To ensure transparency and accountability in relation to contractual arrangements for a public private partnership project, as a minimum, a summary of the project agreements (excluding any genuine commercial in confidence material) is to be tabled in the legislative assembly following financial close, together with the probity auditor's final report.
The summary will be prepared by the line agency and, if the Auditor-General is satisfied, signed off by the Auditor-General as a fair reflection of the project agreements. In preparing and tabling this summary, the intellectual property of the preferred proponent will be protected.
The summary would contain the following details:
• The full identity of the preferred proponent and its sponsors, including details of cross ownership of relevant companies
• Service delivery requirements and performance specifications
• The term of the partnership. This information would include details of future transfers of assets of significant value back to government at the end of the term
• The assets that are to be transferred to the preferred proponent
• Maintenance provisions
• The price to be paid by the public, and the basis for variations to this price
• Provisions for renegotiation
• The risk sharing in the construction and operational phases
• Significant guarantees or undertakings (this would include loans entered into or agreed to be entered into)
• Other key substantive elements of the project agreements.
The statement must not disclose:
• The preferred proponent's cost structure or profit margins;
• Matters relating to intellectual property; and
• Any other matters where disclosure would put the preferred proponent at a commercial disadvantage to its competitors.