Queensland Art Gallery Presscuttings Book 9 : Construction of the cultural centre, 1977-1981

Education and ·health cut - I 'not luxuries' I• Confusion on costs • THE State Government will press ahead with two so-called "luxury projects" while axing expansion in key public sectors such as education and health. This was made clcnr By RIC cosi.lng had been done by after The Sunday Mull a Parliamentary com- polled key Cabinet Min- ALLEN miLtce under the chalr- lste1·s last week. manshlp or the Speaker Spokesmen for the Premier <Mr. Bjelke-Pe• tc1·scnl and the Treasur– er I Mr. Knox! said the construction and fur– nishing of the new par– liamentary building anct the cultural centre were regarded as "committed" prnjects. ~ The Cultural Centre at South Brisbane ls due for complctlOn in 1983 and will cost an estimated $62 million. However, a contract for stage I of the Cultural Centre project has not yet been appro,•ed. Po 11 t I c RI observers point out that there Is still plenty or time to re s cind nny "com– mitment". The new State parlla- mcntary Rccommodat-lon block Is costing SIS mil– lion to build and will be finished lal.e this year. D e • p I t e clear state– ments from Cabinet on essentlal projects to ~e axed In the forlhcomlnr Budget, there Is an al• mosphere of confusion surrounding the new parliamentary bulldtnr;. Costin'{. Senior Members or tl1e Queensland Parliament applll'ently are at odds M ·to how much the fur– nishing or the new build– Ing will cost and whose responsibility It Is. Spokesmen ror the Premier and the Trea– surer saJd the details and ,Mr. Houghton 1. Mr. Houghton said tl e responsibility lny with the Works Department. .A senior member of the department said It hac! been directed on furnish– ! n g s by the parlia– mentary committee. Report. flooded State Government circle• last week that tbe cnst of the furnl•hln~• had got nut or hand and the kitchen In the new parliamentary hulldlnc would co,t S2 mllllon, Mr. HoughIon said: ''It's a lot of gRl'bage. Two million dollars is loo much spent on a cook– housc. "Anyway, I don't know nny costs. That's up to the Works Department. "l do know that the plumbers hal'e gone on strike nnd the cookhouse will be delayed." Mr, Houghton agreed thnt t-he pnrllamcntary commltlee had rejected the architect's choice ol carpet. Obserl'ers that the curpct wns bought and pa id for nnd the whole episode reeks of bad or poor business ncumen. "It was purple and Just was not acceptable to the committee,'' he said. "U might be OK for MR. PEEL the rookies out at the university, bu, It defl• nltely wns not right !or the new building. "Anyway, there was no loss in that. The purple carpet has been used elsewhere. "We chosen rusty color and different colors for the bedrooms of the 62 Members,'' Mr. Houghton said he rlld not know whether dining room chairs hnd been Imported at $800 each as has been claimed. '·It's a matter for the Department of Works,'' he said. A S p O k C S Ill a I\ for Peddle, Thorp and Har– vey, the building archi– tects, said any costs and details on the furn ish– ings would hnve to come from the Slate Govern– ment. H is belicl'cd that ~O contracts are lnvolrcd in the multi-million dollar rurnl, hln~s and It Ls not known whether tc11dcrs were called. Th e latest contract signed was for crockery. In bed One of the most cx– pcnsil·c Items In the fur– nishings Is for audio-vis· 11 a I equipment which permits Members to lie in bed and wa tch direct or taped proceedings uf the House. All polltlcnl parties are represented on the 11r.w Parliament House b111ld– lng committee buL indl– \'ldunl 1\tcmbcrs rcfw,cd to rc1·cnl costs or rur– n1shlngs. Th e c nmm ll t ce Is ,·haired hy Mr Houghton. Other I\fi,A.'l 011 the com ~ m1ucc nre Mr Akers 1Lib.. Pinc Rlv('r~1. l\•tr Ha,tll'lg ,N.P. Calllclcl. Mr. Moore , Lih.. W111cl – sor 1, J\tr. J\tullcr 1N,P . F'as lfcnl', J\tr. WIIHOII ,ALP, Townsvllle outh 1 a11d J\tr. r . Yewctul • (ALP.. Rockhnmpton ,. Th c r c ls n1111111ll11;: c:rlllcliun or thr !'<ICCrcc,· ~nrroundln!:, co~tc;,, a111I the nt11nnrr In which the new hnlhllni: I• hclng furnished. ficers conflrmccl that re– po n s o r exorbllant . pending were rtre. Some C~blncl Min• lstcrs are concerned that there will be an electoral backlash because the es– sential projects are to be cut while these "luxury" projects continue. T h Is n c w parlln• mcnt.ary spending ha! occurred while the Audi– tor-General ,Mr. J, Peel) ha s ordered an in• restlgatlon Into alleged abuse or travel vouchers. Control Some. Cabinet Min• lstcrs also are pushing for tighter control In the use or Ministerial cars und public service cars. It Is Ufldcrstood lhal Ministers wlll be urged to "tlghlcn their sprndlng on private staffs and their public use or Gov– ernment rchlcles" before t he T r c as II r c r fMr. Knox I brings down his Budget.