PARLIAMENT HOUSE.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1548, 18 September 1912, Page 10

PARLIAMENT HOUSE.

; PLANS ADOPTED-. GOVERNMENT'S INTENTIONS AN-. , , ; NOUNCED. NO ORNAMENTATION. iMiW CHAMBKRS AM) OFFICES TO BE BUILT.

The intentions of the Governinvnl in regard to the Parliament-.Buildings construction programme-we're doclared "to thn House of Represehliirivte by the Prime Jfinister (the Hon. \V. I'. yo:ti-rday.

The Prime Minister said that the question of the. new Parliament Buildings had received the careful consideration , of the Government, and' conferences had been hold with'lho Government •architect. As tho foundations of the now buildings had been partly completed according to the design approved by the Ward Government, it was now, in the opinion. of the present Government, useless to consider whether or not that design was best. If considered, however, that the building as designed by, the Government architect, jrould'prD- . vide convenient rooms and well-venti-. .lated Chambers for both Houses, and .that 'the exterior of the building : was satisf.ictpry. The part to .'be first erected left the present wooden building intact, and approached closely to the old Parliament Building. It would contain both Chanibera,. lobbies, and all, Ministers', Committee, waiting, and press'rooms.' The part not to be erected, at present would cover the site of tlio present wooden building, and woiild contain the . library aiid Bellamy's, and some nioro Committee rooms. The proposed dome and externa! roof ornamentation upon the part fir.-t to be erected were estimated'to cost about Jj10,000,-and the Government had'deciili'd that the- dome and other ornamentation should .be'omitted. The architect had given an assurance that tho ornamentations could be added when tho other part of the building had been erected if it were then thought advisable so to do. The complete foundations were estimated to coit a further ,£13,000,. and would occupy in time from three to four months. • The building would bo of' brick, faced-with stone, and the roof and floors of reinforced concrete. The bricks were to ba supplied by the. Government. Tho advisability .-of completing the building by the Government had been fully considered, mid, after conference with the architect, the Government, had decided that, except as to tho completion of the' foundations, tenders should be called in the usual way for all the work,' apart from the supply of bripks. The programme adopted by the Government was as. follows:(1) That the work on the foundations be recommenced and'continued'tp completion of ■ basement at the estimated cost of .£i3,000.;.- -,■■■., (2) That after the expiration of one n)onth from the present time tenders be called for, the erection, of • the building three months from the date of advertis-: ing. to bo allowed for the receipt of tenders.. ' (.1) That if the tenders prove to bo approximately Within the estimate, tenders should bo accepted and the building then proceeded with without further delav' The Hon. R ; M'Kenzie (Motueka) asked the Prime . Minister whether, he would tell, the House wlia't hVd'heen spent on the grounds' up till the end of last August . • .. . . ...

■ The Hon. W. F. Massey • (Prime-Min, i.«ler) said- , the iuforniatimi the • honourable ,gent|eman required,'woul'di be found in; the. return laid.! before, the House a few.days ago.. If it was'noT.-the.Gbvern-nient would be willing to supply, the details if the Totiiru were asked for:

Sir Joseph Ward as a Prophet. Sir Joseph Ward (Awarua) said he had been most interested to hear the statement, but he' wished to refer to the remark made that it was useless to consider an amendment of the, proposition at present because the foundations had bfon laid by the Ward Government. He, wished lo remind the honourable gentleman that Farli: meut had agreed to the proposals after receiving the. report of the Select Committee appointed, of which the honourable- tho Prime Minister was a member. 'He. went, on to rend,the report of that committee. He pointed out that afterwards a committee, of which the present Prime Minister was also a member, recommended'' th'e adoption of the plan upon which the late Government had worked. , .It .had been- agreed that the foundations should- be put, iu on the same methods as were adopted in connection with .the General Post Office at Wellington, ' tenders being called for the building afterwards. Provision was ..made in tho foundations for ample storage. Ordinary fire-proof foundations could, have been provided tor less money. It had been stated that .£601)0 or .£7OOO had already been spent upon, the foundations. He assumed that it was the remaining balance of .£20,000 that still had to be expended. Ho had< no objection to 'the omission of the dome meantime, but- assumed, that the dome was part and parcel of the. plan approved by the committee of both Houses. It was not always safe , to bo a prophet. In one s own country, but he was confident that when the work' of providing Parliament had been completed it would give general satisfaction. It had been stated in evidence that the old wooden build-' in?s on . LamMon Quay could not last many years longer, and he was certain that the rents ultimately, derived from/' that, site'would pay .interest on the cost of erecting.'new buildings on the-sites that-were available. The Government Congratulated, .The Hon. B,' M'Kenzie.(Motueka) congratulatcd- the. Government on the' decision that, it had'arriyed : at, but regrettedthat it.had not arrived at it. some" time previously. ; The Ward' Government, in w.hat- it had done, had simply carried out ■the instructions' given it,, by the House. He regretted that the dome was to be omitted. Eventually" : it • would cost con-, siderably more than if it .were built while the, huildihg was under \ construction. There-'.would also' lie a regrettable lack of ornamentation. Hβ was informed that the amount spent.on the foundations and :he grounds up to the' end of August was I -The- Hon. W. Fraser: Between .£6OOO and .£7000. : _ ' . . "• . ■•; Mr. M'Kenzie said'that he assumed tho sum of c£l3,opQ which/had been mentioned would provide foundations for the whole buildiny. . , " . Mr. Fraser indicated that this was not SO. .' ■ .; ' , - - . • .- . Mr. M'Ken?ie expressed a hope that the new building .wqulcl be erected as expeditiously as possible. Mr. Fraser said'that the architect had informed him (hat the sum of ,£13,000 would bo required to finish the foundations for that portion of the buildings for n;hich tenders were to be called in about six weeks' time. .Mr. M'Kenzie: That is over his estimate. . ' ' Mr. Fraser ,said that the foundations outside were not, much more than half of those which would lie required for the whole building. The completed buildings would extend across Sydney Street. The expenditure of ,£13.000 wmihl provide, however, for completely finishing tho baseriient.

What Might Have Been Saved. At thp initiation of the sclipmc, the Minister continued, he h.ad been strongly of opinion, that the old site'should bo retained nnd thp old building rp-rrected. lip was (ilill of the samp opinion, Ijut Imd givpn way to a majority of tlio commitlpe set up by Parliament. Hntl Ills opinion' been arcrplnd, two'largo Chambers ciiiild l'.avp l>ppn pipplpd. Pnrliaiiiont would ha'vp bren properly linii-i'd two .year<' ago. and (lie poimliy would have .•i.'.ved XlbflMn. T« Inki! the' wliolp. of tlio , public- buildings In Hie old l'nrlianiPntnry slip would bo a.mi-ilako. The proposed.sit* , -.liquid not \:c iuiy'lliing like so .convoniont as Uu- jiip.'plm' file. Tim estimates'of'rentals froiir thp site now occupihl by Iho llcpartinontal 'Buildings B T—> vnry opt' , "'* , -'.*- Sir Joseph Ward: It was the decision of Parliament. .

Mr. Fraser: In those days' P.irliamen: mpiint the whim of the Minister:

Mr. TsiH: Just the : sains thing now. . Mr/ 'Frnser sii'id- that he was'finite propiu'fil t: , ac'popt the portion". There was nothing In r\n now but _tr> so on. ami no fime would be lost while he was Min'i«-Ipi-.fm Public' Works, in providing.PuriiariU'iit. with proper acenmmodation. . Mr, M'Keiitis said that "heii h« rsi in - office tht : c«st ei : nßishiu j ti« baj«.

tuent was not included in the estimated cftst of.the foundation. This should be n ! separate i'cin altogether.

: .'. .'A Satisfactory, Decision, Mr. G. \X. Russell.(Avon) said that the Government hud .come to .a satisfactory and cominon-seiiEe decision much on the lines of the .decision arrived at by the Ward Government. He regretted the omission.oF'the dome,.and of the -.easonaljle emb:'llishmohts provided for' in the plfin. . Only ..£lll,OOO would be saved, and this was equivalent to a saving of only JilOO a year in interest. What w.is that iii ' n chu'ntry with a revenue- ol cloven' iriillions? . ... • ' Mr. Isit.t: Good elertiou cry! Mr. Biissell said that one-half of the JG-100 had already been saved, 'lho Government Printer had advised that a iitw method of printing questions and answers on the Order Paner would save the country .£2(W.-i year.' ' < Mr. Wilson: Why waste it when he has saved it? ■Mr. Russell.said that.it would be much more economical to carry through the whole work of erecting tho building without interruption than to postpone the erection of the He was giad that thu Government was going to make -the bricks required for this building. Opposition members: Have they any straw? ' The Prime Minister: Tou have the chaff. ■ ' • ' ' ■ ' • ■ Mr. Russell said that if the Government wont, into the brick trade in Wellington they might reduce the price of bricks. ,Mr. A. S. Malcolm (Clutha) asked that the plans should be put on exhibition in the office of the Government architect,, so that members who had had ex-, perience of the working of the House' might make suggestions if they so desired.. . ...'...'

. The Hon. D.' Buddo (Kaiapoi) coni gratulatod the Government on its decision . to push .on with the building, but i>ro- [ tested against Ihn'abandonment of the or- , namentatipn. ' The saving would only amount to twopence farthing per head. i : Mr.-A. M. Myers (Auckland East) lfrged that it would 'not be wise to omit the dome from the design at present. He frit perfectly certain thot it would be cheapest in the long run tq go on with the erection of the dome at once. Mr. W. P. S. Macdonnld (Bay of Plenty) raid lie was pleased that tho Government had. practically decided to carry on the construction of Parliament Buildings on the .lines laid down. by. the previous Government. He did hot agree that it was true economy to defer construction of the dome for some time He felt that;' it would be fully fifteen years before the construction of the building would l>6 resum-ed,-and in view of that lie/thought the whole desiffii ought to be proceeded with. Mr. C. IC.-Wilson (Tauiuarunui) said that members of tho Opposition side of the House had bron at some pains to find fault with the Government for saving ,£IO,OOO on the new building. Surely the Government ought to l>e eom'mended for this. 'If the money were available now it might be used for useful purposes in the back-blocks. ■■ • ' . IJIr.'G. Witty.: (Riccartpn) urged ■ that it'would be moro economical to construct the 'dome at 01109. Remarks by Prime Minister. The Hon. W. F. Massey (Prime Minister) said lip hoped the member for Awarun' did not think that the Government' wished to make'party'capital out of .what was going'on.'Th'c Upvernment were.very strongly of opinion that Parliament conld not renjain housed . very.long in the present ve'Vv .inconvenient <iud very insanitary building—which building very seriously affected the health of.members,'compelled to remain in it during the spring anil summer months. It was,true that the proposed schVnie had been referred lp a'committee, of .both House?; but'even the committee, was; not unanimous-iiV regard to ' that scheme.;' He. had'voted against the scheme, in Committee, and he voted against it when it came before tlie House. He was of'those who thought it would have been, wise to construct a buildiiur'- on Hie old site, a method which would have saved the country JC200.000. . - The Hon. R. jr.Keii7.ie:-The plans wcro submitted.to a committee. .Mr. Massey said, that the plans wero submitted.to'a. committee, if it'could be called a committee. He added that the Government proposed to-erect'only half of the building at-present. The-dome would no doubt .improve the appearance of the building as a. whole, but it would look awkward and unsightly on the building partly completed. It was too late now, ■ however,- to .make any., very serious alterations in. I he'plans.- As far as was possible, the building would be made earthquake-proof'ant! fiie-]>roof. H was almost impossible to say ht present w : hcn Hie building- would be completed, but ho hoped it would be ready for occupation the session after next. He would very much have preferred Hint the money to be spi-iit should have been, speiit on development work in the country. This \vV impossible now, foi the Government must fnce thn position as they found it. Sir Joseph Ward .(Awarua) took most emphatic objection to the statement that these buildings would cost =41200,000 more than they ought to, have t-os-t. It must be remembered that provision must Le. made for a'lunatic asylum, being transferred'into tho country in any case, and it. was only \ mattor of,a year or two Ahat the House would have had to lie pulled , down and a new residence erected. Mr. Speaker said that during the discussion it iiad been;stated that the Speaker had secii the plans of the. building. He wished to state that he had never seen them. He had heard that certain plans had been awarded prize, but he had never.seen thorn. The Ho'n: 11. M'Konzie (Jlotneka) sold the plans had betti on view for members of the committee. .... ■•Mr. Speoker. :'said be ..had> seen .plo,ns, buthe.did riot.know whicb.plans' had been adopted.- ■'.. .V. . ■„'., . • Mr. Massey said- that the first-prize plans had been adopted, with some few moditicatipns.. '. . .:'..,, After several other member? had spoken Mr. Speaker said he"did not know definitely .what.plans had been adopted for putting .up the! building.