Director General of ONI Andrew Shearer, Secretary of Finance Jenny Wilkinson, Finance Minister Katy Gallagher, Member for Canberra Alicia Payne and Member for Fenner Andrew Leigh at the sod-turning ceremony for the National Security Precinct in Barton. Photo: Ian Bushnell.
The APS is not abandoning Canberra’s CBD for Barton and will always have a presence in the centre of the national capital, Public Service Minister Katy Gallagher said on Wednesday (5 March).
Speaking after a sod-turning ceremony for the new National Security Precinct in Barton, which will be home to 5000 public servants, Senator Gallagher had some reassuring words for the property sector and CBD businesses that have seen a flight of agencies across the lake, including the Tax Office.
Senator Gallagher said Civic was still the centre of Canberra and a big employment base.
She said the National Security Precinct needed to be built in the parliamentary triangle close to Parliament.
“There isn’t a lump of land like this in other centres,” she said.
“Barton is always going to be a big employer, but so is Civic, and the city’s going to continue to grow.”
Senator Gallagher said it made sense for a light rail line to be built nearby, which would be good for both Barton and the CBD.
“The more we connect it [Barton] with light rail and transport corridors and facilities, the stronger both of those centres will be,” she said.
The Commonwealth is partnering with the ACT to deliver Stage 2A to Commonwealth Park. It also supports the planning, and hopefully construction, when approved, for the next stage to Woden, which will run through Barton.
The former car park is being excavated to accommodate the five buildings to rise on the site.
Senator Gallagher did not know if there were new leases in the offing for the CBD, but there are a number of office projects planned or under way.
Capital Property has two landmark precincts planned: the law court car park and the former clover leaf land, which will soon front the new corner of London Circuit and Commonwealth Avenue.
It is also building an office block on Vernon Circle to complement its Constitution Place development.
Excavation work is well under way on the former car park adjacent to York Park, on the corner of State Circle and Brisbane Avenue.
Lendlease will construct five buildings on the site with about 100,000 square metres of floor space, and they will be home to a number of agencies including the Office of National Intelligence and sections of DFAT.
The precinct will also include hospitality and retail outlets to service it and the surrounding area.
Up to 10,000 workers are expected to be on the site over the three to four year build, including 210 apprentices at the peak of construction.
Information on the project is scant due to its security status, but it is understood that about $1.5 billion has been allocated to it.
The precursor project, the new multi-storey car park next to the John Gorton Building in Parkes, opened on 12 February, allowing work to start on the Barton site.
Senator Gallagher said the project was nationally significant but also really important for Canberra.
“We know how important an anchor project like this plays in our local economy,” she said.
“It’s really important for our local economy that we have a significant project that underpins a lot of the other economic activity that happens in this town, and this project will be just that.”
Senator Gallagher said the precinct would be the last piece of the puzzle in terms of significant buildings in the parliamentary triangle.
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