Treasury Department Staff Relocation

The Hon. D.G.E. HOOD (15:15): My question is to the Treasurer. Could the Treasurer update the chamber on the movement of Treasury public servants to the Port Adelaide offices?

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS (Treasurer) (15:15): I am happy to do so. There seems to have been some degree of media interest in recent days in relation to the move of very excited Treasury staff to the Port Adelaide office. About 170 very excited Treasury staff moved there in around about May or June of this year. They are soon to be joined by enough Treasury staff to populate a couple of extra floors. That move will occur, so I am advised, in the period between early December through to late February or early March.

I am told that Treasury staff this week are being given what might be the equivalent of orientation tours of Port Adelaide, just to allay some of their perhaps misconceived or preconceived notions about the merits or otherwise of working in an office building in Port Adelaide. They will be assisted by some of the existing staff who have been down in the Port Adelaide building for a number of months now.

I think they will also be assisted by some local people with involvement with the council, and others, who will show them, firstly, the important issues in terms of transport options—where train stations and bus stops are vis-a-vis the Port Adelaide office and where car parking options are available—but also, I think, highlight some of the joys and attributes of Port Adelaide that anyone who works down there may well be able to enjoy, should they be some of the lucky Treasury staff who get to move into the final two floors. My understanding is that most of those tours are being conducted this week for interested public servants within the Treasury office.

I think I have put on the public record that the sooner we can actually move staff into the Port Adelaide building the sooner we will be able to stop the payment of dead rent down at Port Adelaide. However, I think as I have previously identified, some of the staff are coming from a current lease that we have at Westpac House, which will mean the payment of dead rent through to the end of next year. I know minister Knoll's department is anxiously trying to find people who might be in private sector accommodation willing and able to move into this dead rent option that we potentially have in Westpac House through next year. I have not had an update on that. If I can get an update on that, I will provide the honourable member with a further response in due course.