National Security Office Precinct price tag a mystery but Jim Chalmers insists it will be 'value for money'

The Albanese government's first budget on Tuesday pulled back the curtains on a highly secretive proposal to develop a new office complex in Barton, bringing together national security and other Commonwealth agencies.

It's expected the new National Security Office Precinct, or the "Barton project", will house around 5000 staff once built in its prime location on State Circle, next to York Park.

But the cost of the project, which has been described by Finance Minister Katy Gallagher as "significant" and "substantial", is unknown due to national security and commercial sensitivities.

The budget papers revealed that a detailed business case, planning, design work and "early market testing" had started in 2020 under the Morrison government.

A new car park would also be built adjacent to the John Gorton Building as part of the project's first phase.

READ MORE:

Industry insiders have told The Canberra Times a building of this size in the Parliamentary Triangle would likely exceed $1 billion based on the cost of previous projects.

When asked whether taxpayers could have confidence the project would stay within the proposed budget, which is unknown to the public, Treasurer Jim Chalmers assured it was his focus the project remained value for money.

"We need to make sure that we have got world-class facilities for our national security agencies," he said at his National Press Club appearance on Wednesday.

"Obviously, we're aware of the history of some of these big projects and it's not talking out of school to say that the focus that Katy [Gallagher] and I have brought to some of these discussions and some of the others is to make sure we get value for money.

"Beyond that, it's a really important investment that I support. We need to do this for all of the right reasons and we will, and we'll try to deliver it as efficiently as we can."

Minister Gallagher confirmed it was the most significant infrastructure announcement for the nation's capital.

"It's much bigger than the light rail [project], like a lot," she said on Tuesday.

ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr said it would also offer new retail and hospitality amenities, describing it as a "major" project.

"This investment will create thousands of jobs during the construction period 2023-2028," he said.

The federal budget also allocated $86 million for the next stage of light rail and delivered funds to reopen the mothballed AIS Arena.

The $700 million headquarters for the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation, which opened in 2012, was plagued with budget blowouts and delivery delays.

The building's blueprints were also reportedly stolen by Chinese spies before it was occupied, although ASIO dismissed the hacking claims.

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: