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

... ..,.. -~. The Sunday Mail 18th June, 1978 Marble imported for Govt. works THE State Government yesterday was claimed to be setting a bad example in its "Buy Queen • land-made" campaign by ignoring local marble supplies and importing an oversea, product at a cost of miUions of dollars. This waa claimed In Brisbane by the Opposi– tion local government spokesman <Mr. W. Pre•t), Mr. Prest said: "Cur– rent Government proj– ects have excluded local supplies or marble by specifying Imported ma– terials. "A • a result, marble l1 b e In r Imported from 1acb pt._ u ltal1 while a loeal lndualr, '°" her· sln,r." Mr. Prest said Govern– ment project • to order imported marble Includ– ed the Cultural Centre, the Court Building at North Quay and the new Parlia.ment Buildlng In George Street. No chance "The local marble product didn't ha1•e a chance to compete even though the basic oost la far lower," he said. "The financial loaa to the State m11 be iaured b, the Court Hou•• bulldlnr 11·hlch require• marble to the landed vat• ae of 1200,000, "Local masons were not even asked to quote on the new Parliament House building." Mr. Prest snlct the Ula.m marble qua rry ln Central Queensland had reserl'es measured to JOO million tonnes. "The quality of the marble can be seen In Its use In buildings such as the Commonwealth Bank In King· George Square the SOIO Building In Anzac Square, the Exec– utive Building In George Street and the Main Roads Building." lllr. Prest said: "In the case or the new Parlia– mentary building, noth• Ing was known or the ar– chitect's intentions untU tenders "'ere called. "At that time, II ls cen– trally co11sldtl'l!d too late to alter the ovor•ll J1IA11 because or dan,rer to the ao,thetlc vmlue or the de– sign. I "A marble called Ro– man Travertine was or– dered, "It shows the problems Inherent In ha •Ing prl• v a t e architec s per– forming for the Works Depar t m ent being allowed a free hand." Mr. Prest said the ar– chitect,5 tor the Cultural Centre had ordered "Ro– man Travertine" again. "In this project, one might have expected · some ac.:ent towards a local Queensland pro– duct." Mr. Prest said the or– dering of local marble would assist Jn the fur– ther development of the Central Queensland mine. "The limestone depos– it., there could correct the anomaly or having to Import a million dollars wort,h of Industrial cal– cite annually for the plas– tics lridustry also," he said. $19 million tender let for . ' c1tys new Art Gallery A QUEENSLM,l'D company has been awarded a $19,100,000 contract to build the State's art gallery. ART GALLERY Ten tenders rnngin fl'nm S19 1111ll!nn to $::!' mllllon l111\'C been re r('f\'cd for I ltf' nrt gnllcr~ phu~c or the Qucens1nn C II It t1 I' n I Centre, 1.h Works and llousln~ Min !.'Her. l\fr \Vlrnrton, Mlle tu,lny. The poller;· will in rl11clr. n cu r pnrk, re~tn11 1'11111 n 1HI 111ultl • p11rp1 't tHlltorf11111. It will go into the cui– turnl centre complex on the •otJth bank or the Brisbane Ril·cr. The Works llllnlst rr <Mr. \Vhn rton, Rnirt YC!;• t,erc1A~· lhe contrnct hnd J?OOC lo Graham E\'AllS & Co. ,Qld.l Pt;·. Ltd, He snld to tenders were re .. ccil'ed. The r·ont rncL alsn w~s for a cn r park. rrstnu .. rnnt., Rnrt n 111ultl·p1Jr– tlOSc Rlldltorltim which would serl'e the cultural co111plcx. Construction or the nrt Anliery would beAln tills month nnrl should be llnlshr.ct In lORI, Mr. Wharton SR.let. Sirl John given a new_post <.:ANBERRA. - l•'ormer lo11 1111blic serva nt Sir ,John Buntin,:' is one or two new mem– bers of the Australia Council, He Rnd 111uslc cr!l!t;• ro111po~cr, Profc~snr Ro• Arr Col'rll. hn1·e hecn RJl· JJo I 11 Led for rour•)'cnr terms. Sir ,John, n lormr.r hcnn of I l1c Prunr l'\•1111- !strr's nrtd Cab111rl Dr- 1>11 r1 111c11 t, WHS ,<\ lhl l'n lln ':; 1-1lµ h Co111111 iss,011rr 111 L<1ndon bet wcen J fl75- 1077, The app ln1mcnts rol – lo\\" the rrt lrt•mcnt. of SC\'Cl'R I ('Ollllt'il members, lnrlurtin~ h lsror1a n. Pro• re~i:r,r Mnn11111g Olnrk, 'I' II r llmrte Al rnfrs M1 11fslr r ,Mr. Jo:IJf{'OILJ nlso llllllOllllC'rct the np- po1ntmcnt.. nf i\lr. Nlch-– o Ins Hnsluck as the c o u 11 c Il ' s new de11uLy chn1rmun, ,\lr, Haslurk, a l'rrth 5nJ1citor nnd .-.on or 1t for- 111 c r O0\'r.r'1or-Oc11cral '',r Pnul HP.sluck l suc– c eed s D r, K . R. AlcKlnnon. II hn l'CSiAned earlier this )TR I'.