❓ Mr. Kelly (Opposition) questions the Minister for Water about releasing the contract and business case related to the privatisation of Water Corporation's engineering and construction services to RCR Tomlinson. The Minister defends the decision, citing job preservation and a changing workflow, without directly committing to releasing the documents.
AnsweredQoN 183Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
WATER CORPORATION — ENGINEERING AND
CONSTRUCTION SERVICES PRIVATISATION
183. Mr D.J. KELLY to the Minister for
Water:
I refer the minister firstly to
comments made yesterday by the Leader of the National Party when he criticised
the lack of transparency around the proposed privatisation of Fremantle port
and, secondly, to the Minister for Water's answer to a question from
the member for Albany yesterday about transparency around the Perth Stadium
deal when she relied on ongoing negotiations to justify not releasing full
details of that deal. Will the minister now release the full contract with RCR
Tomlinson and the business case that supposedly supports the privatisation of
the Water Corporation's engineering and construction services, given
that that privatisation occurred eight months ago, in August 2015?
CONSTRUCTION SERVICES PRIVATISATION
183. Mr D.J. KELLY to the Minister for
Water:
I refer the minister firstly to
comments made yesterday by the Leader of the National Party when he criticised
the lack of transparency around the proposed privatisation of Fremantle port
and, secondly, to the Minister for Water's answer to a question from
the member for Albany yesterday about transparency around the Perth Stadium
deal when she relied on ongoing negotiations to justify not releasing full
details of that deal. Will the minister now release the full contract with RCR
Tomlinson and the business case that supposedly supports the privatisation of
the Water Corporation's engineering and construction services, given
that that privatisation occurred eight months ago, in August 2015?
AnswerView source ↗
I cannot fathom why someone with
this member's background continues to promote that we should have
sacked every worker in the engineering and construction services branch instead
of what we did, which was through a process, driven by the Water Corporation,
to deliver ongoing employment for the people who were part of that branch. It
is just unbelievable to me that he does not understand that the decision was
made to sell the ECSB due to a number of changes in the workflow for that
particular branch of the Water Corporation. Let me go back. I will refer to
examples of the work that this branch did for the Water Corporation.
Several members interjected.
The
SPEAKER : Member for Bassendean!
Ms
M.J. DAVIES : I refer to work that this branch carried out on behalf of the
Water Corporation. It did pump stations, water mains, water tanks —
Mr
P. Papalia interjected.
The
SPEAKER : Member for Warnbro, I call you to order for the second time. The
member for Bassendean has a point of order.
Point of Order
Mr D.J. KELLY : My question was
very specific. I asked the minister whether she will release the contract and
the business case that supports the privatisation deal. It is very specific.
Will she release the contract? Will she release the business case?
The SPEAKER : You have made your
point. I do not want to hear anybody talking while there is a point of order.
Questions without Notice Resumed
Ms
M.J. DAVIES : I go back to the fact that the decision was made by the board,
in the context of a changing workflow for the organisation, that rather than
see the demise of the employment of a large number of employees, the decision
was made to put that out for an expression of interest. That outcome means that
those employees have ongoing employment with another organisation. The
opposition has asked numerous questions in the other place. We have provided
information on the Water Corporation board's decision-making process
and I am very confident that the right decision has been made in this space.
this member's background continues to promote that we should have
sacked every worker in the engineering and construction services branch instead
of what we did, which was through a process, driven by the Water Corporation,
to deliver ongoing employment for the people who were part of that branch. It
is just unbelievable to me that he does not understand that the decision was
made to sell the ECSB due to a number of changes in the workflow for that
particular branch of the Water Corporation. Let me go back. I will refer to
examples of the work that this branch did for the Water Corporation.
Several members interjected.
The
SPEAKER : Member for Bassendean!
Ms
M.J. DAVIES : I refer to work that this branch carried out on behalf of the
Water Corporation. It did pump stations, water mains, water tanks —
Mr
P. Papalia interjected.
The
SPEAKER : Member for Warnbro, I call you to order for the second time. The
member for Bassendean has a point of order.
Point of Order
Mr D.J. KELLY : My question was
very specific. I asked the minister whether she will release the contract and
the business case that supports the privatisation deal. It is very specific.
Will she release the contract? Will she release the business case?
The SPEAKER : You have made your
point. I do not want to hear anybody talking while there is a point of order.
Questions without Notice Resumed
Ms
M.J. DAVIES : I go back to the fact that the decision was made by the board,
in the context of a changing workflow for the organisation, that rather than
see the demise of the employment of a large number of employees, the decision
was made to put that out for an expression of interest. That outcome means that
those employees have ongoing employment with another organisation. The
opposition has asked numerous questions in the other place. We have provided
information on the Water Corporation board's decision-making process
and I am very confident that the right decision has been made in this space.
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