The federal government has discovered getting rid of the Nishi building - the much maligned home of the defunct climate change department - may be harder than it first thought.
The headquarters of the former climate change department has come under fire again in parliament, after it was revealed it would cost as much to ditch the building as it would to hold onto it.
The fancy digs in Canberra's hip New Acton region have been a magnet for criticisms by coalition MPs, who have painted it as a symbol of Labor waste on climate change bureaucracy.
The former Labor government has been blasted for spending $20,000 on coffee machines and leaving dozens of work terminals vacant in the modern complex.
The Abbott government was reviewing the future of the building, but could find parting ways trickier than it thought.
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When asked by Liberal Senator Anne Ruston on Monday what the penalty would be for terminating the $150 million lease on the building, the environment department had a sobering response.
"I understand it's in the order of $150 million," chief operating officer Dianne Carlos told a senate estimates hearing on Monday.
Senator Ruston said taxpayers had been lumped with a "green lemon", and criticised Labor for locking in a 15-year lease at above average rental prices.
"Labor effectively left taxpayers a $150 million bill for a lease taxpayers do not need," she said in a statement.
The government would still be reviewing the lease arrangements and "exploring its options", she added.
The building currently houses staff from the departments of environment and industry, and discussions are underway about its future.
Ms Carlos told the hearing that leasing documentation would be executed this week, and the government remained "fully committed to the building moving forward".
The former department is saving money in some regards.
The bulk of envelopes, business cards and other stationery branded with the Climate Change Department logo are still being used, despite the department being scrapped by the Abbott government.
Ms Carlos said most of the templates used these days were electronic, making changes to banners and signage quite cost efficient.
"Where they are not (electronic), we're encouraging people to use the last of old stocks," she said.
