By John Armstrong
More than $200,000 is being spent refurbishing the Prime Minister's official residence just nine years after historic Premier House was completely renovated.
Work has begun on an Apec-linked interior redecoration which will be confined to the public areas of the 140-year-old house - the large reception lounge and hallway and meeting and dining rooms on the ground floor.
The private quarters used by Jenny and Burton Shipley and their family are not included.
The ministerial services manager at the Department of Internal Affairs, Trevor Pope, said the overhaul was well overdue and the public rooms were looking "tired."
However, the upgrade has been timed in advance of September's Apec summit, which is expected to bring a heavy traffic of foreign dignitaries trooping through Mrs Shipley's residence.
Premier House also gets heavy use from charities and community groups as a venue for functions.
The cost of the refurbishment is expected to be between $210,000 and $215,000.
The work includes painting, redecorating and the purchase of new or restored furniture.
The dining room table is being replaced with a larger one as the Prime Minister has more formal dinners at Premier House than her predecessor.
The existing expanse of carpet will be retained.
The five-bedroomed house was home to the nation's Premiers and their families from the late 1860s until 1935, when the egalitarian-minded Labour Government under the revered bachelor Prime Minister Michael Joseph Savage turned it into a children's dental clinic and later a playcentre.
The two-storey wooden home was renovated at a cost of $1.8 million in 1990, much of that money coming from the Lottery Grants Board.
Big-bucks overhaul for PM's residence
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