Public Works Committee: 2022-23 Annual Report

Mr BROWN (Florey) (11:51): I move:

That the 40^th report of the committee, entitled 2022-23 Annual Report, be noted.

Although the Public Works Committee has the power to inquire into any public work, the main work of the committee is to consider and report on public works projects with a construction value exceeding $4 million (excluding GST) undertaken by or on behalf of the state government.

For the 2022-23 year, the committee considered and reported on 31 public works projects. While the committee resolved to determine on an individual basis if oral evidence was heard with respect to referrals in the $4 million but less than $15 million range and automatically hold hearings for project referrals with a value over $15 million, there was only one project the committee did not hold a public hearing for.

Additionally, pursuant to section 16(1)(c) of the Parliamentary Committees Act, the committee tabled two inquiry reports in the reporting period which the Fifty-Fourth Parliament Public Works Committee resolved to inquire into. These reports included the north-south corridor tunnels project to evaluate the Department for Infrastructure and Transport's processes for effectiveness and consideration of community impact on this project and the intersection works and compulsory acquisition of five intersection upgrades across Adelaide. I thank the committee members for their input into these reports even though the inquiries themselves were not undertaken by the current members of the committee.

During the reporting period, 13 meetings were held with 94 witnesses appearing before the committee. The 31 projects were for a range of public works, including numerous Department for Health and Wellbeing election commitments, SA Water projects and major transport-related infrastructure referred from the Department for Infrastructure and Transport.

Overall, 10 referrals were provided by the Department for Health and Wellbeing, seven were referred from the Department for Infrastructure and Transport, three were referred from the Department for Environment and Water and SA Water respectively, two were referred from the Department for Education and one was referred from the Department for Correctional Services, the South Australian State Emergency Service, Renewal SA, the Office for Recreation and Sport, SA Police and the Courts Administration Authority respectively. The proposed construction values ranged from $5.2 million for a new State Emergency Service unit in Noarlunga to $202 million to construct the bypass from the Sturt Highway at Truro.

The workload of the committee varies over the course of the year, and a common observation is that a greater number of projects are considered in the second half of the calendar year. A further observation is that there has been an increase in the committee workload which is influenced by, firstly, a greater number of projects captured by the $4 million threshold due to inflation and the rising costs of construction materials and, secondly, public-private partnership projects being explicitly included in the jurisdiction of the committee and the committee electing to hold public hearings for all projects that have been referred.

In addition to considering and reporting on project proposals, the committee continued to monitor the progress of existing projects through the quarterly reporting process. At the end of this financial year, the committee continued to review and monitor over 80 ongoing public works. I would like to thank all witnesses who have presented to the committee and other departmental and agency staff who have provided us with a high standard of referral documentation for the committee to consider. I will not take the opportunity to name all witnesses who appeared before the committee.

For local members who have appeared before the committee and provided submissions regarding the projects in their electorates, I thank them for their valuable contributions. I also thank my fellow committee members, the member for King, the member for Elder, the member for Schubert and the member for Hartley. I thank them for their dedication, robust discussion and scrutiny of projects, and for operating in an open and accountable manner. Finally, I would like to thank the secretariat staff of the committee, currently Ms Melissa Campaniello, the parliamentary officer, and Ms Jessica Watson, the research officer, who have supported the committee and ensured that we met our statutory obligations in a timely manner. I recommend that the report be noted by the house.

Motion carried.