Page 4080 - Week 11 - Thursday, 21 September 2017
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The East and West Block buildings were built at the same time as Old Parliament House, with a deliberately unified design. All three have a white finish with similar architectural features like the windows and doors. The placement of the buildings was also carefully thought out, with the East and West Block buildings sitting behind Old Parliament House in mirror-image positions when seen from the lake or Mount Ainslie. West Block was also built raised off the natural ground level at its site so that the roof aligned with the other two buildings.
East Block and West Block were called the secretariat buildings initially. They were built to house many of the support services that parliament needed but that did not fit into Old Parliament House itself. In the early years they housed the GPO, the telephone exchange and the National Library, amongst other things. During the Second World War, West Block included an international coded communications facility linking the government to the war.
As well as their individual significance, East Block and West Block are in a precinct of national significance. The part of the parliamentary triangle south of the lake is designated as the parliamentary precinct. It has always been reserved for national government functions and cultural institutions. It includes the High Court, the National Library, the National Gallery and Old Parliament House. And, of course, up on the hill is what we still often refer to as “new” Parliament House, despite the fact that it has been there for nearly 25 years. With one very small exception, it has always been government-owned, government-planned and government-controlled.
Now, though, the federal government is selling the East and West Block buildings. The expression of interest for East Block closes on 6 October. This puts the whole parliamentary precinct, as well as the buildings themselves, at risk as far as the Greens are concerned. By privatising these buildings, the federal government is throwing out 100 years of history of keeping the parliamentary precinct government-owned, government-planned and government-controlled. Government ownership means that heritage can be given priority in the re-use of the East and West Block buildings; the wider precinct can be kept front of mind. East Block, West Block and Old Parliament House can always be kept as a unified set of buildings, and the national interest, rather than narrow private interest, will always be part of decision-making
This proposed privatisation means that, sooner or later, we will see inappropriate proposals that will permanently scar the best-known view of Canberra, the one from Mount Ainslie to Parliament House. Perhaps it will be a shiny glass office box emerging out of the centre of East Block, or perhaps a 10-storey hotel wing added to West Block, nestled just behind Old Parliament House. You can imagine that it is only a matter of time until someone puts a proposal like this.
This privatisation means that we will inevitably lose the symmetry of the original design, as different owners with different ideas will see the East and West Block buildings grow less alike over time. This proposed privatisation means that when, in future, new government functions or institutions are required, there will be much less flexibility about where they can be put in the parliamentary precinct.
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