Cairns Convention Centre’s $176m expansion not complete in time for regional parliament
Regional parliament will have to sit through construction noise as the long-awaited completion of the Cairns Convention Centre’s expansion nears, bringing with it some hard lessons.
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Politicians will have to sit through construction noise during next week’s regional parliament as the long-awaited completion of the Cairns Convention Centre’s expansion nears, bringing with it some hard lessons.
The state’s Department of Energy and Public Works has agonised over a succession of missed deadlines, issuing several demands to Lendlease, the managing contractor, to explain the delays.
The $176m project was due to finish in mid 2022 but was pushed back to April this year with contractor executives sweating on the approaching regional parliament sitting, which will be hosted at the Centre over three days from May 9.
Lendlease Construction managing director David Paterson said impacts from Covid-19, supply-chain disruption and extreme weather events had, in part, caused the delays, and the company was now aiming to complete the project by mid-year.
“We acknowledge that the new Cairns Convention Centre will be delivered later than we had promised,” Mr Paterson said.
“Right now, our focus is on ensuring this iconic project meets the highest standards of quality and safety as we work towards final handover.”
Mr Paterson said works would not pause during the regional parliament.
“Works will continue during this time and (be) managed to ensure there is no impact,” he said.
“The upper levels and main entrance of the building are nearing completion. External works include installation of remaining facade architectural elements, hard and soft landscaping which will be complete by mid-year.”
Rolly Cummins, the city’s CFMEU organiser, said historical failures by the Far North’s construction sector to hire apprentices had hindered efforts to ramp up construction at critical moments.
“They’ve loaded the job up and done extended hours. People were working late into the night to get it done,” Mr Cummins said.
“But we saw the effects of labour shortages. For years subcontractors and builders have not been putting up apprentices, and it hurt when they tried to ramp up work.
“When Lendlease were screaming to get more people … they struggled for that reason.
“It has big impacts on the community … good, safe and rewarding work conditions and training of apprentices will not only secure the industry’s future, but the community’s, too.”
Convention Centre general manager Janet Hamilton said the project’s completion would launch an exciting epoch for the facility.
“The investment in the centre is going to reap strong benefits for Cairns. The convention season kicks off mid-year and we will see 57 conferences and more than 160 events in the next 12 months,” Ms Hamilton said.
“We are expecting to host 120,000 visitors at the Centre and we expect to exceed more than 140,000 room nights. The estimated delegate spend in Cairns will be $90m.
“We have seen a 60 per cent increase in events against the last full year of event delivery pre Covid-19.
“The additional space has allowed us to win much larger conferences … the flexibility and usability of the space has been well received by the clients.”
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