DESPITE significant backlash over a proposal to move the Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC) from Canberra to Wagga, member for Riverina Michael McCormack is determined to continue exploring the idea.
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Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce and Mr McCormack last week revealed they were examining shifting the department from the nation’s capital to Wagga, potentially bringing more than 70 jobs and generating an additional $1 million for the local economy.
Since the plans were revealed last week, opposition to the move has surfaced in Canberra and from industry peak body Grain Producers Australia, who told The Canberra Times this week that benefits to growers would be uncertain should the GRDC uproot to Wagga.
ACT Liberal Senator Zed Seselja told The Canberra Times the proposal had a shaky financial case this week, amid concerns the move ran contrary to the Department of Finance’s aim to consolidate public sector office holdings to save money.
The GRDC currently leases a single floor of a building in Canberra’s inner-south.
That lease, costed at $12.2 million, was signed in December 2013 and runs until 2024.
Mr McCormack, who is the parliamentary secretary for Finance, has moved to ease concerns about a budget blowout should the move go ahead.
“The government is working to maximise value from Commonwealth property leases in the ACT by ensuring that surplus vacant office space is promptly filled by agencies with similar requirements and upcoming lease expiry dates,” he said.
“The GRDC would need to break their lease but agencies lease and sublease all their accommodation all the time.”
Mr McCormack said another government department would move into the GRDC’s current office should the relocation go ahead, which would avoid the government being stung by expensive charges to break the lease.
He remained adamant on Thursday that Wagga would be an “ideal” location for the GRDC to be stationed.
“It all happens here – we are the capital of the grain growing region of the eastern states, very close to Canberra and central to Sydney and Melbourne,” Mr McCormack said.
The federal government has yet to indicate when it will make a final decision on whether the department’s move to Wagga will go ahead.
