Treasury staff tour Port Adelaide before moving there next month

Treasury staff will begin their move to a Port Adelaide office building next month — but not before the frustrated public servants are taken on a bus tour to prove it is a nice place to work. SEE OUR LIST OF TOP PORT ATTRACTIONS

Treasury staff will begin their move to Port Adelaide next month — but not before the frustrated public servants are taken on a bus tour to prove it is a nice place to work.

Treasurer Rob Lucas said the 260 departmental staff would start progressively moving into the mostly vacant building on the corner of Nile and Robe streets from second week of December until March.

In response to ire from some public servants when Mr Lucas first ordered the move to the $40 million office building in September, staff were last week being taken on three-hour bus tours of Port Adelaide — run by the government’s relocation to Port Adelaide project team and Port Adelaide Enfield Council — in an effort to placate their fears.

The $40 million office building where Treasury staff will begin work next month. Photo: AAP/Roy VanDerVeg

Mr Lucas said it would prove to the public servants — currently at Westpac House — that “Port Adelaide is a good place for them to be working”

“They look at a little bit of the Port Adelaide local landmarks and the train station, which will obviously be important,” Mr Lucas said.

“They are looking at various alternative carparking options, the delights of the shopping district, the bus stops and the railway museum. They might even sneak past the odd cafe or coffee place.”

He stood by the decision to send the public servants to the new offices 15km from the city.

“We need to have warm bodies sitting in chairs down there,” he said. “There is no doubting a number of them, and a number who are there now, are still concerned in relation to the

Treasurer Rob Lucas is pleased his staff will move to the vacant office. Photo: AAP/David Mariuz

required move down to the Port, so I think that’s why, sensibly, they’re trying to allay their concerns.”

Port Adelaide Enfield Mayor Claire Boan said the Port would be “welcoming (public servants) with open arms” and endorsed the bus tours.

“I think that’s amazing because a lot of people are hesitant to come here because they have an image of what they experienced years ago or what they have heard instead of experiencing it for themselves,” Mrs Boan said.

Port Adelaide Enfield Mayor Claire Boan. Photo: Naomi Jellicoe

“I know, personally, a few people who decided to move office with their job because they wanted to come and work in the Port.”

The former Labor government — which signed a 15 year lease on the building — faced hurdles when it tried to move 500 Renewal SA and Shared Services department staff to the building last year, with some voicing “aesthetic” concerns about the industrial area.

In June, 170 Shared Services Department workers moved into one floor of the building. At the time, Infrastructure Minister Stephan Knoll said the remaining space would be filled by defence workers.

TOP PORT ADELAIDE ATTRACTIONS:

Adelaide Dolphin Sanctuary

This 118sq km area was established in 2005 to protect the resident population of Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins — the only tail walking dolphins on the planet. The sanctuary stretches from Port Gawler in the north, to North Haven in the south in the Gulf St Vincent and takes in the Port River, Barker inlet, Torrens and Garden islands and inlets on the Le Fevre Peninsula. Take a dolphin cruise and see these amazing creatures up close.

SA Maritime Museum

126 Lipson St, Port Adelaide, 10am — 5pm

The SA Maritime Museum preserves and celebrates the human history of our oceans and rivers with three floors of exhibitions, including a pirates ship the kids will love.

Port Adelaide Docks

Take a stroll past the old lighthouse and look at the ships in the harbour or hop on a dolphin cruise. There’s the City of Adelaide clipper, under restoration at the moment — built in 1863 with 23 voyages between London and South Australia. There’s the Fisherman’s Wharf Markets on the weekend and a load of pubs, cafes and restaurants within walking distance.

National Railway Museum

76 Lipson St, Port Adelaide, 10am — 4.30pm

Australia’s largest railway museum with over 100 exhibits on display.

Semaphore Jetty

The Esplanade, Semaphore

Beautiful sport for a stroll and ice cream. There’s playgrounds, the waterslide complex, the beautiful Semaphore Carousel and the Fort Glanville Steam Train — plus loads of pubs and eateries. And if you head there over the Easter long weekend in 2019 you can watch the sky fill with colour when the Adelaide International Kite Festival returns.

Alberton Oval

Brougham Place, Alberton

Home of the SANFL Port Adelaide Magpies and AFL’s Port Power. The historic clubrooms welcome members and non-members alike and there’s a great reasonably priced menu in the restaurant. Great spot to watch footy or training — and maybe meets some of your favourite football stars!

Garden Island Ships’ Graveyard

These abandoned wrecks along the Ships’ Graveyard Maritime Heritage Trail among the mangroves represent the final destination of vessels that had outlived their usefulness — casualties of technological change, the Great Depression and two world wars. Hire a kayak and explore the ships, wildlife and maybe spot a dolphin.

Torrens Island Market

31 Moorhouse Rd, Port Adelaide

Great variety of cheap fresh food and seafood by the water.

SA Aviation Museum

66 Lipson St, Port Adelaide

Displays aircraft, aircraft engines and rockets of relevance to South Australia, and the history of aviation and the aerospace industry in Australia.

Food and fun

Port Adelaide and surrounding suburbs are also awash with many great pubs, restaurants and cafes, including but not limited to Low & Slow American BBQ, Port Dock Brewery, Dutch Coffee Lab, and Vietnam Restaurant, which just won The Advertiser’s Adelaide Food Legends Award.

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