- Mutitjulu Essential Services project
Parks Australia
3.1Parks Australia seeks approval from the Committee to proceed with its proposed Muṯitjulu Essential Services project.
3.2The project will upgrade and replace the essential power, water, and sewer services for the Muṯitjulu Indigenous community, the recognised Traditional Owners of Uluṟu. The project will improve habitability and safety within the community as well as increase capacity for anticipated growth in the population and infrastructure.
3.3The Director of National Parks (DNP), within the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW) portfolio, has legislative responsibility for six Commonwealth national parks, as well as the Australian National Botanic Gardens and Australian Marine Parks. The DNP is responsible for the supply and maintenance of essential power, water, and sewer services to the Muṯitjulu community. The DNP became responsible for the delivery of these services when the park was established in 1985. Parks Australia supports the Director of National Parks.
3.4The estimated cost of delivery of the works is $91.87 million (excluding GST).
3.5The project was referred to the Committee on 27 February 2024.
Conduct of the inquiry
3.6Following referral, the inquiry was publicised on the Committee’s website and via media release.
3.7The Committee received one submission and one confidential supplementary submission. A list of submissions can be found at Appendix A.
3.8On 8 and 9 May 2024, the Committee conducted an inspection of the site of the proposed works at Uluru Kata-Tjuta National Park, NT. On 23 May 2024, the Committee received a briefing and conducted public and in-camera hearings at Australian Parliament House, Canberra. A transcript of the public hearing is available on the Committee’s website.
Need for the works
3.9The Aṉangu, who comprise the Muṯitjulu Indigenous community, are the recognised Traditional Owners of Uluṟu. The community resides in a township zone of approximately 1,121 hectares, 1.5 km to the east of Uluṟu within the Uluṟu-Kata Tjuṯa National Park (UKTNP) (the ‘park’). In 2021, the community recorded a population of 2983 people. The community’s population can fluctuate substantially with residents travelling to neighbouring communities or with non-residents staying for extended periods of time.
3.10Services for the day-to-day functioning of the Muṯitjulu community include township infrastructure, housing developments, health, education, police, and social/community services. These are the responsibility of Commonwealth and Northern Territory Government (NTG) agencies, as well as a range of other organisations, including the Muṯitjulu Community Aboriginal Corporation (MCAC).
3.11Tourist visitation to UKTNP can only occur by the permission of the Aṉangu Traditional Owners. Support to the Muṯitjulu community through essential services provision and other practical contributions relating to health, policing and education services are necessary to permit these arrangements to continue.
3.12The existing essential services supporting the Muṯitjulu community are over 30 years old, are non-compliant with current Australian standards and have become increasingly unreliable. Should the infrastructure not be replaced, service disruptions will increase in both frequency and severity.
3.13Emergency repairs are costly in such a remote area and result in unplanned and unmanaged outages to the community. Prolonged power outages lead to overflow of sewer systems and interrupted water supply due to pump failure, resulting in significant health and safety impacts. Air-conditioning would no longer operate, resulting in extreme indoor temperatures making housing uninhabitable. Furthermore, for residents needing necessary medical support systems, a prolonged power outage would have a significant adverse impact on their health and require relocation to a community with available services.
3.14Prolonged disruption to essential services may require the whole community to be temporarily relocated to an alternate location where these essential services can be provided. Such a relocation would result in potential health risks and significant disruption to the lives of the residents, as well as considerable financial and reputational cost to the DNP.
Options considered
3.15The location of the Muṯitjulu community is across three neighbourhoods; Muṯitjulu itself, and two smaller neighbourhoods known as Maruku and Rangerville which accommodate community support services including UKTNP rangers, police, health, and education workers. The scope of the project includes works for each service in each neighbourhood. Three engineering reports carried out between 2018 and 2020 led to the development of the following option analysis:
- Option 1 – Do nothing (status quo): This involves the DNP continuing the increasingly costly repair and maintenance program and responding to urgent reactive maintenance needs whilst deferring any considerations for major replacements indefinitely.
- Option 2 – Essential services replacement across all three neighbourhoods by one Head Contractor procurement: This option involves the replacement of all essential services within Muṯitjulu in one project, managed by a single head contractor to complete in one mobilisation. Within this option, existing electrical services, water, and sewer will be replaced by a new services network that meets the project’s objectives; in a sequence across the three neighbourhoods that best suits the needs of the community and the DNP.
- Option 3 – Essential services replacement as three separable portions with separate Head Contractor procurements: This option involves an identical overall scope to Option 2, but with the service replacements to the Muṯitjulu, Maruku and Rangerville neighbourhoods as three separable portions of scope procured separately. This could result in up to three different head contractors being mobilised to site independently however two or all three portions could be secured by a single contractor.
- Conducting the works separately by infrastructure service type rather than neighbourhood location was also considered in the planning process but discounted. Overhead power distribution was also considered but ruled out by Traditional Owners as it would conflict with cultural and environmental values. The optimal outcome is for all services to be in one trench with sewer at the bottom then water then electrical at the top.
- Option 2 is preferred as it is the least complex and costly in procurement and provides for simple and direct communication and coordination between DNP staff, the Muṯitjulu community, and a single contractor.
Scope of the works
3.18The works will be delivered in and around the Muṯitjulu, Maruku and Rangerville neighbourhoods within the UKTNP. The scope of the project is as follows:
- Electrical. The electrical network will comprise of new low voltage and high voltage cabling encased inside conduit from the power station to each current and new lot. New substations will be installed to ensure the network has enough capacity for both current and future requirements.
- Water. The water network will comprise of a new ring network to minimise dead ends and the subsequent water fouling. The network will service all current and new lots with potable water. Included throughout the network will be access to fire hydrants for emergency services that will have appropriate water pressure as required by relevant Australian standards.
- Sewer. The sewer network will be comprised primarily of gravity fed sewers, which will service all current and new lots. These gravity sewer lines will drain to new pump stations and a high-density polyethylene (HDPE) rising main that will pump the sewerage from the township to the sewerage treatment farm. Manholes and inspection openings will be included in accordance with the relevant Australian standards as part of the compliance obligations.
- Existing Network. The existing power, water and sewer networks will be decommissioned including all existing septic tanks. Wherever feasible the existing network will be removed and appropriately disposed of either through recycling (water pipe) or disposal in an appropriate facility outside of the park with detailed records provided by the contractor to DNP confirming both material type and quantity. Where services are located inside existing lots or near culturally sensitive trees, services will be made safe and may remain in the ground subject to discussion and agreement between the contractor, DNP project manager and the community. Temporary services will be established to maintain services continuity throughout the duration of the works.
Community and stakeholder consultation
3.19Parks Australia recognises stakeholder consultation is critical for the success of this project. To manage the consultation process, the Muṯitjulu Working Group (MWG) was established. The MWG meets monthly, or as deemed necessary by the members, to provide input and consultation on this project. The first meeting was held on 7 October 2022. The members are representatives from the following stakeholders:
- Director of National Parks
- Office of Township Leasing
- MCAC
- Central Land Council
- Central Australian Aboriginal Congress
- NT Department of Infrastructure, Planning, and Logistics
- National Indigenous Australians Agency
- The main concerns raised by community representatives have been the length of time it has taken since the announcement of initial funding in 2020 to undertake the works, and the importance of protecting three sacred trees.
- The following points address these concerns:
- The project is now well advanced and a tender will be released to the market immediately following parliamentary approvals.
- An Environmental Impact Assessment states the design of the services will not impact the sacred trees. The Central Land Council has provided a Sacred Site Clearance certificate which cites protection of the sacred trees. This information will be provided to tenderers to ensure compliance with all the conditions of the certificate and for sufficient protection of the sacred trees throughout the works.
- At the public hearing, Parks representatives further explained the reasons for the delay in the works commencing:
…the 2018 GHD report was really the jump off point for commencing this project in earnest, which led to an initial funding allocation of $48.6 million by government to begin to address the problem in 2020. That funding was fundamental to enable us to commence the process of detailed scoping and working up further technical details of the project. Of course, that occurred, as you noted, in almost perfect parallel with the biggest shock to our economy, and the global economy, in living memory in the form of COVID, which created a shock and some changes to the cost parameters of the project. Simultaneously, with further engineering investigation and design work, it became apparent that that original funding would not be adequate in the new circumstances to fully fund the project. So there was a further allocation of funding, being $92.8 million in last year's federal budget, which took account of the new engineering understanding and the new cost environment, and has enabled us to press ahead with the project.
3.23At the public hearing Parks Australia further commented they are aware of the community’s desire to see the proceeds of the wastewater treatment put back into the irrigation of the local oval to create green grass on the oval. If Parks Australia has residual funding and community support for the irrigation of the oval remains high, Parks Australia will endeavour to work closely with the joint board, the Muṯitjulu Community Aboriginal Corporation, and the community to pivot funding towards such a project.
Cost of the works
3.24The estimated cost of the project is $91.87 million. This includes management and design fees, construction costs, contingencies, and a provision for escalation.
3.25Operating costs are expected to reduce when the proposed works are completed. New, compliant infrastructure is markedly cheaper to maintain than aged and failing systems. The maintenance of the new infrastructure will be managed from within the DNP’s operational budget.
3.26At the public hearing, representatives from Parks Australia outlined the procurement process:
…the process now comprises a non-binding open market expression of interest to develop a shortlist of suitable tenderers followed by a limited tender request to the short-listed parties. This will promote greater visibility, structure and certainty about the DNP's intent to industry. In turn, this will bring more market interest from those parties capable of delivering the scope of works in the remote location, whilst also increasing the likelihood of achieving a value for money outcome for the Commonwealth.
Revenue
3.27There will be no revenue generated by the project.
Public value
3.28The completed works will result in improved service provisions, safety, and environmental performance. Conversely, there will be a significant impact on the community if these works are not completed. It is a matter of ‘when’ not ‘if’ one of these essential services experiences a significant and catastrophic failure that may result in emergency relocation of the community.
3.29The project will reduce the risk of emergency relocation as well as public health risk to the Muṯitjulu community.
3.30The project will increase capacity for new buildings and services to be developed within the community. The infrastructure will support new facilities desired by the Muṯitjulu community such as
- a health clinic with dialysis services
- a new supermarket
- new staff accommodation for community service workers
- a new playground and shade structure
- residential housing for renal support staff.
- At the public hearing, Parks further explained:
Importantly, the expanded capacity to deliver renal services in the community will be reliant on the completion of this project. That's not to say that we couldn't find a way of supporting it if it was ready before we were. Notwithstanding, the new network will provide higher quality water once the water treatment project is completed. Obviously it will be reticulated at sufficient pressure in the right locations—as we've discussed previously. It will also minimise dead ends within the service, so it will improve water quality more broadly and get rid of the stagnation issue we have that is a result of a poorly designed network which was created in an ad hoc way.
3.32The project will encourage opportunities for Indigenous business participation and will meet the Commonwealth Mandatory Minimum Indigenous Participation requirements.
3.33These works will also facilitate ongoing visitation access to Uluṟu by the Australian public and international tourists. This is associated with benefits to the Australian economy. Traditional Owner arrangements mean public visitation can only occur by the permission of the Muṯitjulu community. Support to the community through these essential services improvements and other practical contributions such as provision of health, police and education services are necessary to permit these arrangements to endure. The Rangerville neighbourhood (one of the three neighbourhoods that will receive works) provides an essential site for accommodating park staff, which directly support the management of the area's World Heritage values and associated visitor experience.
Committee comment
3.34The Committee did not identify any issues or concerns with the proposal, and it is satisfied that the project has merit in terms of need, scope, and cost.
3.35The Committee recognises the necessity of these works in ensuring access to basic living conditions for the Muṯitjulu community and embraces the knowledge that the updated services infrastructure will support other facilities desired by the community, such as a health clinic and new supermarket.
3.36The Committee acknowledges the significance of the arrangements which require the Muṯitjulu community to be provided with adequate services, and the importance of ongoing tourist access to Uluṟu.
3.37The Committee supports the bundling of works, as outlined in Option 2, and the intended procurement strategy of Parks Australia as mechanisms to enhance the project management of the works and provide cost efficiency to the Commonwealth.
3.38Having regard to its role and responsibilities contained in thePublic Works Committee Act 1969, the Committee is of the view that this project signifies value for money for the Commonwealth and constitutes a project which is fit-for-purpose, having regard to the established need.
3.39The Committee recommends that the House of Representatives resolve, pursuant to section 18(7) of thePublic Works Committee Act 1969, that it is expedient to carry out the following proposed works: Parks Australia — Mutitjulu Essential Services project.
3.40Proponent entities must notify the Committee of any changes to the project, scope, time, cost, function, or design. The Committee also requires that a post-implementation report be provided within three months of project completion. A report template can be found on the Committee's website.