While promising not to do something in the final weeks of a critical election campaign could be seen as strangely counter-intuitive, the Barr government has done the right in putting a stake through the heart of a proposal to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on an underground bus interchange in Civic.
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Such an undertaking, which was to have included the creation of a civic, arts, and cultural precinct, would have been difficult to justify given the health and economic crisis, and the current size of the city.
While admittedly breathtaking in both its scope and vision, the current proposal - first floated two years ago - appears ahead of its time for a community of this size. That is particularly so given billions of dollars are already being invested in the highly contentious light rail network.
Earlier proposals for similar developments in the precinct, which in some cases date back to before self-government, failed to come to fruition for much the same reasons. While it is important to "never say never", the reality is that although the proposal may have looked great on paper its time has not yet come.
Although it is unfortunate the government has chosen not to make the report of the study by the City Renewal Authority on which the decision not to proceed public, it is apparent that even if amortised over many decades the cost to benefit ratio may not have stacked up - even by the ACT government's relatively flexible standards.
It comes as no surprise that the deal breaker was going to be the high cost of excavating subterranean chambers capable of accommodating the large numbers of buses that would arrive and depart, and the construction of the ramps needed to integrate them with the ACT's road network.
The business community has been concerned about the dilapidated state of Civic for years.
While the unfortunate conjunction of the national recession and the COVID-19 health crisis means that Canberra, along with every other state and territory, needs to come up with "nation building" infrastructure projects that will create jobs, deliver economic stimulus, and create a lasting legacy for future generations, the ACT is not in a position to spend for the sake of spending. Even though it is currently possible to borrow large sums at record low interest rates, the reality is that the money will have to be paid by current, and probably future, generations of tax payers.
It would be highly irresponsible for any ACT government to spend hundreds of millions just in the name of massive economic stimulus alone.
All of that said, it is true that one of the key reasons advanced by then City Renewal Authority chief executive, Malcolm Snow, in support of the proposal in 2018 is as valid as ever. That is that Civic, which should be the vibrant and beating heart of what is arguably Australia's most congenial inland city, is not travelling well. He argued that the interchange, and associated cultural and artistic developments, would revitalise a "neglected" part of the ACT.
The business community has also been concerned about the dilapidated, and increasingly uninviting, state of Civic for many years.
While the underground bus interchange has been rightfully dismissed as a bridge too far on the grounds of the expense at this time, that does not mean that consideration of alternative ways to give the centre of Canberra a much needed shot in the arm that capitalises on the light rail links to Gungahlin and, eventually, to Woden, should cease.
Surely there must be sustainable and cost-effective ways to bring the heart of the city back to life without the need to spend hundreds of millions of dollars creating a very large whole in the ground first.
