Queensland

Public servants begin move to 1 William Street tower

Public servants are beginning to move into Queensland's controversial so-called 'tower of power'.

Some 5000 government employees and leaders will eventually be housed in the the 41-storey skyscraper at 1 William Street in Brisbane's CBD.

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More than 5,000 Queensland government workers will have to wait until October to move into their new home at 1 William street. 7 News Queensland: Aug 22, 2016

They will relocate to the monolithic building over six weekends, starting from Friday.

The office tower, which will replace the tired George Street executive building, is one of the most visible features of Campbell Newman's legacy.

The tower at 1 William Street will be home to 5000 public servants.
The tower at 1 William Street will be home to 5000 public servants. Photo: Tammy Law

The former Liberal National Party premier had claimed the building would save taxpayers $60 million each year in office leasing costs.

But the current Labor government has criticised the cost of the tower's construction and says it was left with no choice but to fill it with public servants as the private sector wasn't willing to pay the high rent prices.

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Treasurer Curtis Pitt said the project was the "biggest financial debacle in Queensland's history", with taxpayers to be left billions out of pocket.

He said then treasurer, now Opposition Leader, Tim Nicholls, was to blame for a "disastrous deal" which involved the sell-off of seven government office blocks and failed to allocate money for break lease fees and differentiations in rent costs.

"This building will stand as a monument to his mismanagement and the hole he's burnt in Queensland's balance sheet serves as an ongoing reminder of his poor judgment," he said.

But Mr Nicholls said the tower had been built entirely by the private sector at no cost to taxpayers.

"Without 1 William St, taxpayers would have faced a massive $1.2 billion bill to continue to house public servants in existing rundown government accommodation," he said.

Mr Nicholls also said the Queensland Wharf development would not have been possible without the skyscraper and took aim at Labor for criticising it.

"Labor's criticism of this project is rich coming from the party that brought Queenslanders the $1.2 billion health payroll debacle, allowed a fake Tahitian prince to defraud the health department of $16 million and wasted at least $9 billion constructing the failed SEQ water grid," he said.

AAP

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