The Weatherill Government paid contractors an extra $600,000 for ‘acceleration costs’ to get Adelaide Oval ready for the Rolling Stones concert, Shadow Treasurer Rob Lucas said today.
“This $600,000 was wasted expenditure because the Rolling Stones concert was ultimately cancelled and then rescheduled,” said Mr Lucas.
“This $600,000 payment was in addition to the proposed $450,000 cost of getting the Rolling Stones to come to Adelaide.”
The Auditor-General’s Report into Adelaide Oval, released this week, reveals that:
“In February 2014, the Minister approved the payment of $600,000 in acceleration costs to the principal construction contractor to achieve practical completion on 19 March 2014 as the preferred strategy to manage the risks for the completion of works under the principal construction contract in order to stage the Rolling Stones concert on 22 March 2014 and the first Adelaide Oval showdown on 29 March 2014. The Minister also approved an additional contingency of $400,000 if required.”
“So what the Auditor-General has revealed is that just prior to the state election Minister Koutsantonis approved up to $1 million in payments to the contractor to ensure Adelaide Oval would be ready for the concert by 19 March,” said Mr Lucas.
“Mr Koutsantonis needs to explain why he approved this $600,000 payment, especially as he had already approved bonus payments of $5 million for the Oval to be ready for the first Test match in December 2013 and the first AFL match in March 2014.
“In fact the Government committed to pay the contractor $2.5 million for practical completion of the Oval in time for the first AFL match on 29 March.
“So Mr Koutsantonis paid $600,000 (and up to $1 million) to bring the practical completion of the Oval forward by about seven days for a rock concert.
“Mr Koutsantonis is now trying to get the Stadium Management Authority to pay for half of those extra costs. The SMA has refused to pay on the grounds it was for a Rolling Stones concert which was the initiative of the Weatherill Government.
“This is yet another example of the financial mismanagement and incompetence of Mr Weatherill and Mr Koutsantonis.”
