Document ID: chunk:federal_register_of_legislation:F2021L01868:reg:4:p57
Version: federal_register_of_legislation:F2021L01868
Segment Type: reg
Provision Reference: reg 4 (pt 57/63)
Character Range: 498972–501816

senators.71 So great had the demand for office space become that, after the 1969 federal election, the Serjeant-at-Arms, desperately searching for accommodation for some of the newly elected parliamentarians 'took one MP to a tiny space used as a cleaning cupboard, lifted out a couple of brooms and asked the wide- eyed rookie if it would suffice. It did.'72

  But even while the additions were being built, it was recognised that they would be no more than a stopgap measure and that they would still not provide enough office accommodation for the occupants of the building, notably the Parliamentary Departments. There would, in particular, be insufficient space for the Parliamentary Library and the staff of the legislative research service. They were being 'inexorably squeezed out of Parliament House altogether' and were accordingly seeking accommodation in other buildings near the House.73 Thus, despite the plans to extend the building once again, it was clear that its effective life as the nation's Parliament House could not be sustained much longer. Employing a colourful phrase to emphasise the imminence of this event, Sir John Overall, Chairman of the NCDC, likened the old building to 'a battleship with its guts worn out'. Furthermore, he and others advocated that the provisional building should be demolished once it had ceased its function as the nation's legislature.74

  Yet there was still no concrete progress on plans to build the permanent Parliament House. Despite the abandonment in October 1968 of the lakeside site that Sir William Holford had favoured for the building, deep divisions existed among parliamentarians and the Parliamentary Departments as to an alternative location for it. The competing sites were Camp Hill and Capital (formerly Kurrajong) Hill. In 1970, the Joint Select Committee for the New and Permanent Parliament House pressed for work to commence on the permanent building but, with no agreement as to where it was to be erected, no commencement was possible. For the time being at least, the worn-out battleship would have to remain in commission.75

  The construction of the new senate wing, as well as the extensions to the roof areas, was completed by September 1972, though time was still needed to fit out and furnish the additions. Meanwhile, in early 1971, the Gorton government, for reasons of economy, had deferred work on the front east and front west extensions. However, this decision was reversed by the McMahon government and work subsequently commenced on the front west and east sections in May and December 1972 respectively. When completed,

    69      Debates of the Senate Estimates Committee, 21 September 1972, p. 69, in House of Representatives file 72/318, OPH; Canberra News, no. 589, 22 February 1972.
    70      Souter, Acts of Parliament, pp. 488–90.