Liberal Leader Mark Parton MLA moved a motion in the Assembly calling on the Government to table early costings for Light Rail Stage 2B by the last sitting week in June.
Thomas welcomed the Opposition’s push for greater transparency, but argued that the timeline set out in the motion was unrealistic given that accurate costings likely do not exist yet.
Thomas also highlighted that scrutiny is needed when it comes to infrastructure spending, but expressed sympathy for Labor’s concerns around conditioning the market and weakening the Territory’s bargaining position if indicative costings were released early. In response to these concerns, Thomas reflected that confidential briefings or a private Assembly Committee process may be appropriate once a final business case is prepared for the project to ensure the Assembly can appropriately scrutinise it prior to any construction contracts being signed.
The motion was supported by the Liberals and independent MLA Fiona Carrick but opposed by Labor, the Greens and Thomas, so did not pass the Assembly.