6. RODNEY HIDE (Leader—ACT) Link to this
to the Minister for Crown Research Institutes
What has been the cost to the taxpayer to date of the preparation for sale of the old dental school at 17 Kelly Street, Mt Eden, including remediation work, and what is the expected total cost of the work required for the sale to be completed?
Hon PETE HODGSON (Minister of Health) Link to this
The cost to date is around $1 million. The total cost when it is completed is likely to exceed that figure slightly.
Does the Minister have confidence in his officials’ advice that it will exceed that figure just slightly when the property was sold for $1.6 million, $1 million has already been spent on remediation, and that Minister himself, relying on his officials’ advice, issued a press release on 27 October 2004 stating: “Remediation of the site is expected to be complete within a month.”, it is still not completed, over $1 million has been spent, and probably another $1 million of taxpayers’ money will be spent and wasted on this site?
In answer to the member’s first question, yes. In answer to the member’s second question, no, the Hon Steve Maharey was not the Minister in question; it was his predecessor. I say to the member that what is happening now is that the Institute of Environmental Science and Research is awaiting advice from Auckland City Council and Auckland Regional Council as to whether there is an all-clear. That is anticipated soon.
I raise a point of order, Madam Speaker. A point of clarification to help the Minister answer my supplementary question is that the press release back in October 2004 was actually from the then Minister for Crown Research Institutes, Pete Hodgson.
Madam SPEAKERWill the Minister undertake to ask his officials what work is to be done to complete a sale that was agreed to over 5 years ago, and is still not completed, where $1 million has been spent when it was supposed to be only $600,000, and will he consider stopping the sale, as he can within the terms of the contract, thereby saving taxpayers some money and returning that land to some open space for everyone to enjoy?
The member is not aware, perhaps, that the sale 5 years ago was unconditional and that the reason for the delay in the clean-up is that this site used to be a dental school and through the 1960s and 1970s people seemed to throw spare amalgam out the window. It is not a good idea to have a lot of mercury in the middle of Auckland, and the Government is happy to play its part in cleaning it up.
Does the Minister’s happiness to spend taxpayers’ money on this one site include excavating 5,000 cubic metres so that the developer who picked up the site, who was the former chief financial officer of the Institute of Environmental Science and Research charged with selling the property, can have the car-park dug for his apartments, courtesy of the taxpayer?
My advice is that far from there being 5,000 cubic metres removed for a car-park, the total excavation is in the order of 1,700 cubic metres and that it is to remove heavy metals.
Keith LockeI seek leave to table an article on this issue from Metro magazine in October 2004 detailing the sorry dealings of apparent insider trading involving the former Institute of Environmental Science and Research chief financial officer, Neil Wanden, and the purchase for $1.65 million of a 5,000 square metre site.
It is a matter of clarification. The specific issue of insider trading was explicitly examined by the Auditor-General and was found not to be the case.