RSS Feed
October 11th, 2011 
FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda 
Prime Minister Julia Gillard and partner Tim Mathieson at The Lodge. Picture: Ray Strange
Source: HWT Image Library
The Lodge’s roof’s slate and timber frames need replacing.
Source: HWT Image Library
of 2
The Lodge is in urgent need of repair.
Source: HWT Image Library
FOR all its history, our Prime Minister is living in what can only be described as a “renovator’s delight”.
The roof at The Lodge leaks and needs to be completely replaced. The copper electrical wiring from the 1920s is wrapped in cloth insulation and is officially a fire hazard.
The plumbing is rusty and the house is riddled with asbestos.
It’s going to cost several million dollars to fix the historic home but the repair job will be ongoing.
The 84-year-old “temporary” residence is in such a state that Julia Gillard and her partner Tim Mathieson will have to move out for four months next year.
“If The Lodge were a patient it would be in hospital,” Special Minister of State Gary Gray said.
PM after PM has avoided anything other than minor repairs for fear of a public backlash. Now it has reached crunch time.
Start of sidebar. Skip to end of sidebar.
End of sidebar. Return to start of sidebar.
But the Gillard Government says it has no plans to build a new one. It hopes this renovation rescue will last another decade until it is another PM’s political hot potato.
Mr Gray admits a new Lodge will be needed one day. “I think in the future that will happen, but that will be a long way down the track,” he told ABC News24.
It is easy to be sentimental about The Lodge but one of John Howard’s closest friends, Donald McDonald, says “it just doesn’t do the job”.
He is one of the few brave enough to call for the Government to use the space reserved for a new Lodge at Attunga Point and Stirling Park in Yarralumla near the Governor-General’s digs. “Its just got to work for the purpose of an Australian Prime Minister for the 21st century and beyond.”
But Malcolm Fraser who lived there for seven years in the 1970s and early 80s is not so sure.
“Tammy and I regarded it as very adequate. By Australian standards it’s a big house but not so big it couldn’t be a family home,” Mr Fraser said.
The Lodge needs urgent repairs of its internal structures, with hazardous asbestos and electrical wiring.
He fears if a new home is built the “danger” would be it would turn into something too large and too expensive. Mr Fraser said he rejected a push to build a new residence when he was PM.
But the kitchen was “rather awful” so he called in the union to look at it and they threatened to pull their staff out because of the poor conditions. He got his new kitchen.
“I would only consider building a new Lodge if the cost of building was not going to be more than the cost of repairs,” he said.
No one wants the PM to live in a tumble down cottage – or a Taj Mahal. This is the perfect chance to ask our best architects to get the balance right and design a residence that befits the office and which we can all be proud.
Posted in 
Tags: 
