The Government is to provide the money over four years for restoration and replacement of Commonwealth assets in the national area of Canberra.
It will be partly funded by introducing parking fees in the parliamentary zone and managed by the National Capital Planning Authority.
The chief executive of the NCPA, Lyndsay Neilson, said last night that work in 1993-94 would include repairs to the major bridges, repairs and improvements to the Captain Cook Memorial Water Jet, reconstruction of the King George V statue in front of Old Parliament House, and restoration of facilities in Commonwealth Gardens and Old Parliament House gardens.
Other capital works for Canberra in the Budget include a $114 million building for the Australian Geological Survey Office; $5.4 mill for a new National Defence College at Watson; $4.9 million over four years for a national portrait gallery at Old Parliament House; a multi-million dollar refit of Russell offices; and confirmation of the Government’s election promise to provide the first $3 million for design work for the National Museum.
The capital works were welcomed by the Chief Minister, Rosemary Follett, who said it would encourage spending and employment in the Territory. She was pleased the exemption on sales tax for ACt Government purchases would stay.
On a national scale Ms Follett has welcomed spending to encourage more small to medium-sized businesses to begin exporting and the extension of the women’s health program. She thought the income-tax cuts would off-set the increases people would have to pay in indirect taxes.
General federal grants to the ACT were slashed in the Budget, as predicted by the Grants Commission earlier this year (see report page X).
The NCPA has been pushing for some years to get better funding to repair Commonwealth assets and to promote Canberra. Last year the chairman of the NCPA, Joe Skrzynski, attacked the poor maintenance of $2 billion worth of national assets in Canberra. He pointed to shoddy pavements, crumbling statues, poorly lit carparks, leaking pipes and a litany of other defects.
Most of the assets are in the Parliamentary Triangle.
Mr Neilson said the $19 million was made up of $15 to restore Commonwealth assets in the central national area and $4.4 million for design and program management, to be offset by revenue from pay parking in the Parliamentary Triangle beginning in 1993-94, after consultation with the ACT Government and car park users.
The paid parking is likely to have major fringe-benefits tax implications for all those organisations that provide parking to employees in the Triangle.
The new restoration program is in addition to on-going maintenance funding of $7.5 million in 1993-94, and a capital works program that has received a significant boost this year to $6.66 million.
Mr Neilson said the NCPA’s 1993-94 Capital Works budget included funding for improvements to the entries at the High Court and National Gallery of Australia, and work to improve access to the memorials on Anzac Parade.
Further funding would enable the completion of Sydney Avenue, which was being extended to join State Circle as intended in the original Burley Griffin plan and the reconstruction of Brisbane Avenue between National Circuit and State Circle.
“Other works provided for in the Budget include landscape, signage and lighting work in the Parliamentary Zone, and the development of environmental management plans to protect endangered species and grasslands,” he said. “”A program of replacement of trees in the Parliamentary Zone is also planned.”
Budget funding would enable the NCPA to produce a long term plan for Canberra’s Central National Area, a revised master plan for City Hill, and master plans for Acton Peninsula and Kings Park. There would be extensive public consultations.
The City Hill program which was to include a six-storey ACT magistrates’ court was rejected by a parliamentary committee earlier this year.
The NCPA has been cutting out a wider role for itself in the past couple of years, but has been more successful with Brian Howe as its minister than Ros Kelly. Mr Howe “”the Minister for Better Cities” has been minister in charge of the NCPA since the election.
Mr Neilson said the boost in funding would enable Australians to have a capital city they could be proud of. The ACT also gets $31.2 million over four years in the Budget for water and sewerage treatment. That program will be run by ACT authorities.