Revelations that the Prime Minister's official residence, The Lodge, is a safety hazard and in urgent need of repairs are being met with calls for the Federal Government to finally build a replacement.
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The Government announced yesterday that Prime Minister Julia Gillard and her partner Tim Mathieson would have to move out of The Lodge while the 84-year-old building underwent millions of dollars' worth of repairs.
The Lodge has a leaky roof, rusty plumbing, wiring that is a fire hazard, and asbestos that needs to be removed.
Special Minister of State Gary Gray said the restoration was ''a matter of urgency'', reigniting the debate about whether the ageing Adelaide Avenue landmark should be retired as the official home of the Prime Minister.
Former head of the National Capital Development Commission Tony Powell said the fact that The Lodge was still the Prime Minister's official residence showed a lack of confidence and was disrespectful to Australians.
Mr Powell, who was head of the commission (now the National Capital Authority) from 1974 to 1985, was asked to carry out an extensive study of The Lodge for the Official Establishments Trust, the independent advisory body for Australia's four official residences, in the early 1980s.
In its recommendations, which were duly passed on to the government of the day, the commission concluded that there was insufficient space and security shortcomings in the current premises, and that a new Lodge should be modelled on the White House in Washington.
The report also contained an architectural brief that provided for two buildings on either side of a courtyard, overlooking Lake Burley Griffin, at Stirling Ridge in Yarralumla.
But 30 years later, he said he was not surprised that nothing had happened. ''No prime minister's got the guts to say, 'Yes, we need a new Lodge','' he said.
''It might have come up again during [Prime Minister Bob] Hawke's time, and the NCDC said if we started to build it now, it wouldn't be of benefit to the existing prime minister anyway,'' he said.
''It's disrespectful to Australia. We as a nation deserve to have something that is in keeping with the kind of country we are, and a building that reflects our democratic culture and all that sort of stuff, rather than a miserable little cottage. But in a way the miserable little cottage is a presentation of the kind of attitudes of the politics it has.''
But former prime minister and Lodge resident Malcolm Fraser said yesterday the risk of building a new prime ministerial home was that it would be too large, extravagant, luxurious and unnecessary.
''They spoke to me when I was prime minister about a replacement,'' Mr Fraser said. ''But The Lodge is a very pleasant residence.''
Unless the cost of a replacement home was less than or equal to the restoration costs, Mr Fraser did not believe it was a justified use of taxpayer funds and would risk being seen as ostentatious when ''Canberra already sets itself apart''.
He conceded, however, that it would be extremely inconvenient for Ms Gillard to have to temporarily move out.
Former prime ministers Mr Hawke, Paul Keating, and John Howard were also contacted by The Canberra Times yesterday, but declined to comment.
The Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet began tackling the logistics of the temporary move yesterday, although Ms Gillard's office remained tight-lipped about possible alternative accommodation, saying it would depend when Parliament was sitting, how often she would be required in Canberra, and whether she would be hosting any foreign dignitaries at the time.
Australia's first couple will not be required to vacate until next year.
The 40-room Georgian revival style home was built in 1927 as a ''temporary'' residence for the prime minister ''until such time as a larger house could be built'' according to the Prime Minister's official website.
But while land has long been set aside by the National Capital Authority at Stirling Ridge in Yarralumla for the express purpose of providing a permanent home for the Australian prime minister, the current crop of politicians from both sides were loathe to be associated with any call for a newer, grander home.
Mr Gray said, ''I think in the future that will happen, but that will be a long way down the track.'' Opposition Leader Tony Abbott, when asked if he supported a new Lodge being built, replied ''No.''
Mr Gray said the latest safety audit of the heritage-listed property showed it required an urgent makeover that included replacing the slate roof - which was no longer watertight - and ''massive work'' on the wiring, ''much of which is old copper wrapped in cloth, and so therefore a substantial fire risk''.
''In addition to that there are plumbing issues and contained asbestos, asbestos that really does need to be removed since the containment is not designed to last for the next 10 or 15 years,'' Mr Gray said. ''If The Lodge were a patient, it would be in hospital.''
The Department of Finance and Deregulation will undertake the 18-month project and is calling for tenders. Mr Gray said, ''We don't expect it to be cheap. It will certainly cost in the millions of dollars ... It can't just be fixed up with a trip down to Bunnings.'' The cost estimates would be prepared during the design process over the next few months and the project would be ''subject to normal Commonwealth probity processes, including scrutiny by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Public Works''. Mr Gray said the renovations would ''obviously be a major inconvenience to the Prime Minister and her staff, but she has agreed to vacate The Lodge in recognition of the vital need for the works ...''
Canberra author Graeme Barrow, who wrote The Prime Minister's Lodge: Canberra's Unfinished Business, has estimated that from 1978-79 to 2005-06, expenditure on The Lodge and Kirribilli House had amounted to about $40million. He suggested they be sold in order to bankroll the new permanent residence.
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