Bob Debus (Macquarie, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Home Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That, in accordance with section 5 of the Parliament Act 1974, the House approves the following proposal for work in the Parliamentary Zone which was presented to the House on 22 September 2008, namely: National Portrait Gallery forecourt sculpture.

This works approval is for a sculpture to be placed in the forecourt of the new National Portrait Gallery. The work is intended to reflect the purpose of the National Portrait Gallery: to enhance ‘the understanding of the Australian people—their identity, history, creativity and culture—through portraiture’.

The gallery itself is scheduled to be completed by 21 October 2008 and is due to open in December. It is hoped that the sculpture will be completed and in place by June 2009. The sculpture was chosen by an expert panel, which included a member of the board of the National Portrait Gallery.

The decision to commission the work awaits this works approval.

Question agreed to.

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