Treasury sale a wrong call

THE Hodgman Government has missed a unique opportunity by deciding to sell off Hobart’s Treasury Buildings through an expressions-of-interest process. VOTE ON IT

Chris Merridew is part of a growing campaign to keep the treasury buildings in public hands. Picture: MATHEW FARRELL

THE Hodgman Government has missed a unique opportunity by deciding to sell off Hobart’s Treasury Buildings through an expressions-of-interest process. While the decision to remove the 200 or so public servants from the site and open it up for a new use is the right one, offloading it to the private sector is a step too far.

And now the secret is out, after hundreds of Tasmanians toured the four buildings last weekend as part of Open House Hobart. The precinct is probably the largest intact collection of sandstone purpose-built office buildings in Australia. The most impressive of the buildings — the one facing Murray Street — was, when opened in 1884, the largest government building in Australia (and, apparently, the first structure to use the pre-stressed beam method of construction).

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And while inside some of the rooms these days are fitted out more in keeping with an outdated office from the 1960s, the bones of all the buildings are seriously good. Think high and ornate ceilings, broad corridors with beautiful floor coverings, and the sort of grand staircases you never see in structures constructed these days. The buildings also have significant historic heritage, having played host to some of the most significant moments in our past — from Cabinet meetings to Supreme Court hearings.

As described in yesterday’s Mercury by letter writer Paul Munting of Glebe: “To view the original rooms, Australia’s oldest supreme court room, the meeting offices and even the old vaults … was a rare and phenomenal experience. We have one of Australia’s greatest heritage treasures, an awesome tourist attraction, in the middle of the capital city here now.”

And yet the plan is that it will be sold, raising maybe $50 million that Treasurer Peter Gutwein rather unemotionally says will be returned to general government revenue. What a crying shame!

The Mercury stands by its position that the Treasury Buildings should stay in public hands. Polling of our readers on our website has suggested a clear majority backs this view. As long-time National Trust council member Chris Merridew has written in the Mercury, a publicly redeveloped Treasury Building precinct would “bookend the cultural enclave that begins with the Bond Store, Old Customs House, current TMAG on Macquarie, Maritime Museum of Tasmania, the Town Hall and refurbished Franklin Square”.

“In addition to the TMAG needs, these Treasury Buildings could provide a logical and generous space for the Tasmanian Visitor Centre … (and) the large central courtyard — which many do not realise exists — lends itself to an atrium concept for large exhibits,” Mr Merridew wrote.

After decades of being the 9-5 home to just 200 or so public servants, hundreds of Hobartians have now had a proper look inside these buildings. Expect the pressure on the Government’s planned sell-off to take off. And so it should.

The right course of action is to move the public servants out, retain the buildings in public hands, and find the cash (or find another way, perhaps through a lease arrangement) to turn them into what could become one of Tasmania’s most popular icons.