PM Transcripts

1. i, A USTRALIA kg
PR IM MINISTER
FOR MEDIA THURSDAY, OCTOBER 28 1982
AUSTRALIAN ARCHIVES HEADQUARTERS
The Conmmonwealth Government has decided that a headquarters
building for the Australian Archives will be built in Canberra.
The new Australian Archives Headquarters is estimated to cost
more than $ 30 million and is to be located on a site adjacent
to the National Library.
The Government had decided that only a high quality buil1i. ng
would be appropriate to serve the National Archives
Headquarters in Canberra and cater properly for the research,
cultural and social aspects of archival operations.
On this site in the Parliamentary Triangle the National
Archives Headquarters will join other buildings of great
cultural and social significance the National Library,
the Australian National Gallery and the High Court of Australia.
The Government's decision was yet another example of its
continuing commitment to the development of Australia's
National Capital.
The Commonwealth Government's public works building programnme
for the National Capital totals a record $ 146 million this year
and I am pleased that private enterprise is responding
magnificently to our initiatives. Just three years ago the
private enterprise building programme in Canberra was less
than $ 30 million this year it could be as high as $ 70 million.
The National Capital Development Commission has been authorised
to commence design work in the current financial year. Modern
archives were proving to be not just repositories of historic
documents but places of great historical, artistic and
cultural significance, and of particular benefit in the
fields of eduation and tourism. This new project will further
enhance the character of Australia's National Capital.