The government department in charge of the Darwin Ship Lift facility ignored advice from the Auditor General to order a cost-benefit analysis into the now $820 million project, stating it would do that when the project is complete, a new report has found, but nobody has been held accountable for the massive cost blowout, with the Finocchiaro CLP Government advised to continue with the project amid untested claims it cannot terminate the contract and has spent too much money to stop now.
The NT Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee released its final report into the long-delayed and massively over-budget Ship Lift facility on Thursday, providing five recommendations, including that the project proceed because a quarter of a billion dollars has already been spent, but that stricter cost controls be implemented moving forward by the current government that abolished the debt ceiling upon coming into office.
Just another day at the office in the NTG.
Lordy . . . Lordy. Have we territorians walked blind folded into present, future debt. Led solely by . . . the nose. Accountability means . . . ? ? ? . No! Your kidding? Transparency????
The Standards in the Northern Territory remind me of a third world Banana Republic and also Parkinson’s law as explained by the economist Cyril Northcote Parkinson in his famous best seller book “Parkinson’s Law” in 1957 about public service administration and management. Also when will this substandard Northern Territory jurisdiction grow up and become a mature professional adult jurisdiction where NT politicians and NT public service bureaucrats actually respect tax payer funded dollars for a change?
There is talk and media reports that US Defense are viewing the Top End as a important area in its Pacific/South China Sea push..
It could be, that Ship lift actually gets used.