Tuesday 13 April 2021
Over recent months I, along with other senior MPs, have been considering the future accommodation needs of Parliament.
For many years now, it has been clear that current accommodation on the parliamentary precinct is not fit for purpose and can no longer effectively support a modern, accessible Parliament. The growing issue was greatly exacerbated last year by the need to vacate Bowen House for seismic strengthening and we are now beyond capacity with Ministers, members and staff scattered across four buildings (one of which is not on the parliamentary precinct) in a rather haphazard manner. While we have done our best with available space, current arrangements are subpar, uneconomic and, unsustainable, especially when the possible future growth of our Parliament is taken into consideration.