Graham Perrett (Moreton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On behalf of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Public Works I present the committee 's report No. 8 of 2023: National Capital Authority—Scrivener Dam Dissipator Strengthening Project and other works.

Report made a parliamentary paper in accordance with standing order 39(e).

by leave—On behalf of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Public Works, I present the committee's eighth report for 2023. This reports considers four proposals referred to the committee in August, with a combined value of just over $650 million. The first proposal, from the National Capital Authority, is for the strengthening of Canberra's Scrivener Dam dissipator. The second proposal, from the Australian Taxation Office, is for a fit-out of new leased premises at 15 Sydney Avenue, Barton, ACT. The third proposal, from the Department of Defence, is for a mid-term refresh of the Edinburgh Defence Precinct in Adelaide. The fourth, which was withdrawn before review by the committee, was from the Department of Defence for stage 2 of the Armoured Fighting Vehicles Facilities Program.

The National Capital Authority's Scrivener Dam project is to strengthen the dissipator, the basin-like structure at the bottom of the dam wall that dissipates the energy of the water and protects the dam and the river downstream. The proposed works will rectify known structural deficiencies in the dam and ensure the ongoing, safe operation of the dam for the next 100 years. Several risks associated with the stability of the dissipator structure under flood conditions have been identified which, if not addressed, could lead to the failure of the dam. The total cost of the proposed project is $39.86 million.

The committee understands that, if this project does not go ahead, there is an unacceptable risk to the city of Canberra and its inhabitants. The committee also recognises the importance of Lake Burley Griffin, and therefore Scrivener Dam, to the fabric of Canberra, providing public value as a resource for recreation, commercial activities and tourism to the local community, domestic and international markets.

The second proposal in this report is the Australian Taxation Office's fit-out of new lease premises at 15 Sydney Avenue, Barton, ACT. The proposed works will replace the ATO's two existing Canberra City sites. The fit-outs of both these sites are at the end of their usable life. The new lease will also consolidate the ATO's Canberra workforce into a single building and reduce net lettable area by 48 per cent. The total cost of the proposed project is $125.8 million.

The committee supports this project, noting that the Australian Taxation Office conducted thorough consultation with their staff around fit-out design and have a concrete plan to continue staff involvement throughout the following stages of the project. The committee encouraged the ATO to monitor the impact of the proposed project on staff travel times, as the relocation from Canberra's central commercial district to the Barton site reduces access to public transport such as light rail and express bus routes.

The third project in this report is the Department of Defence's proposed Edinburgh Defence Precinct Mid-Term Refresh. The works will replace or upgrade engineering services and associated facilities and infrastructure right across the precinct. This infrastructure is aged and approaching the end of useful life, has capacity and compliance issues, or poses risks to current and future functions. The total cost of the public works is $311.9 million.

The committee supports this project, noting the strategic requirement for the Army's ongoing presence at Edinburgh and the importance of maintaining the functionality of the precinct through the proposed refresh.

The fourth project in this report is stage 2 of Defence's Armoured Fighting Vehicles Facilities Program, which was referred to the committee with the proposed cost of $176.1 million. After the referral, the Deputy Prime Minister announced key changes to the Australian Defence Force's units and equipment locations, which has had an impact on this project. On the advice of Defence that the project will not be going ahead in its current form, the committee did not hold any hearings and concluded its inquiry without making any recommendation regarding these proposed works.

The committee would like to extend its thanks to all those who provided written and oral evidence in support of these inquiries. We'd also like to thank the personnel from the ATO for their presentation, the National Capital Authority, and the Department of Defence for facilitating site inspections in the ACT and South Australia.

For each project, the committee recommends that it is expedient that the proposed works be carried out. I commend this report to the House.