A custom-built bomb shelter for Parliament House was abandoned during the building's planning phase because it was deemed too expensive - at $405,000 - amid construction cost blow-outs.
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Instead, the Fraser government decided in 1981 to set aside a large bunker in the basement to convert to a bomb shelter in the future and to also use the underground car park in the event of a nuclear attack.
According to confidential 1981 cabinet papers, which have just been made available by the National Archives, federal ministers in the Liberal government were preoccupied with the escalating costs of the new Parliament House and were canvassing all options to pull back on spending while keeping the building on schedule for its 1988 opening.
Cabinet was told that the Joint Standing Committee had recently ''eliminated the provision of space for a security shelter on the ground that there is no clear statement of function, thereby effecting a saving of $405,000 in the building budget''.
Cabinet was told that the Defence and Natural Disasters Organisation had considered alternative options for ''a safe and secure area in which a basic element of executive government could continue to function in an emergency''.
The organisation suggested the new parliament's underground car park could be ''adapted for use as a protective shelter against radioactive fallout for up to 14 days if necessary''.
At their July meeting 30 years ago - a full overview of which is now on the public record on the National Archives website - cabinet considered a range of options for keeping the executive functioning in the event of a catastrophe, including fitting out 1800 square metres of space underneath the executive wing of the building to take either key ministers, cabinet, or the entire ministry.
But at a cost of $1.82million, ''an insufficient case has been made at this stage to justify the expenditure involved'' and the space was merely reserved for later development. A modest sum of $150,000 was instead approved for above ground ''limited secure communications and the provision for the storage and display of sensitive information [to] ... facilitate the flow of policy advice, decisions and information during emergencies between the cabinet area and the dispersed crisis command centres''.
Cabinet considered all advice regarding the security arrangements for building occupants because ''it might be argued that however remote the prospect of a nuclear or substantial conventional attack or catastrophic natural disaster affecting Canberra might be, it would be prudent to make notional provision for a secure area in the new Parliament House from which the government can continue to operate in the event of the Executive Area becoming unusable''.
Cabinet decided that the original concept of a bomb shelter ''to provide safety and security in the event of a catastrophic natural disaster or act of war could be catered for in a number of areas including in the ... car park, which could readily be adapted, if needs be, for use as a shelter''. It conceded, however, that ''some cost and time would be involved''.
Secretary of the Department of Parliamentary Services Alan Thompson said yesterday that the cabinet submission reflected the security concerns that were held ''at the height of the Cold War'' and that no area was currently reserved within Parliament House's basement in the event of a nuclear war ''to my knowledge''.
Parliament House security was constantly being assessed and the most likely threat to the building was from a ''small scale incursion'' in the form of a car bomb or suicide bomber. Mr Thompson was not aware of any existing contingency plans to convert the car park into a bomb shelter, but noted general car park security was being upgraded with stronger car park gates fitted and a new concrete security wall installed in the main public car park.
While nothing was being ''reserved'', Mr Thompson did concede that there was considerable underground space available which could hypothetically house a bomb shelter - including the ''cathedral'' voids underneath the grassed ramps.
