Debates Day 2 - Wednesday 23 November 1994
Parliamentary Record 6
Debates for 7th Assembly 1994 - 1997; ParliamentNT; Parliamentary Record; 7th Assembly 1994 - 1997
1994-11-23
Made available by the Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory
English
Debates
Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory
Darwin
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Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory
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https://hdl.handle.net/10070/281606
https://hdl.handle.net/10070/414128
DEBATES - Wednesday 23 November 1994 Have honourable members looked at the clock in the main hall? The face is made up o f a big circle o f glass surrounded by a circle o f brass, and a little rod sticks out o f the middle o f the face. The mechanism does not function properly and the hands do not balance properly and they move at different speeds depending on where they should be at any given time. I believe the clock indicates the right time about once an hour. Mr Stone: You are missing the point. It is a work o f art. Mr BAILEY: Mr Speaker, this demonstrates quite clearly some o f the problems that are associated with this kind o f project. Not only did the clockmaker say specifically that there were problems with the mechanism specified in the design brief, but she said that she could produce a design that would look exactly the same but that would not involve the technical problems and would be cheaper. Nevertheless, they said that they knew best and it had to be done their way. To top it off, I believe she is almost about to be paid ... Mr Stone: What? We did not pay her? Mr BAILEY: She has had to wait for many months with all the stuffing around by your contractors, Multiplex and Tipperary. Specifically, she had done everything according to the contract. She had supplied everything herself and had serviced a $10 000 overdraft for 5 or 6 months during the time when she had to pay the people who did the casting and other work for her. It is people like that who have suffered as a result o f this project. That is what happens when the people running the project will not take into account what the experts tell them about how things should be done. Those kinds o f issues show the ludicrous nature o f some o f the decisions taken. One such problem was the way in which work was contracted out through about 6 different levels rather than the head contractor saying that major art pieces should be negotiated for and appropriate contracts drawn up. When the clockmaker had supplied everything to contract specifications, why did she have to wait some 5 months to be paid? To top it off, when it was brought in ... Mr Setter: Ask the contractor. Mr BAILEY: We are not allowed to. Because it is a private company, no one is permitted to talk to the contractor. All we can do is ask questions o f the minister who says: I know nothing about it. It is all with the contractors. It is those sorts o f issues that the Public Accounts Committee should be able to examine because it is totally inappropriate that people now have the wrong idea about dealing with the Northern Territory. That is only one o f many people who have been stuffed around by Multiplex and Tipperary Developments. Mrs BRAHAM (Braitling): Mr Deputy Speaker, you will be pleased to know that I do not intend to talk about Parliament House tonight, but about some o f the good things that are happening in my electorate. The Alice Springs School o f the Air, with which most members would be familiar, is entering a new era of entrepreneurialism in the tourism industry. It has just been allocated a grant to upgrade its studio and a new tourist centre. The upgraded studio will have greater capacity to use todays technology and will incorporate this technology over the coming years. It will mean that teachers and staff will 1855