Phillip Street, Sydney, Building

The Hon. DAVID OLDFIELD: My question is directed to the Minister for Commerce. Is the Minister familiar with the building at 10 Phillip Street, Sydney? Is this building, which is an older style, multistorey building, owned by, or under the control of, the Government? If the answer is yes, is the building vacant? If so, how long has the building been vacant? The building has a derelict appearance. Is the building being maintained? What is the value of the building and the site? What plans, including a timetable for implementation, does the Government have for the building? If the building is not vacant, who is the tenant?

The Hon. JOHN DELLA BOSCA: I am not aware of the particular building the honourable member is speaking about, but the question he raises is generally about properties owned by the New South Wales Government and vacancy rates. It is important to underline that previous governments have had different records of being able to fill government offices with suitable and appropriate government tenants. The New South Wales Government occupies 1.2 million square metres of office space and more than 1,000 buildings across the State. At the end of August 2005 the total vacant space was about 3,600 square metres, which is only 0.3 per cent of the total space occupied by the Government. This is a marked improvement on the vacancy rate of 2.23 per cent under the Coalition as at 31 January 1995, which was seven times the Government's current vacancy rate.

The Government's current vacancy rate also compares more than favourably to the office market vacancy rate of 10.2 per cent in the Sydney central business district as at August 2005. That figure, supplied by the Property Council of Australia, shows that New South Wales Government properties compare favourably with the performance of the private sector in the same market. The Hon. David Oldfield asked about a particular premise at 10 Phillip Street. I do not have information on the specifics of his question, but I am happy to take the balance of the question on notice and provide the answer in due course.