The Australian parliament’s standing committee on public works has recommended that the redevelopment of the Australian War Memorial proceeds despite considerable submissions against the project.
The public works committee considered a range of issues including the need for the project, scope of the project and cost effectiveness of the project.
“The Committee finds that the proposed works are appropriate to meet the identified need, and that these works should proceed,” it said in its report.
The committee heard that “heritage considerations emerged as perhaps the major controversy in the evidence to this inquiry. Many submitters took serious issue with the proposal to replace Anzac Hall in particular.”
According to the Australian Institute of Architects, four out of five of the submissions received by the committee opposed or raised concerns about the development.
The proposed new southern entrance designed by Scott Carver will be created below the existing forecourt.
Image: Synthetica
The committee reported that “the proposed replacement of Anzac Hall is also of concern to the Committee. [However] Anzac Hall was constructed as a bespoke building, intended to serve a specific purpose. As outlined in the identification of the need for these works, the space requirements at the AWM is shifting and the facilities available need to shift along with it.”
The Institute’s spokesperson for the “Hands Off Anzac Hall” campaign Clare Cousins said, “This final committee report reveals the government is intent on pushing ahead with this development, regardless of the opposition, the cost and the unanimous expert advice that the project, including the demolition of ANZAC Hall, will irrevocably damage the heritage values of the AWM.
“The Government’s own heritage expert report confirmed the adverse impact ANZAC Hall’s demolition will have on the nationally significant site.”
The committee also noted that the $498.7 million project was not expected to generate any revenue.
The redevelopment of the Australian War Memorial has broad bipartisan support from both sides of politics. However, in a dissenting report, Labour members of the committee recommended that the government “consider alternative approaches that do not involve the complete demolition of the existing Anzac Hall.”
An alternative approach could also mean a significant reduction in the cost of the project.
Labor noted that a 2019 paper by a former memorial official stated the AWM could meet all of its current and future needs at the Mitchell precinct Treloar Resource Centre site at a cost of around $100 million, or 20 percent of the cost of the currently proopsed project.
The proposed new southern entrance with a cone-shaped occulus designed by Scott Carver.
Image: Synthetica
The Labor members recommend that the Government “should consider a range of lower cost options that would still meet the stated purpose of the proposed works, while achieving better cost-effectiveness and value for money for the taxpayer.”
The Australian War Memorial is situated within the Parliamentary Triangle in Canberra which means that the National Capital Authority will also conduct its own assessment of the project.
“We look forward to the National Capital Authority promised consultation and the opportunity it provides to right the evident wrongs in the approval process to date,” Clare Cousins said. “We will continue to advocate for the project to be rethought and for ANZAC Hall to be saved from demolition.
“We will not be silenced on the proposed demolition of ANZAC Hall. How could we stay silent when we know without doubt that this unpopular and inappropriate development will negatively impact one of our nation’s most significant monuments.”
