Tony Zappia (Makin, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On behalf of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Public Works I present the following reports:

Referral made May 2021 (5th report of 2021) (sent to the Speaker on 20 August 2021, pursuant to standing order 247)—Report, August 2021.

Referrals made May and June 2021 (6th report of 2021) (sent to the Speaker on 20 August 2021, pursuant to standing order 247)—Report, August 2021.

Reports made parliamentary papers in accordance with standing order 39(e).

I ask leave of the House to make a short statement in connection with the reports.

Leave granted.

Report No. 5 of 2021 considers one proposal referred to the committee in May 2021. The proposal was the Department of Home Affairs Parramatta fit-out, with approval sought from the committee to carry out the works at 101 George Street, Parramatta, in New South Wales. The estimated cost of this project is $24.76 million excluding GST. The project aims to consolidate three existing Home Affairs office buildings in Sydney's CBD into one site at 101 George Street, Parramatta. The consolidation will reduce the leased office space from approximately 22,000 to 14,000 square metres and generate savings of approximately $7 million per year.

In addition to recommending that it was expedient that the project go ahead, the committee has recommended that the Department of Home Affairs continue to engage with staff to ensure that all concerns are taken onboard and to take meaningful steps to facilitate the redeployment and retraining of workers who are unable to relocate. The committee considers this to be important as, although the relocation and savings are significant, staff welfare is a vital factor in any organisation.

Report No. 6 of 2021 considers two proposals referred to the House in May and June of 2021. The first project was the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Communications Christmas Island Stormwater, Landslide and Rockfall Mitigation Works Project. The estimated cost of this project is $28.9 million, excluding GST. The project aims to reduce the risk of injury or death, asset damage, and social and economic disruption from flooding, rockfall and landslides on Christmas Island by installing fit-for-purpose stormwater and landslide mitigation infrastructure. The project will deliver works at three locations on Christmas Island and will seek to reduce the dangers to residents and infrastructure from landslides and stormwater flooding. The current barriers against landslide are no longer fit for purpose and offer little protection to the community on Christmas Island.

The second project is the Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment scientific research station modernisation on Macquarie Island. The estimated cost of this project is $49.8 million, excluding GST. The research station has been operating on Macquarie Island since 1948 and is in a continuous state of decline, with many structures at the end of their service life. The new and redeveloped facilities will be designed and constructed to provide safe and robust protection from the high level of wind and rain experienced on the highly remote Macquarie Island. The committee has asked for some additional financial detail in relation to the preliminaries of this project but did not consider this significant enough to hold up the project.

I thank both departments for the highly detailed presentations and briefings. Obviously, the committee was unable to travel to either Christmas Island or Macquarie Island to inspect the proposed works, but the respective departments were able to provide sufficient detail in their presentations and briefings to ensure that the committee was able to appreciate the nature of the work. The committee has chosen to undertake its scrutiny in a timely manner, given that two of the projects being considered are on remote islands with a degree of urgency in relation to the works themselves or the logistics of getting construction supplies and staff on the one voyage per year to Macquarie Island. I thank my fellow committee members and the committee secretariat for making themselves available to take part in these inquiries and for assisting with the committee's scrutiny. I commend the reports to the House.