Ian Macdonald (Queensland, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Northern and Remote Australia) Share this | Hansard source

This motion deals with the installation of a concrete bench outside the High Court of Australia. That in itself is uncontroversial but it does bring to the attention of the Senate the need for the parliament to have some say on what happens within the Parliamentary Zone. Mr President, I use this opportunity to alert to you the fact that there have been concerns around the halls of this building—the Senate side of the building—for what seems to have been some months. Can someone indicate why it is that whatever work that is required to be done is not able to be done. There are some parts of this building that seem to be falling into disrepair. I wonder what the reason is, whether it is a lack of money, that we have these barricades around the corridors near windows with notices saying that there is something wrong with the windows and needs to be fixed.