Mike Kelly (Eden-Monaro, Australian Labor Party, Parliamentary Secretary for Defence Support) 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: Proposed construction of housing for the Department of Defence at Voyager Point, Liverpool, New South Wales.

Defence Housing Australia proposes to develop a 15.74 hectare site at Voyager Point, New South Wales. The site was formerly the Department of Defence East Hills Barracks. The proposal will provide an additional 59 homes for Australian Defence Force—ADF—personnel and their families, particularly for those members serving at the Holsworthy Army Base. The site will subdivided into lots capable of accommodating a total of 137 homes. The lots that are not required for Defence will be sold to the general public, creating a mixed civilian and Defence community and reducing DHA’s net outlay.

The proposal is part of ongoing activity to replace houses that do not satisfy the current standards for ADF housing that were introduced in 2007. Community standard housing for families is vital to the ADF in attracting and retaining skilled personnel. The site is conveniently located three kilometres from the Holsworthy Army Base and six kilometres from the Liverpool city centre. The homes constructed will deliver an excellent lifestyle opportunity for Defence families.

The development of the site and the construction of houses will be governed by DHA through a number of contractors, in accordance with DHA’s national specification covering performance and design requirements for DHA housing. The total out-turn cost of the proposal is estimated at $45.1 million, inclusive of GST and land acquisition, with the net costs reduced through the sale of surplus lots. Subject to parliamentary approval, construction will commence in March 2011 and be completed by December 2013. 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: Construction of housing for the Department of Defence at Muirhead, Darwin, Northern Territory.

Defence Housing Australia proposes to develop stage 1 of a 167 hectare former Department of Defence site at Muirhead, Darwin, Northern Territory. It is intended that the site be developed in stages over the next eight to 10 years. Stage 1 will develop 178 residential lots, with DHA constructing 50 houses to accommodate Defence families in Darwin. Under a memorandum of understanding between DHA and the Northern Territory government, 25 lots will be offered to the Northern Territory government to support its affordable and community housing initiatives. The remaining lots will be sold to the public.

The proposed development is part of ongoing activity to replace houses that do not satisfy the current standards for Defence housing. Community standard Defence housing, as in the previous item, is vital to Defence attracting and retaining skilled personnel. DHA will develop the site as an economically viable, sustainable and affordable master planned community. Lot layout and house design will recognise Darwin’s climate and unique lifestyle, paying particular attention to minimising energy consumption.

Site development and housing construction will be governed by DHA through its contractors and in accordance with DHA’s national specification covering housing performance and design. The gross outlay for stage 1 is estimated at $41.4 million, inclusive of GST, with net costs reduced through the sale of surplus lots. Subject to parliamentary approval, the stage 1 estate development works will commence in March 2011, with the construction of the 50 homes to be completed in June 2012. 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: Pawsey High Performance Computer Centre for SKA Science at Kensington, Western Australia.

The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation—CSIRO—proposes to construct the Pawsey High Performance Computing Centre for Square Kilometre Array science at Kensington, Perth, WA, at an estimated out-turn cost of $66 million plus GST. Funded by the government’s Super Science Initiative, the Pawsey Centre will provide a high performance computing—HPC—facility that will support a diverse range of high end research into radio astronomy, nanotechnology, biotechnology, geoinformatics, engineering, atomic physics and chemistry. It will also provide the computing support and data-processing capabilities required for the Australian SKA Pathfinder and Murchison Widefield Array radio telescopes.

The Pawsey centre is crucial to the government’s strategy to address the paucity of high-ranked supercomputing systems in Australia. The HPC system will rank among the world’s top 20 supercomputers at the time of its commissioning in 2013. iVEC, an unincorporated joint venture between CSIRO, Curtin University of Technology, Edith Cowan University, Murdoch University and the University of WA, will be responsible for the Pawsey centre’s operation, while CSIRO will own and maintain the Pawsey Centre building.

The Pawsey centre will be specifically designed to house the petascale HPC system and provide an appropriate and secure working environment for support staff. The building, services and external infrastructure will incorporate energy conservation initiatives and comply with all relevant local, state and Commonwealth standards, codes and regulations. Subject to parliamentary approval, construction will commence in late 2010 and be completed by the end of 2011, consistent with the HPC procurement, installation and commissioning program which will be completed in 2013. I commend the motion to the House.

Question agreed to.