ACT taxpayers are paying at least $100,000 more than the territory government had indicated for the Skywhale hot-air balloon.
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Official documents reveal the balloon is costing at least $334,000, not the $170,000 figure quoted by ACT government officials.
The official line on the cost to taxpayers of the balloon had been $170,000, with some extra costs for piloting and educational materials.
Jeremy Lasek, executive director of culture for the ACT Chief Minister’s directorate, gave Fairfax Media the figure on Thursday morning.
‘‘The balloon itself was in the vicinity of $170,000. We’ve also created a website, educational kits, piloting, a bunch of other things that were on top of it. So, I don’t have the total number, but the balloon design and construction and the testing was around $170,000,’’ he said.
But Chief Minister Katy Gallagher told an Assembly committee on Friday afternoon the cost to ACT taxpayers was $300,000, with one of her top officials saying the price would be capped at that level.
Philanthropic funding of $50,000, provided by the Aranday Foundation, would make up the rest of the cost.
On Friday afternoon, Mr Lasek confirmed the Skywhale, although paid for with ACT taxpayer funds, belonged to Melbourne company Global Ballooning.
The Skywhale would be good for about 100 flights, although there was no guaranteed minimum number of flights in the capital.
The giant artwork, which was revealed on Thursday morning, has divided opinion on its aesthetic qualities and reignited the sometimes acrimonious debate on taxpayer-funded government art.
Ms Gallagher said when she first saw diagrams of the balloon her eyes ‘‘nearly fell out of her head’’, but she had since become quite fond of it.
‘‘It shows us as a cosmopolitan city. Too often we are talked about as a boring place where nothinghappens ... it challenges those beliefs about Canberra,’’ she said.
Speaking on 2CC Friday morning, Centenary of Canberra creative director Robyn Archer also defended the cost of the hot-air balloon.
‘‘This is the cheapest piece of public art. Almost every piece of public art in Canberra cost more,’’ she said.’’
Aranday Foundation chairman Rupert Myer AM said he was excited by the work of Canberra-raised artist Patricia Piccinini.
‘‘In a glance, her works spirit us away to another type of universe where life exists differently. Without judgment,’’ Mr Myer said.
‘‘She makes us think deeply about how we respond to the unfamiliar and unknowable. And she does it with wit and candour.
‘‘It is a privilege to have supported the commission.’’
Piccinini’s Skywhale is nearly 23 metres high and took 1880 hours of work to make.
It used more than 3500 metres of fabric and weighs 500 kilograms with fuel, a pilot and two passengers on board.
The Skywhale will be revealed to the Canberra public on Saturday morning at 8.20am outside the National Gallery of Australia and will shortly thereafter make its first flight, weather permitting, at 9.20am. The first official flight was originally scheduled for Monday morning, and a flight then will still go ahead if the weather remains favourable.
