Senator COLBECK (Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Finance and Administration) (1:37 PM) —Firstly, I thank honourable senators for their contribution to the debate this afternoon. The Public Works Committee Amendment Bill 2006 makes some important amendments to the Public Works Committee Act. The amendments reflect changes in the Commonwealth public works environment since the act was last amended in 1989. They take into account new methods of procurement and the increase in construction prices since the threshold was last amended.

The bill updates the threshold value, for which projects must be referred to the committee, from $6 million to $15 million. It reflects an increase in construction costs since the last amendment in 1985 that Senator Sherry mentioned. The proposed legislation also allows for the value of the threshold to be set by regulation. Again, I see this as being a sensible way to manage this into the future rather than a legislative change being required. This obviously provides for greater flexibility for future updates of the threshold value to accommodate future changes in construction prices.

In reacting to new methods of procurement, the bill amends the definition of a ‘public work’ to make it clear that works funded by way of public-private partnerships, or PPPs, must be referred to the committee—and, as Senator Forshaw has said, a couple of those have been considered or are being considered by the committee at the moment. The amended definition of a ‘public work’ specifically includes public works funded through leasing or similar arrangements, even though the Commonwealth may not necessarily become the owner of the work. Again, this reflects the changing nature of Commonwealth construction procurement, and Senator Forshaw touched on that in his contribution to the debate. Works under precommitment leasing arrangements are not considered to be for the Commonwealth and continue to be excluded in line with existing practice. Together, these changes update and modernise the Public Works Committee Act, which governs one of the longest standing committees of the parliament, as indicated by Senator Sherry. I thank the committee for their consultation during the process of preparing this legislation. We have received full support for the bill from the committee and we commend the bill to the Senate.

Question agreed to.

Bill read a second time