Gary Gray (Brand, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the Public Service and Integrity) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That, in accordance with the provisions of the Public Works Committee Act 1969, the following proposed work be referred to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Public Works for consideration and report:

Air warfare destroyer ship sustainment facilities at Garden Island, Randwick Barracks and HMAS Watson in Sydney.

The new air warfare destroyer will replace the Navy's Adelaide class guided missile frigates with three Hobart class air defence capable ships. The air warfare destroyers, currently under construction in three shipyards, in Newcastle in New South Wales, Williamstown in Victoria and Osborne in South Australia, will be the most advanced and complex warships introduced into service in the Royal Australian Navy. The first new air warfare destroyer, HMAS Hobart, is due for delivery in early 2016. The air warfare destroyer ship sustainment facilities project will provide permanent maintenance, systems support and berthing infrastructure at Garden Island, plus training facilities at Randwick Barracks and HMAS Watson in Sydney, New South Wales.

Garden Island, in Sydney, will be the operational base for the new air warfare destroyers, and the project proposes to co-locate and share certain new facilities with the new landing helicopter dock ships that will also operate from Sydney. At Garden Island, there will be berthing infrastructure upgrades to the wharves and a new shared three-storey office building to accommodate personnel involved in maintaining and keeping the ships operational. At Randwick Barracks, there will be a new air warfare destroyer training centre for crews, which will also be co-located and share certain facilities with a landing helicopter dock training centre. At HMAS Watson, there will be a new air warfare destroyer command team trainer to practise and hone the ship's command teams in the profession of maritime warfare.

The estimated cost of the proposal is $109.9 million plus GST and includes all delivery costs for the management and design fees, construction costs, information and communication technology, furniture, fittings, equipment contingencies and an allowance for escalation. Capital investments in the project will have economic benefits for the Sydney region and local industry, with significant opportunities for subcontractors and the construction industry over the next three years. Subject to parliamentary approval, construction is expected to commence later this year and be completed by late 2015. I commend the motion to the House.

Question agreed to.

I move:

That, in accordance with the provisions of the Public Works Committee Act 1969, the following proposed work be referred to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Public Works for consideration and report:

Air 9000 Phase 8 MH-60R Seahawk Romeo Facilities Project.

The Air 9000 Phase 8 project is a key defence capability initiative that will deliver 24 MH-60R Seahawk Romeo maritime combat helicopters with associated support systems and weapons. The MH-60R Seahawk Romeo will replace the existing 16 ageing S-70B-2 Seahawk helicopters and will provide Navy with advanced anti-submarine and warfare capabilities.

Infrastructure and building works are required to support MH-60R Seahawk Romeo operations, maintenance, training and ordnance storage facilities that are to be constructed at HMAS Albatross, near Nowra, New South Wales, at HMAS Stirling, Western Australia, and at Twofold Bay, Eden, New South Wales. This capital investment will bring economic benefits to these locations for local industry with significant opportunities for subcontractors and the construction industry over the next four years.

Works at HMAS Albatross are anticipated to generate an average of 100 full-time jobs over the period of 16 months, peaking at approximately 260 full-time jobs. Works at HMAS Stirling are anticipated to generate an average of 15 to 20 full-time jobs for each of the three project elements over a period of 46 months, peaking at approximately 45 full-time jobs. Works at Twofold Bay are anticipated to generate an average of 15 full-time jobs over a period of six months, peaking at approximately 25 full-time jobs.

The estimated cost of the proposal is $201.3 million plus GST and includes all delivery costs, including management and design fees, construction costs, information and communications technology, furniture, fittings, equipment contingencies and an allowance for escalation. Subject to parliamentary approval, staged construction is scheduled to commence in late 2013 and is planned to be completed on all sites by mid-2017. I commend the motion to the House.

Question agreed to.

I move:

That, in accordance with the provisions of the Public Works Committee Act 1969, the following proposed work be referred to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Public Works for consideration and report:

Australian Broadcasting Corporation Melbourne accommodation project, Southbank, Vic.

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation, the ABC, currently occupies three sites in Melbourne, one at Southbank and two at Elsternwick. In 1999, the ABC purchased the site immediately adjacent to its existing Southbank centre with the long-term objective of consolidating all of its Melbourne based staff and operations, with the exception of television outside broadcast operations, on one site at Southbank.

The proposed Melbourne accommodation project will achieve this objective together with a range of other ABC strategic, functional and financial objectives. In an era of converging media, the proposed Melbourne accommodation project will build an efficient and flexible working environment for ABC staff that reflects and supports the ABC charter. The proposal also aligns with a range of government policy objectives in the area of the transition to digital television and digital radio services in metropolitan areas, environmental sustainability and the delivery of high-quality and diverse broadcasting services, including international television.

The project involves the construction of a purpose-built accommodation on the site immediately adjacent to the current Southbank broadcast centre at 102-118 Sturt Street, Southbank. The consolidated facility will house all ABC radio, television and online production in Melbourne, as well as broadcast and support facilities.

The estimated cost of the project is $176.4 million, including project management, design, construction, building fit-out and the ABC broadcast technology fit-out. Subject to parliamentary approval, construction is scheduled to commence in late 2013, with project completion estimated to be late 2016. I commend the motion to the House.

Question agreed to.

I move:

That, in accordance with the provisions of the Public Works Committee Act 1969, the following proposed work be referred to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Public Works for consideration and report:

Defence Science and Technology Organisation Human Protection Performance Division security and facilities upgrade, Fishermans Bend, Melbourne.

The Defence Science and Technology Organisation—DSTO—is a lead defence organisation agency charged with applying science and technology to protect and defend Australia and its national interests. In addition to the specialist advice and innovative solutions DSTO provides to the Australian Defence Force—the ADF—the expertise that resides in DSTO also delivers unique capabilities to support the Australian government's broader national security requirements.

The DSTO Human Protection Performance Division—HPPD—is located at the DSTO Melbourne site, which is also known as DSTO Fishermans Bend. The mission of HPPD is the application of innovative science to improve the protection and performance of personnel in physically challenging environments. The HPPD security facilities upgrade project proposes to enhance site security at DSTO Fishermans Bend and to rectify inadequacies in existing facilities in order to improve the HPPD's ability to generate capability in support of the ADF and other Australian government organisations and agencies. The estimated out-turned cost for the project is $41.1 million plus GST, and will provide new and refurbished facilities and infrastructure at the DSTO Fishermans Bend site.

Subject to parliamentary approval, construction is expected to commence in mid-2013 and be completed by early 2016. I commend the motion to the House.

Question agreed to.

I move:

That, in accordance with the provisions of the Public Works Committee Act 1969, the following proposed work be referred to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Public Works for consideration and report:

Landing helicopter dock ship sustainment facilities at Garden Island and Randwick Barracks in Sydney.

The new Amphibious Deployment and Sustainment—ADAS—program comprises a number of projects to enhance the Australian Defence Force's amphibious capability, including the acquisition of two new Canberra class landing helicopter dock—LHD—amphibious assault ships for the Royal Australian Navy.

The ADAS program aims to provide the Australian Defence Force with a multi-dimensional manoeuvre capability in support of the Australian Defence Force's future operating concept. The two new Canberra class LHDs will replace the heavy landing ship HMAS Tobruk and two amphibious landing ships, HMAS Manoora and HMAS Kanimbla. Each new LHD will be capable of embarking, transporting and deploying a force of over 1,000 personnel by air and sea, along with all their weapons, ammunition, vehicles and stores. The LHDs will also be capable of conducting and supporting humanitarian missions, and will be jointly crewed with personnel from Navy, Army and Air Force.

The LHD hulls are being built by Navantia at the Fene-Ferrol shipyard in Spain. The hulls will then be transported to Australia as individual lifts on a float-on float-off, heavy-lift ship. Construction of the LHD superstructures and their consolidation with the hulls are then conducted by BAE Systems in their Williamstown shipyard in Victoria.

The first LHD arrived at the Williamstown shipyard in October 2012. The first completed LHD HMAS Canberra is due for delivery in early 2014. The LHD ship sustainment facilities project will provide permanent maintenance, systems support and berthing infrastructure at Garden Island, plus training facilities at Randwick Barracks, Sydney, New South Wales.

Garden Island in Sydney will be the operational base for the new LHDs and the project proposes to co-locate and share certain new facilities with the new air warfare destroyers that will also operate from Sydney. At Garden Island there will be berthing infrastructure upgrades to the wharves and a new, shared three-storey office building to accommodate personnel involved in maintaining and keeping the ships operational.

At Randwick Barracks there will be a new LHD training centre for crews, which will also be co-located and share certain facilities with an air warfare destroyer training centre. The estimated cost of the proposal is $60.3 million plus GST and includes all delivery costs, management and design fees, construction costs, information communication technology, furniture, fittings and equipment, contingencies and an allowance for escalation.

Capital investment in the project will have economic benefits for the Sydney region and local industry, with significant opportunities for subcontractors and the construction industry over the next three years. Subject to parliamentary approval construction is expected to commence later this year and be completed by late 2015. I commend the motion to the House.

Question agreed to.

I move:

That, in accordance with the provisions of the Public Works Committee Act 1969, the following proposed work be referred to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Public Works for consideration and report:

Infrastructure and upgrade works to establish a Regional Processing Centre on Manus Island, Papua New Guinea.

The Department of Immigration and Citizenship proposes to develop a new regional processing centre located on Manus Island, Papua New Guinea, at an estimated out-turned cost of $171.7 million. The project aims to support the government program to improve the capacity to process claims from irregular maritime arrivals in Australia in response to recommendation 9 of the report of the Expert Panel on Asylum Seekers.

The Manus Island regional processing centre is required to provide a basic standard facility for the accommodation, health, welfare and processing of irregular maritime arrivals and appropriate accommodation facilities for staff. Subject to parliamentary approval, and following a detailed design process, construction works are planned to commence in mid-2013, with construction to be completed by early 2014.

I commend the motion to the House.

Question agreed to.