Legislative Council: Tuesday, March 16, 2021

Contents

Waite Gatehouse

The Hon. F. PANGALLO (14:58): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking a question of the Treasurer, representing the Minister for Transport, about the Waite Gatehouse dismantling and relocation project.

Leave granted.

The Hon. F. PANGALLO: The decision to save the building has been met with relief by heritage lovers and of course the local member for Waite, Mr Duluk, who paradoxically in 2019 gave his endorsement to the intersection upgrade.

Yesterday, Minister Wingard announced that the building, with its distinctive chimneys, would be dismantled brick by brick, window by window, tile by tile, floorboard by floorboard, door by door, fireplace by fireplace and rebuilt on another part of the campus for about $2.5 million, rather than picking it up and shifting it in one piece, as was proposed by a company called Mammoth Movers, because, we have been told, it was the more expensive option. Mammoth Movers' first quote was under $900,000. The gatehouse was to be lifted and rolled about 150 metres down a pathway, but that cost contained some exclusions.

At yesterday's Budget and Finance meeting, the Department for Infrastructure and Transport Chief Executive, Mr Tony Braxton-Smith, said that Mammoth Movers provided an updated quotation, a total cost, inclusive of all works practicable for the job—which he didn't specify—and revealed that it was an estimated $3.6 million GST inclusive. On the surface of it, it sounds like the government has made a prudent call, saving itself $1.1 million by pulling it to pieces Lego-style. My questions to the minister are:

1. Did the government enter into a confidentiality agreement with Mammoth Movers that included its costings, or does it contain a clause allowing Mr Braxton-Smith to breach any confidentiality in revealing the company's commercial-in-confidence information, including pricing?

2. Can the minister and Mr Braxton-Smith now provide to the Legislative Council the full costings of all the works Mammoth Movers provided in reaching that $3.6 million figure?

3. As for the $2.5 million to be spent on dismantling and rebuilding the gatehouse, can the minister also provide details of the full scope of works to turn it into a volunteer centre—that is, are the distinctive chimneys going to be retained and rebuilt; will the existing shingle roof be retained or be replaced by a tin roof; how are they going to replace broken items—and there will be many—or will the University of Adelaide also be required to do the construction works?

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS (Treasurer) (15:01): I am exhausted, and I am only going to refer the question! I am happy to refer the honourable member's question to the minister and bring back a reply.