for Midland knew about this. She was advised every fortnight. One might think that she would tell cabinet about it. Was the current Leader of the Opposition ever told about it when he was Treasurer? Did he ever get an update on those regular fortnightly meetings about the risks and the cost blow-outs? He did not! Mr E.S. Ripper : Are you told about the waterfront? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Leader of the Opposition did not get any updates, did he? He was kept in the dark. As the then Treasurer, the Leader of the Opposition should have been inquiring because the cost was going up and the time line was heading out. One would have thought that if the member for Midland were a half-decent minister, she might have informed cabinet, but cabinet was never informed. Mrs M.H. Roberts : It’s not what the report says. Tell the truth! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I will quote the report for the member for Midland. Page 19 of the report reads — DHW officers advised us that they provided fortnightly verbal briefings to the Minister — That was the member for Midland — highlighting key risks and issues. Mrs M.H. Roberts : Not on the arena—on all issues. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : Therefore, the Auditor General just put that comment in his report on the arena? What were they talking to the member for Midland about? Was it about the dry season? I have no idea! It is in the report on Perth Arena that the former minister told no-one! The ALP can rest easy because this is the person who wants to lead members opposite; this is the person who claimed if she had been leader, Labor would still be over on this side of the house. Which two metalworkers kept the member for Midland out? Was it the member for Joondalup? Mr E.S. Ripper : What happened to your leadership? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I resigned, and I am glad I did. Did the member for Cockburn keep the member for Midland out? She does not want to be leader; she is just having a lot of meetings with Dave Kelly and Joe Bullock! How sweet it is in the ALP! I will close by saying that there is a silver lining. Mr P. Papalia : Isn’t it lucky that this came out today? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Auditor General is an independent officer of Parliament, and bless him for it. He could even go home and have a sandwich. The last point I want to make is that the Auditor General has done us all a favour. Mr P. Papalia interjected. The SPEAKER : Member for Warnbro, there are plenty of opportunities to ask questions in this place. I formally call you for the first time. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Auditor General basically said it was a complete fiasco, but there is a silver lining. Mr E.S. Ripper : Which page is that on? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : It is on page 26. The Leader of the Opposition should read it and weep. It says that the governance framework and risk management has been strengthened since early 2009. Do members know why it was strengthened? Because there was a change of government. We came into power and said, “Give us a list of the top 20 projects, how much they cost and when they will be finished.” We were asked why we wanted to know that. Why on earth would we need to know what $20 billion of capital works is going to cost? No-one had ever asked for that. There are new people in charge of capital works in this state. We will learn from these lessons. Those opposite, particularly the member for Midland, should hang their heads in shame. The SPEAKER : Before I give the call to the member for Rockingham, I formally call the member for Kimberley for the first time.
Mr E.S. Ripper : Are you told about the waterfront? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Leader of the Opposition did not get any updates, did he? He was kept in the dark. As the then Treasurer, the Leader of the Opposition should have been inquiring because the cost was going up and the time line was heading out. One would have thought that if the member for Midland were a half-decent minister, she might have informed cabinet, but cabinet was never informed. Mrs M.H. Roberts : It’s not what the report says. Tell the truth! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I will quote the report for the member for Midland. Page 19 of the report reads — DHW officers advised us that they provided fortnightly verbal briefings to the Minister — That was the member for Midland — highlighting key risks and issues. Mrs M.H. Roberts : Not on the arena—on all issues. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : Therefore, the Auditor General just put that comment in his report on the arena? What were they talking to the member for Midland about? Was it about the dry season? I have no idea! It is in the report on Perth Arena that the former minister told no-one! The ALP can rest easy because this is the person who wants to lead members opposite; this is the person who claimed if she had been leader, Labor would still be over on this side of the house. Which two metalworkers kept the member for Midland out? Was it the member for Joondalup? Mr E.S. Ripper : What happened to your leadership? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I resigned, and I am glad I did. Did the member for Cockburn keep the member for Midland out? She does not want to be leader; she is just having a lot of meetings with Dave Kelly and Joe Bullock! How sweet it is in the ALP! I will close by saying that there is a silver lining. Mr P. Papalia : Isn’t it lucky that this came out today? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Auditor General is an independent officer of Parliament, and bless him for it. He could even go home and have a sandwich. The last point I want to make is that the Auditor General has done us all a favour. Mr P. Papalia interjected. The SPEAKER : Member for Warnbro, there are plenty of opportunities to ask questions in this place. I formally call you for the first time. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Auditor General basically said it was a complete fiasco, but there is a silver lining. Mr E.S. Ripper : Which page is that on? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : It is on page 26. The Leader of the Opposition should read it and weep. It says that the governance framework and risk management has been strengthened since early 2009. Do members know why it was strengthened? Because there was a change of government. We came into power and said, “Give us a list of the top 20 projects, how much they cost and when they will be finished.” We were asked why we wanted to know that. Why on earth would we need to know what $20 billion of capital works is going to cost? No-one had ever asked for that. There are new people in charge of capital works in this state. We will learn from these lessons. Those opposite, particularly the member for Midland, should hang their heads in shame. The SPEAKER : Before I give the call to the member for Rockingham, I formally call the member for Kimberley for the first time.
Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Leader of the Opposition did not get any updates, did he? He was kept in the dark. As the then Treasurer, the Leader of the Opposition should have been inquiring because the cost was going up and the time line was heading out. One would have thought that if the member for Midland were a half-decent minister, she might have informed cabinet, but cabinet was never informed. Mrs M.H. Roberts : It’s not what the report says. Tell the truth! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I will quote the report for the member for Midland. Page 19 of the report reads — DHW officers advised us that they provided fortnightly verbal briefings to the Minister — That was the member for Midland — highlighting key risks and issues. Mrs M.H. Roberts : Not on the arena—on all issues. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : Therefore, the Auditor General just put that comment in his report on the arena? What were they talking to the member for Midland about? Was it about the dry season? I have no idea! It is in the report on Perth Arena that the former minister told no-one! The ALP can rest easy because this is the person who wants to lead members opposite; this is the person who claimed if she had been leader, Labor would still be over on this side of the house. Which two metalworkers kept the member for Midland out? Was it the member for Joondalup? Mr E.S. Ripper : What happened to your leadership? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I resigned, and I am glad I did. Did the member for Cockburn keep the member for Midland out? She does not want to be leader; she is just having a lot of meetings with Dave Kelly and Joe Bullock! How sweet it is in the ALP! I will close by saying that there is a silver lining. Mr P. Papalia : Isn’t it lucky that this came out today? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Auditor General is an independent officer of Parliament, and bless him for it. He could even go home and have a sandwich. The last point I want to make is that the Auditor General has done us all a favour. Mr P. Papalia interjected. The SPEAKER : Member for Warnbro, there are plenty of opportunities to ask questions in this place. I formally call you for the first time. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Auditor General basically said it was a complete fiasco, but there is a silver lining. Mr E.S. Ripper : Which page is that on? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : It is on page 26. The Leader of the Opposition should read it and weep. It says that the governance framework and risk management has been strengthened since early 2009. Do members know why it was strengthened? Because there was a change of government. We came into power and said, “Give us a list of the top 20 projects, how much they cost and when they will be finished.” We were asked why we wanted to know that. Why on earth would we need to know what $20 billion of capital works is going to cost? No-one had ever asked for that. There are new people in charge of capital works in this state. We will learn from these lessons. Those opposite, particularly the member for Midland, should hang their heads in shame. The SPEAKER : Before I give the call to the member for Rockingham, I formally call the member for Kimberley for the first time.
Mrs M.H. Roberts : It’s not what the report says. Tell the truth! Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I will quote the report for the member for Midland. Page 19 of the report reads — DHW officers advised us that they provided fortnightly verbal briefings to the Minister — That was the member for Midland — highlighting key risks and issues. Mrs M.H. Roberts : Not on the arena—on all issues. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : Therefore, the Auditor General just put that comment in his report on the arena? What were they talking to the member for Midland about? Was it about the dry season? I have no idea! It is in the report on Perth Arena that the former minister told no-one! The ALP can rest easy because this is the person who wants to lead members opposite; this is the person who claimed if she had been leader, Labor would still be over on this side of the house. Which two metalworkers kept the member for Midland out? Was it the member for Joondalup? Mr E.S. Ripper : What happened to your leadership? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I resigned, and I am glad I did. Did the member for Cockburn keep the member for Midland out? She does not want to be leader; she is just having a lot of meetings with Dave Kelly and Joe Bullock! How sweet it is in the ALP! I will close by saying that there is a silver lining. Mr P. Papalia : Isn’t it lucky that this came out today? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Auditor General is an independent officer of Parliament, and bless him for it. He could even go home and have a sandwich. The last point I want to make is that the Auditor General has done us all a favour. Mr P. Papalia interjected. The SPEAKER : Member for Warnbro, there are plenty of opportunities to ask questions in this place. I formally call you for the first time. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Auditor General basically said it was a complete fiasco, but there is a silver lining. Mr E.S. Ripper : Which page is that on? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : It is on page 26. The Leader of the Opposition should read it and weep. It says that the governance framework and risk management has been strengthened since early 2009. Do members know why it was strengthened? Because there was a change of government. We came into power and said, “Give us a list of the top 20 projects, how much they cost and when they will be finished.” We were asked why we wanted to know that. Why on earth would we need to know what $20 billion of capital works is going to cost? No-one had ever asked for that. There are new people in charge of capital works in this state. We will learn from these lessons. Those opposite, particularly the member for Midland, should hang their heads in shame. The SPEAKER : Before I give the call to the member for Rockingham, I formally call the member for Kimberley for the first time.
Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I will quote the report for the member for Midland. Page 19 of the report reads — DHW officers advised us that they provided fortnightly verbal briefings to the Minister — That was the member for Midland — highlighting key risks and issues. Mrs M.H. Roberts : Not on the arena—on all issues. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : Therefore, the Auditor General just put that comment in his report on the arena? What were they talking to the member for Midland about? Was it about the dry season? I have no idea! It is in the report on Perth Arena that the former minister told no-one! The ALP can rest easy because this is the person who wants to lead members opposite; this is the person who claimed if she had been leader, Labor would still be over on this side of the house. Which two metalworkers kept the member for Midland out? Was it the member for Joondalup? Mr E.S. Ripper : What happened to your leadership? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I resigned, and I am glad I did. Did the member for Cockburn keep the member for Midland out? She does not want to be leader; she is just having a lot of meetings with Dave Kelly and Joe Bullock! How sweet it is in the ALP! I will close by saying that there is a silver lining. Mr P. Papalia : Isn’t it lucky that this came out today? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Auditor General is an independent officer of Parliament, and bless him for it. He could even go home and have a sandwich. The last point I want to make is that the Auditor General has done us all a favour. Mr P. Papalia interjected. The SPEAKER : Member for Warnbro, there are plenty of opportunities to ask questions in this place. I formally call you for the first time. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Auditor General basically said it was a complete fiasco, but there is a silver lining. Mr E.S. Ripper : Which page is that on? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : It is on page 26. The Leader of the Opposition should read it and weep. It says that the governance framework and risk management has been strengthened since early 2009. Do members know why it was strengthened? Because there was a change of government. We came into power and said, “Give us a list of the top 20 projects, how much they cost and when they will be finished.” We were asked why we wanted to know that. Why on earth would we need to know what $20 billion of capital works is going to cost? No-one had ever asked for that. There are new people in charge of capital works in this state. We will learn from these lessons. Those opposite, particularly the member for Midland, should hang their heads in shame. The SPEAKER : Before I give the call to the member for Rockingham, I formally call the member for Kimberley for the first time.
Mr T.R. BUSWELL : Therefore, the Auditor General just put that comment in his report on the arena? What were they talking to the member for Midland about? Was it about the dry season? I have no idea! It is in the report on Perth Arena that the former minister told no-one! The ALP can rest easy because this is the person who wants to lead members opposite; this is the person who claimed if she had been leader, Labor would still be over on this side of the house. Which two metalworkers kept the member for Midland out? Was it the member for Joondalup? Mr E.S. Ripper : What happened to your leadership? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I resigned, and I am glad I did. Did the member for Cockburn keep the member for Midland out? She does not want to be leader; she is just having a lot of meetings with Dave Kelly and Joe Bullock! How sweet it is in the ALP! I will close by saying that there is a silver lining. Mr P. Papalia : Isn’t it lucky that this came out today? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Auditor General is an independent officer of Parliament, and bless him for it. He could even go home and have a sandwich. The last point I want to make is that the Auditor General has done us all a favour. Mr P. Papalia interjected. The SPEAKER : Member for Warnbro, there are plenty of opportunities to ask questions in this place. I formally call you for the first time. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Auditor General basically said it was a complete fiasco, but there is a silver lining. Mr E.S. Ripper : Which page is that on? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : It is on page 26. The Leader of the Opposition should read it and weep. It says that the governance framework and risk management has been strengthened since early 2009. Do members know why it was strengthened? Because there was a change of government. We came into power and said, “Give us a list of the top 20 projects, how much they cost and when they will be finished.” We were asked why we wanted to know that. Why on earth would we need to know what $20 billion of capital works is going to cost? No-one had ever asked for that. There are new people in charge of capital works in this state. We will learn from these lessons. Those opposite, particularly the member for Midland, should hang their heads in shame. The SPEAKER : Before I give the call to the member for Rockingham, I formally call the member for Kimberley for the first time.
Mr E.S. Ripper : What happened to your leadership? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I resigned, and I am glad I did. Did the member for Cockburn keep the member for Midland out? She does not want to be leader; she is just having a lot of meetings with Dave Kelly and Joe Bullock! How sweet it is in the ALP! I will close by saying that there is a silver lining. Mr P. Papalia : Isn’t it lucky that this came out today? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Auditor General is an independent officer of Parliament, and bless him for it. He could even go home and have a sandwich. The last point I want to make is that the Auditor General has done us all a favour. Mr P. Papalia interjected. The SPEAKER : Member for Warnbro, there are plenty of opportunities to ask questions in this place. I formally call you for the first time. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Auditor General basically said it was a complete fiasco, but there is a silver lining. Mr E.S. Ripper : Which page is that on? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : It is on page 26. The Leader of the Opposition should read it and weep. It says that the governance framework and risk management has been strengthened since early 2009. Do members know why it was strengthened? Because there was a change of government. We came into power and said, “Give us a list of the top 20 projects, how much they cost and when they will be finished.” We were asked why we wanted to know that. Why on earth would we need to know what $20 billion of capital works is going to cost? No-one had ever asked for that. There are new people in charge of capital works in this state. We will learn from these lessons. Those opposite, particularly the member for Midland, should hang their heads in shame. The SPEAKER : Before I give the call to the member for Rockingham, I formally call the member for Kimberley for the first time.
Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I resigned, and I am glad I did. Did the member for Cockburn keep the member for Midland out? She does not want to be leader; she is just having a lot of meetings with Dave Kelly and Joe Bullock! How sweet it is in the ALP! I will close by saying that there is a silver lining. Mr P. Papalia : Isn’t it lucky that this came out today? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Auditor General is an independent officer of Parliament, and bless him for it. He could even go home and have a sandwich. The last point I want to make is that the Auditor General has done us all a favour. Mr P. Papalia interjected. The SPEAKER : Member for Warnbro, there are plenty of opportunities to ask questions in this place. I formally call you for the first time. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Auditor General basically said it was a complete fiasco, but there is a silver lining. Mr E.S. Ripper : Which page is that on? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : It is on page 26. The Leader of the Opposition should read it and weep. It says that the governance framework and risk management has been strengthened since early 2009. Do members know why it was strengthened? Because there was a change of government. We came into power and said, “Give us a list of the top 20 projects, how much they cost and when they will be finished.” We were asked why we wanted to know that. Why on earth would we need to know what $20 billion of capital works is going to cost? No-one had ever asked for that. There are new people in charge of capital works in this state. We will learn from these lessons. Those opposite, particularly the member for Midland, should hang their heads in shame. The SPEAKER : Before I give the call to the member for Rockingham, I formally call the member for Kimberley for the first time.
Mr P. Papalia : Isn’t it lucky that this came out today? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Auditor General is an independent officer of Parliament, and bless him for it. He could even go home and have a sandwich. The last point I want to make is that the Auditor General has done us all a favour. Mr P. Papalia interjected. The SPEAKER : Member for Warnbro, there are plenty of opportunities to ask questions in this place. I formally call you for the first time. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Auditor General basically said it was a complete fiasco, but there is a silver lining. Mr E.S. Ripper : Which page is that on? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : It is on page 26. The Leader of the Opposition should read it and weep. It says that the governance framework and risk management has been strengthened since early 2009. Do members know why it was strengthened? Because there was a change of government. We came into power and said, “Give us a list of the top 20 projects, how much they cost and when they will be finished.” We were asked why we wanted to know that. Why on earth would we need to know what $20 billion of capital works is going to cost? No-one had ever asked for that. There are new people in charge of capital works in this state. We will learn from these lessons. Those opposite, particularly the member for Midland, should hang their heads in shame. The SPEAKER : Before I give the call to the member for Rockingham, I formally call the member for Kimberley for the first time.
Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Auditor General is an independent officer of Parliament, and bless him for it. He could even go home and have a sandwich. The last point I want to make is that the Auditor General has done us all a favour. Mr P. Papalia interjected. The SPEAKER : Member for Warnbro, there are plenty of opportunities to ask questions in this place. I formally call you for the first time. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Auditor General basically said it was a complete fiasco, but there is a silver lining. Mr E.S. Ripper : Which page is that on? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : It is on page 26. The Leader of the Opposition should read it and weep. It says that the governance framework and risk management has been strengthened since early 2009. Do members know why it was strengthened? Because there was a change of government. We came into power and said, “Give us a list of the top 20 projects, how much they cost and when they will be finished.” We were asked why we wanted to know that. Why on earth would we need to know what $20 billion of capital works is going to cost? No-one had ever asked for that. There are new people in charge of capital works in this state. We will learn from these lessons. Those opposite, particularly the member for Midland, should hang their heads in shame. The SPEAKER : Before I give the call to the member for Rockingham, I formally call the member for Kimberley for the first time.
Mr P. Papalia interjected. The SPEAKER : Member for Warnbro, there are plenty of opportunities to ask questions in this place. I formally call you for the first time. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Auditor General basically said it was a complete fiasco, but there is a silver lining. Mr E.S. Ripper : Which page is that on? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : It is on page 26. The Leader of the Opposition should read it and weep. It says that the governance framework and risk management has been strengthened since early 2009. Do members know why it was strengthened? Because there was a change of government. We came into power and said, “Give us a list of the top 20 projects, how much they cost and when they will be finished.” We were asked why we wanted to know that. Why on earth would we need to know what $20 billion of capital works is going to cost? No-one had ever asked for that. There are new people in charge of capital works in this state. We will learn from these lessons. Those opposite, particularly the member for Midland, should hang their heads in shame. The SPEAKER : Before I give the call to the member for Rockingham, I formally call the member for Kimberley for the first time.
The SPEAKER : Member for Warnbro, there are plenty of opportunities to ask questions in this place. I formally call you for the first time. Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Auditor General basically said it was a complete fiasco, but there is a silver lining. Mr E.S. Ripper : Which page is that on? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : It is on page 26. The Leader of the Opposition should read it and weep. It says that the governance framework and risk management has been strengthened since early 2009. Do members know why it was strengthened? Because there was a change of government. We came into power and said, “Give us a list of the top 20 projects, how much they cost and when they will be finished.” We were asked why we wanted to know that. Why on earth would we need to know what $20 billion of capital works is going to cost? No-one had ever asked for that. There are new people in charge of capital works in this state. We will learn from these lessons. Those opposite, particularly the member for Midland, should hang their heads in shame. The SPEAKER : Before I give the call to the member for Rockingham, I formally call the member for Kimberley for the first time.
Mr T.R. BUSWELL : The Auditor General basically said it was a complete fiasco, but there is a silver lining. Mr E.S. Ripper : Which page is that on? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : It is on page 26. The Leader of the Opposition should read it and weep. It says that the governance framework and risk management has been strengthened since early 2009. Do members know why it was strengthened? Because there was a change of government. We came into power and said, “Give us a list of the top 20 projects, how much they cost and when they will be finished.” We were asked why we wanted to know that. Why on earth would we need to know what $20 billion of capital works is going to cost? No-one had ever asked for that. There are new people in charge of capital works in this state. We will learn from these lessons. Those opposite, particularly the member for Midland, should hang their heads in shame. The SPEAKER : Before I give the call to the member for Rockingham, I formally call the member for Kimberley for the first time.
Mr E.S. Ripper : Which page is that on? Mr T.R. BUSWELL : It is on page 26. The Leader of the Opposition should read it and weep. It says that the governance framework and risk management has been strengthened since early 2009. Do members know why it was strengthened? Because there was a change of government. We came into power and said, “Give us a list of the top 20 projects, how much they cost and when they will be finished.” We were asked why we wanted to know that. Why on earth would we need to know what $20 billion of capital works is going to cost? No-one had ever asked for that. There are new people in charge of capital works in this state. We will learn from these lessons. Those opposite, particularly the member for Midland, should hang their heads in shame. The SPEAKER : Before I give the call to the member for Rockingham, I formally call the member for Kimberley for the first time.
Mr T.R. BUSWELL : It is on page 26. The Leader of the Opposition should read it and weep. It says that the governance framework and risk management has been strengthened since early 2009. Do members know why it was strengthened? Because there was a change of government. We came into power and said, “Give us a list of the top 20 projects, how much they cost and when they will be finished.” We were asked why we wanted to know that. Why on earth would we need to know what $20 billion of capital works is going to cost? No-one had ever asked for that. There are new people in charge of capital works in this state. We will learn from these lessons. Those opposite, particularly the member for Midland, should hang their heads in shame. The SPEAKER : Before I give the call to the member for Rockingham, I formally call the member for Kimberley for the first time.
The SPEAKER : Before I give the call to the member for Rockingham, I formally call the member for Kimberley for the first time.
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