Adina Cirson: Let the nation's capital get on with the job

Two things happened that were significant for the property sector in Canberra this week. First, we had the release of the ANZ-Property Council Business Sentiment survey which demonstrated that our sector is confident, not only about its own prospects – but those of our city.

On the same day, we heard a half-baked scheme to shift the public service out of Canberra in a push for votes in the bush. A move which I publicly said on Wednesday would decimate the city. This is not being over reactionary – just the uncertainty it has created is enough to knock the wind out of the sector.

As our biggest employer, the public service occupies 55 per cent of our office market, taking up 1.3 million square metres, and it is for good reason that the public service is located here. Not only because the Seat of Government Act 1908 (Cth) made it so, but because it makes sense – with compelling financial and human resource reasons for why government agencies should be located together.

Canberra was, and is, planned on a decentralised model – away from Sydney and Melbourne – based on the premise that it would accommodate the seat of the federal government with the ability to grow and maintain the inherent economic, transport and planning efficiencies that stem from the decentralised plan.

A report prepared by JLL last year also demonstrated the direct cost savings of Canberra office accommodation compared with capital cities elsewhere, supporting the success of the decentralised plan of Canberra. Canberra enjoys a stable low office rental market that can accommodate expansion in a co-ordinated and calibrated manner due to the Crown lease system devised by the Commonwealth when Canberra was formed, and through the ACT government’s ability to control land release according to market and Commonwealth requirements.

But, perhaps most significantly, Canberra is a professional city, home to the best experts in dozens of fields – from defence and foreign affairs to science and technology. It is a professional hub with academia, professional services, government, business and defence. No matter which way you look at it you will not find the expertise which is needed for a modern government in rural and remote locations – nor will you entice them there – which is already being proven in the Armidale experiment.

We should be proud of Canberra and the people of the public service and the ADF who serve it every day. So let’s get on with the task at hand – instead of enlivening debates that ended more than a century ago and focus on building on our strengths. Let the nation’s capital do what is was designed to do and continue to serve the nation.

Adina Cirson is the ACT executive director of the Property Council of Australia.