Judi Moylan (Pearce, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On behalf of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Public Works, I present the committee’s sixth, seventh and eighth reports of 2007 relating to the proposed fit-out of new leased premises for the Department of Health and Ageing at the Woden Town Centre; the Royal Malaysian Air Force Base Butterworth, Malaysia, Australian Defence Force facilities rationalisation; and the RAAF Base Pearce redevelopment stage 1, Pearce, Western Australia.

Ordered that the reports be made parliamentary papers.

by leave—The Department of Health and Ageing undertook a rationalisation of accommodation in 2005 that co-located most of its activities in the Woden Town Centre centred in Scarborough House. However, a number of departmental functions continue to be performed in other leased buildings in Woden on which the leasing options are due to expire in mid-2009 and on which there are no further renewal options. Further, these older buildings do not offer a suitable standard of accommodation and maintenance costs are escalating.

The committee was informed during the inquiry that the department’s long-term strategy is to consolidate its central office functions into two sites in the Woden Centre, thereby overcoming the problems of older buildings as well as improving operational effectiveness. Scarborough House, which was the subject of a fit-out approved by the committee in 2004, would be retained and a new building constructed and leased by the department for a period of 15 years. This solution would provide the department with the capacity to locate approximately 3,100 personnel in accommodation and overcome the current fragmentation of staff, as well as meeting future organisational change. The costs of the proposed fit-out is estimated to be $67 million, excluding GST, with occupancy scheduled for 2010.

I turn now to the proposed ADF facilities rationalisation at the Royal Malaysian Air Force Base Butterworth in Malaysia. This project is proposed against the background of Australia’s participation in the Five Power Defence Arrangements that came into force in 1971 as a series of bilateral agreements between Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Malaysia and Singapore. The arrangements provide the opportunity for the partners to undertake joint military exercises, develop policies and exchange information on issues affecting regional security in South-East Asia. With the removal of direct threat scenarios to the region, the arrangements have increasingly focused on other regional issues, including global terrorism, piracy, the protection of exclusive economic zones, disaster relief and smuggling of illicit drugs. Australia’s commitment to the arrangements is outlined in the government’s white paper on defence.

While the basing of Australian aircraft was withdrawn in 1988, RMAF Butterworth routinely supports the deployment of aircraft from the RAAF’s air combat and air lift squadrons, and the Aerospace Operational Group. Currently there are 241 ADF personnel stationed at RMAF Butterworth. This number escalates to in excess of 500 personnel during exercises. The purpose of this project is to replace a number of buildings used by the ADF that over time have deteriorated, and to refurbish others, including transit accommodation, mess buildings, vehicle workshops and ancillary facilities. A new sewerage works is proposed to replace the failed system currently on base, together with general repairs and repainting. The cost of these works is estimated to be $A23.6 million, with work commencing in early 2008 and completion scheduled for the end of 2009.

Finally, I would like to move on to report No. 8, the RAAF Base Pearce redevelopment stage 1. Coincidently, the base is located in my own electorate, so it is of particular interest to me and my constituents. It has over a number of years expanded its role and operational importance. The base supports deployments and transit operations for aircraft of the Surveillance and Response Group, the Air Combat Group and supports a training presence from the Republic of Singapore Air Force. This project proposes the upgrade of a number of base facilities and the construction of some new facilities at a total estimated cost of $142.2 million. According to evidence provided by officials of the Department of Defence, many of the buildings on base do not meet the operational requirements of new technologies or the numbers of personnel now based at RAAF Base Pearce. Further, the base infrastructure is in need of major remediation works, including works for the delivery of water. I am sure that my colleague the member for Cowan, who is in the chamber, would agree that it is very old infrastructure.

The issue of water is of some importance to this region of Western Australia. The Great Northern Highway corridor within which RAAF Base Pearce is located has been drought prone for the last few years, imposing real constraints over access to water. While the committee is satisfied that Defence is aware of the difficulties that are being experienced by local communities and is assessing ways to minimise the impact of the proposed development on the local infrastructure, there are nevertheless some ongoing concerns that the increase in personnel will impact on available water resources and the overall sustainability of the base. This issue was the subject of extensive committee inquiry during the hearing it conducted on this project. The department informed the committee that a number of initiatives are proposed relating to water storage that it hopes will reduce the demands of RAAF Base Pearce on the existing water infrastructure provided by the Western Australian Water Corporation. That notwithstanding, the committee has recommended in its report that Defence maintain the consultative process with all stakeholders on the vexed question of water, including local government agencies, state government instrumentalities and the local community in the interests of good citizenship. The committee noted that those who appeared at the hearings were all very supportive of the works on the base.

In conclusion, I thank all those who contributed to these inquiries, including my fellow committee members, the deputy chair, officials of the various departments and, of course, the secretariat. This committee has had an extraordinarily heavy workload and complex hearings. I very much appreciate the support the committee members have received from the secretariat and Hansard. I commend the reports to the House.