The joint venture between Leighton Holdings and ABN AMRO Australia has been selected as the preferred tenderer to construct the new $300 million purpose-built Headquarters Joint Operations Command near Bungendore in NSW.
Praeco Pty Ltd was selected after an extensive and detailed tender evaluation process back in September 2004.
According to the Federal government, Praeco will be required to build, operate and maintain the new headquarters facility for the 30-year contract term. Defence has retained the responsibility for the procurement, installation and maintenance of the command, control, communications, computing and intelligence systems for the facility.
Federal Defence minister Brendan Nelson said that Praeco was to be complimented on providing a comprehensive bid that will give the Australian Defence Force a first class command and control facility to support the planning and conduct of Defence operations and activities.
Dr. Nelson said the announcement also marks a significant milestone for the Australian Government in that the consortium will be providing the buildings, infrastructure, maintenance and services components of the Project under private financing arrangements.
He said the private financing arrangements have been assessed to provide better value for money for the Commonwealth than traditional procurement as it transfers to the private sector many of the risks in the areas of design, construction, maintenance and operation of the facility which the private sector is better positioned to manage.
Private financing also allows the Government to focus on delivering core services or capability.
The selection of Praeco as the preferred tenderer is conditional on the consortium reaching agreement with Defence on a number of matters during contract negotiations. This is not unusual for a project of the scope and scale of the Headquarters project.
By Kathryn O’Meara
