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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2024-10-31 Daily Xml
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Northern Water Project

The Hon. V.A. TARZIA (Hartley—Leader of the Opposition) (14:13): My question again is to the Premier. Did MBB Group undertake the review of the Northern Water project? If so, was it subject to a tender process?

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS (West Torrens—Minister for Infrastructure and Transport, Minister for Energy and Mining) (14:14): The review was conducted by the Department for Infrastructure and Transport, and they had consultants. Of those consultants, MBB are one of them. MBB were appointed by—wait for it—the previous government. To do what? Give procurement advice. They were appointed by Mr Braxton-Smith. I can't say whether they were appointed after a competitive tender or not by Mr Braxton-Smith.

The Hon. J.A.W. Gardner interjecting:

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Sorry?

The Hon. J.A.W. Gardner: In relation to this?

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: They are our procurement advisers. The department is able to use procurement advisers that we already have on contract. I believe it was appropriate, because MBB are world class. They are some of the best procurement advisers anywhere in Australia, if not the world.

If the opposition have evidence to the contrary that MBB are somehow not qualified to provide this advice, then I would like to see it. If the opposition is saying that for every single procurement in government—that every single contractor who is already prequalified or already sitting with DIT with an existing contract must re-tender for every piece of advice we seek, well, that is, of course, silly.

MBB are exceptional financial advisers. I value their advice. It was one of the good decisions the previous government made, to secure them as advisers on procurement. They do an exceptional job. Can I also say: they have done an exceptional job for us on the north-south corridor and were one of the first to raise red flags about what members opposite were saying about their pretend $9.9 billion cost for the north-south corridor.

Mr Whetstone: It's a tunnel up at someone's electorate.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Yes, that's right, it's a tunnel. Congratulations. Catch up. You might have seen the pictures in the paper. MBB are exceptional, world-class procurement experts. No-one doubts that. They are world class. I value their advice and the government will continue to use them.

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