Eric Hutchinson (Lyons, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

The Tasmanian Heritage Festival is taking place in May. It is run by the National Trust. I certainly would encourage everyone to get along to an event. There are events all around the state. In my electorate there are events from Adamsfield to Avoca, from Oatlands to Bicheno and there is also an event at Clarendon House. It gave me great pleasure last week to officially open—or close, as the case might be—a new roof on the property, which was originally built in 1838.

The project cost a total of $323,000, it created 12 jobs and also included training of a number of apprentices in heritage and restoration work. The new roof project protects the Clarendon building and the collections that it contains therein. It was well documented that the restoration is the first roof that has been put on Clarendon House since 1880, so there have been three roofs put in place since 1838. This government contributed $261,000.

The opening also gave me an opportunity to discuss the idea for a national heritage and arts lottery. It is something I am very passionate about. I think it could benefit our nation enormously, and through the Parliamentary Friends of History and Heritage and my co-chair, Laurie Ferguson, the member for Werriwa, I look forward to seeing that achieved in the fullness of time.

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