“HANG THE EPXENSE.”

Shannon News, 2 January 1925, Page 2

“HANG THE EPXENSE.”

/- COSTLY CANBERRA HOSTEL. OUTLAY TO EXCEED £200,000. MELBOURNE, Dec. 12. Some Victorian Federal, members are expressing indignation at the extravagant scale on which they allege the works at the Federal capital are being worked out. The Hostel de Luxe, they say, is a scandalous waste qf public money. The building cost over £140,000 and the fittings put into it have, involved an outlay of at least £70,000 —more than £200,000 for a “dry” hotel in a city that, according to official estimates, will have a population oi 5000 in 1929.

A Melbourne resident who has jnst returned from a visit ha Canberra, stated that not even the most exclusive hotels of Melbourne or Sydney could outshine the magnificence of No. 1 Hostel. Costly carpets into which the feet sink, luxurious hangings, and wall decorations, elaborate furnishings and superb bathrooms, for every suite, greet the eyes of visiting taxpayers. Every bed is covered with an expensive hair mattress, and the billiard room appointments are saio to he without a rival in any capital. The whole undertaking lias, been carried out, it is claimed, on the principle of “hang the expense.” Five per cent on the capital cost of £290,000 is something like £2OO a week. The hostel, it is. claimed, will be. a dead loss to the country, until, it returns at least that sum above working expenses.