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Sandstone study for Parliament House

The State Budget has made provision for funds to ascertain sources of appropriate sandstone for the completion of Parliament House.

Although no commitment had yet been made for the completion of Parliament House, the study would ensure that little time was wasted on extracting sandstone once a decision to proceed was made.

The construction of Parliament House commenced in 1856, when the two chambers were built. Subsequent work was carried out in stages until 1893, when work was halted. Since the, only the Dining Room has been added, being built in the early 1930s with Federal Government funds. Large sections of Parliament House, including the south wing and part of the north wing were never completed.

The Parliament has been operating inefficiently in that a "temporary" building housing thirty five MPs and staff, in use for twenty four years, is sited in the Parliamentary Gardens, and the nine all-party Parliamentary committees work from a building two blocks from Parliament House in Spring Street.

The stone used in the construction of Parliament House has come from sources in Bass Strait, Tasmania and different parts of Victoria.

The stone used on the eastern side of Parliament is from Bacchus Marsh and has proved to be of poor quality, requiring extensive and continuing repairs. By contrast, the stone used on the façade along Spring Street is from the Grampians and has proved to be extremely durable. Stone from the same quarry in the Grampians was also used on the State Library and the Melbourne Town Hall, for which the most recent stone was extracted in the last ten years.

The funds provided in the Budget ($200,000) will allow the engagement of professional consultants experienced in heritage buildings and stonework. All possible sources of supply in Victoria will be investigated with a view to ascertaining whether material of the required quality, color and quantity would be available if and when a decision to complete Parliament is made.

(News Release, Offices of the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly and the President of the Legislative Council, May 4, 1999)