Adelaide’s first skyscraper criticised as ‘profound mistake’ and ‘hugely questionable’ by opponents

The South Australian premier, Peter Malinauskas, said the Walker Corporation development showed the ‘state’s economy is growing’, and that it would generate $1bn a year in economic activity. Photograph: Walker Corporation

Adelaide’s first skyscraper will be a “phallic” construction overshadowing the birthplace of women’s suffrage, critics say.

The Walker Corporation has begun work on a 38-storey commercial building next to Parliament House on North Terrace, which is known as the city’s cultural boulevard.