We seem to have lost some genuine comments in an attempt to deal with a spam attack here. If you were enquiring about the date of the name change to Old Parliament House we have updated the article to make that clearer, the History Trust Board of Trustees approved a name change in We provide historical information on Adelaide sites, but are only directly involved in sites run by the History Trust of South Australia.
Hi Marilyn, You are correct! The Museum closed when the building was reclaimed by Parliament for meeting rooms and offices. In recent years, the South Australian Maritime Museum has exhibited recreations of different types of immigrant ship accommodation during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Wasn't there once an open to the public area where you went into a tiny room done out like a ship's cabin and you experienced what it would have been like to travel aboard Thr Buffalo on route to South Australia?
Discover the people who have shaped Adelaide. Explore the city's built environment and famous Parklands. Find the stories behind the city's public artworks, monuments and memorials.
Browse some of the themes that contextualise the city's history. Learn about the organisations that have made the city tick. Find out what's drawn people into the city's streets. Explore some of the early maps, plans and panoramas that trace the development of the city. Discover the city's history through a rich collection of museum objects. Explore Adelaide by following a themed tour. Share your memories, stories and pictures with the Adelaidia community. You are here Adelaidia Places.
The building From to South Australia was administered by a Legislative Council made up of the governor and four appointed public officials, which met privately in a sitting room at Government House. The front of Old Parliament House at dusk. The flag pole of Australian Parliament House can be seen the background. The design is based on 2 huge curved walls, each metres in length, which separate Parliament House into 4 main zones:.
The incorporation of the building into the landscape is a key element of the design. It is consistent with Walter Burley Griffin's vision for Canberra, which integrated the built and natural environment.
Architect Romaldo Giurgola observed that Parliament House 'could not be built on top of the hill as this would symbolise government imposed upon the people. The building should nest with the hill, symbolically rise out of the Australian landscape, as true democracy rises from the state of things. One million cubic metres of earth and rock were removed from the site to make way for the building.
The central zone of Parliament House was then built into Capital Hill. It was placed within the 2 curved walls and covered over with grass to recreate the shape of the hill. In Griffin's original plan for Canberra, Parliament House was to be built on Camp Hill, just below where it is now located. Griffin reserved the Capital Hill site for a ceremonial public building called the Capitol, which would celebrate the achievements of the Australian people.
Its elevated position above Parliament House symbolised Parliament's accountability to the people, who 'oversee' their representatives. It would need to be demolished if Griffin's plan was followed. The flagmast traces the outline of the pyramidal 'Capitol' building from Griffin's competition drawings. The grassed roof allows people to stand above their elected representatives.
Griffin used the land formations around Canberra as the basis for his plan for the city and to define symbolic axes.
The central zone of Parliament House was placed in line with Griffin's land axis. It extends from the Forecourt to the ministerial wing, and links the people to the executive government. The Senate and the House of Representatives are located on a line known as the legislative — law-making— axis. It crosses the land axis in the Members Hall at the very centre of the building beneath the Australian flag, visible through a glass skylight.
This intersection is in the middle of the building. It symbolically brings together the different elements that make up Australian democracy—the people, the members of parliament and the government—under the unifying symbol of the flag.
Floorplan of Australia's Parliament House. A floorplan of Australian Parliament House. At the north of the building is the main entrance. The House of Representatives chamber and members' offices are on the east of the building and the Senate chamber and senators' offices on the west. To the south is the Prime Minister's office and ministers's offices.
The Cabinet room is to the north of the Prime Minister's office. The floor plan shows that Parliament House is made up of 3 separate buildings joined together. Attribution — you must attribute the work in the manner specified by the author or licensor but not in any way that suggests that they endorse you or your use of the work.
Waiver — any of the above conditions can be waived if you get permission from the copyright holder. The 2 curved walls in Parliament House separate the Senate and House of Representatives, a division that physically represents Australia's bicameral parliamentary system in which laws can only be passed if both houses agree.
The Senate and House are the largest rooms in the building. The House of Representatives. This image is of a large room with green furnishings.
The seats are arranged around a large central table. There is a large chair at the open end of the U-shaped seats that is elevated above the other chairs. There are people sitting in the seats and papers on the desks. In both the Senate and House, the seats are arranged in rows in a horseshoe shape. This replicates the layout of Old Parliament House. The Senate. This image is of a large room with red furnishings.
There are 3 large chairs at the open end of the U-shaped seats that are elevated above the other chairs. The colours of the rooms are based on those used in the British Parliament, with red for the Senate and green for the House. These traditionally rich colours have been adapted to reflect the Australian landscape—the green used in the House and the red in the Senate are similar to the grey-green and red ochre colours of the Australian landscape.
Each room has a distinctive architectural style. In the Senate, this is based on circles and ellipses; in the House, on angular shapes. The ceilings provide a striking example of this contrast. It can also be seen in the rooftops of both: the Senate has a circular roof and the House roof is angular. The rooftops are finished with red terracotta tiles. This is a reference to the red-tiled rooftops of many Australian homes.
In fact the building was to end up costing plus an additional for furniture and fittings. The life of the building as a legislative chamber was to stretch to 61 years and by there were Members and 76 Senators. Also see section on Building and Support Facilities. By , when the building was completed, Canberra was still very much a small town lacking many of the amenities that other capital cities enjoyed.
The Parliament House and two ugly secretariat buildings, East Block and West Block, which were about metres to its rear stood out starkly in the plain which was criss-crossed with dusty roads seemingly leading nowhere through paddocks fully planted with trees'.
The official population of Canberra at the time was There were people who lived in the city area of Canberra. The largest suburb was Duntroon with a population of , followed by Fyshwick with , Acton , Ainslie , Yarralumla and Braddon The smallest suburb in the city area was Deakin with only 20 people, of whom 18 were female.
By way of contrast Parkes had a population of 59 of whom 57 were male. The hotels that existed were 'dry' as prohibition was still in force and people wishing to imbibe had to travel to Queanbeyan.
In it cost 3 per week for a single room at the Kurrajong Hotel and 5 per week for a single room at the Hotel Canberra. There was a total of 41 teachers, 33 of whom were employed by the Government. A total of students were enrolled at the public schools and 64 at St Gabriel's. The weighted, cost of living price index figures in regard to food, groceries and housing for the final quarter of show that Canberrans had by far the highest prices to pay for these necessities.
The figures were with the base year figure being : Sydney, ; Melbourne, ; Adelaide, ; Perth, ; Hobart, ; and Canberra, At the top end of the housing rental market were timber and brick cottages which the more senior public servants tended to occupy.
There were also workers tenements that were let for between six shillings and thirteen shillings a week. It was Percy Deane then Secretary of the Prime Minister's Department who described the best view of Canberra as 'from the back of the departing train'. Parliament last met in Melbourne on 24 March After Speaker Groom announced in the House of Representatives that the House will next meet in Canberra on 9 May the Members present all joined hands, and in best farewell traditions, sang Auld Lang Syne.
The Opening and First Day of Sitting. I earnestly hope that we in this Parliament, in common with all other parliaments of the British Commonwealth of Nations, will ever strive to present the peace of the world and direct our efforts to the promotion of the progress and best interests of our people. The fact that the key was handed to the leader of the Executive and not the true custodians of the Parliament-the Speaker of the House and President of the Senate-was seen to be elevating the Executive to a level above the Parliament.
Former Speaker Sir William Johnson 'wrote to his successor, Speaker Groom, protesting that the Duke should hand the key directly to the Speaker or the President as custodians of the respective houses'. Following the unlocking of the doors, the Duke unveiled a statue of King George V in Kings Hall and then proceeded to the Senate Chamber where, in the presence of MHRs, Senators and invited guests, he formally proclaimed the inauguration of parliamentary sittings in Canberra.
The formalities of the opening highlighted the strength of Australia's allegiance and ties to the Crown and the 'Mother Country' in Bruce, addressing the Duke of York in the Senate Chamber, continually stressed Australia's attachment and devotion to Britain. He is the centre of all our loyalties We ask you to convey to His Majesty or devoted homage, and an assurance of our loyalty and affection to his Throne and Person We remember with gratitude the fostering care of the Mother Country and the protection we have enjoyed under the British flag.
Today it is our solemn duty to reaffirm our faith in our country, and our devotion to the Crown and Empire'. After the opening ceremony both Houses sat on that day for the first time at 5pm. In the Senate further formalities related to the opening were completed, notification was given of certain bills that had been assented to and several papers were presented.
This was necessary because the Senate was not due to meet again until 28 September. Section 20 of the Constitution states that 'The place of a Senator shall become vacant if for two consecutive months of any session of the Parliament, he without the permission of the Senate, fails to attend the Senate'. Thus, the granting of leave to all Senators would ensure that the constitutional properties were observed.
Senator Pearce went to great lengths to explain because 'certain statements, particularly in sections of the Press' why the Parliament would be having such a long recess-from May to September. He outlined the size and complex nature of the administrative machinery related to Parliament and why such a prolonged recess was necessary to facilitate the shift from Melbourne to Canberra. The final business of the day was the Adjournment Debate. The first disagreement and dispute in the new Senate occurred when Senator Pearce announced that the tabling of a report by the Joint Committee on Public Accounts on the activities of the Australian Commonwealth Shipping Line would be held over until September.
He said that this was agreed to by the Leader of the Opposition, Mr Charlton ALP , in the interests of avoiding party political conflict on such an auspicious occasion as the opening of Parliament House.
However, Senator Givens Nat, Qld objected strongly 'What right has the Government or any individual member to prevent the Committee from presenting its report today if it desires to do so? Is the Committee prepared to sacrifice its privileges? It is deplorable that a violent attack should be made today on the rights of the community and the Senate in such an important respect as this'. Senator Kingsmill Nat, WA strongly supported Senator Givens when he said 'the report is now ready, and I deeply regret that it cannot be tabled today.
I disclaim on behalf of the committee, and its chairman, any responsibility for the delay. It cannot be attributed to the committee'. Despite Senator Givens and Senator Kingsmill's protestations, the report was not debated that day and another incident had occurred that highlighted the tension between the Executive and the Parliament.
In the house similar procedures and formalities occurred, including notification of assent to certain bills. The Prime Minister, Mr Bruce, then moved a motion on similar terms to the one in the Senate that leave be granted to all Members until the House next sat. This motion, indicating the long adjournment until September, brought forth the first hostile comments in the new House from several Members, notably Billy Hughes Nat, North Sydney.
Hughes, an ex-Prime Minister and Member of the House since Federation in , was particularly critical of the long recesses between parliamentary sittings which characterised, according to him, Bruce's stewardship. This country would be better governed, and our legislation would be more calculated to promote the prosperity of the country, if we sat more regularly, and if, on being called together at infrequent intervals, we were not obliged to work at high pressure, the Government forcing through legislation almost at the point of a bayonet'.
It is interesting that, even with the best efforts and intentions on such an historic occasion when political and parliamentary differences would be expected to be sublimated to the greater cause the opening , the Parliament versus Executive tension surfaced so strongly. The Parliamentary Program. I should like the Prime Minister to give honourable members some idea of the date upon which the House will reassemble.
It has seemed like one long adjournment since this Government has been in office. The parliamentary program was shortened somewhat because of the time needed to shift the Parliament from Melbourne to Canberra.
Nevertheless, during the year the House sat for a total of 59 days and the Senate for 44 days. A total of 38 acts were passed of which 35 were initiated by the House and three by the Senate. There was one petition presented to the House and none to the Senate. In the House there were 25 adjournment debates, six matters of public importance and 48 divisions.
The committee system see Appendix 1 was very much underdeveloped when compared with today and most of the deliberations of the committees dealt with domestic housekeeping matters for example, the Library and printing, as well as the new Parliament House which was dealt with by the Public Works Committee. The Parliament only sat briefly on 9 May and then, following the long winter recess, it sat from 28 September until 15 December. An interesting question put on the Notice Paper over the recess by Walter Parsons Nat, Angas SA related to the place of origin of oranges provided by Canberra hotels at the time of the opening of the new Parliament House.
In particular, Parsons wanted to know why Californian oranges were provided and not oranges from South Australia. Charles Marr, the Minister for Home and Territories, replied that the Federal Capital Commission had obtained the Californian oranges for the hotels concerned because the Australian 'market was absolutely bare of local oranges.
Difficulty was being experienced in procuring suitable fruit, and there was not time to alter the receipt of the Californian oranges in question to make other arrangements' he added that, 'It is a general rule of the Commission to give preference to Australian products'. Preliminary proceeding got off to a sad start in the new building.
Frank Green who was then Clerk Assistant described the latter event thus: 'I was sitting in an alcove in the Chamber from where I could see the new Clerk, and had arranged for him to give a certain signal if he wanted me. As I was watching McGregor I saw him slump suddenly in his chair. I took the vacant seat and business proceeded. McGregor died that night'.
He started his delivery at 4. He explained that the Government planned to raise about 62 million in revenue for the financial year and spend an amount just less than that. As it turned out his plans for a small surplus were frustrated when the projected returns from customs and excise revenue were not met.
Page outlined reductions in both income and land tax rates and gave details of an ambitious scheme to place Federal-State financial relations on a more stable and secure footing. At this time the Commonwealth's main revenue raiser was customs and excise levies estimated to raise approximately 44 million with direct taxes, notably income tax, only contributing approximately 14 million.
On the expenditure side, the Budget allowed just over 14 million for payments to the States; over 9 million for invalid and old age pensions and for the purchase of 10 grams of radium for use by hospitals in the fight against cancer. There was to be an increase of almost 17 in the estimates of the Parliament to help cover the cost of the shift to Canberra. During debate on Supply Bill No. He maintained that 'two years ago the Prime Minister said that we were maintaining a certain balance and that all but about 10 per cent of total immigrants were British The figures for six months ended the 30 th of June show clearly that there has been one non British immigrant to every three British immigrants'.
Charlton was not only concerned about the number of non-British immigrants but also the number of immigrants in total We must, therefore, do something to restrain the influx of these migrants'. Before the Budget debate was completed Mr Charlton moved a motion of no confidence in the Government for its decision to sell the Commonwealth Shipping Line. Hughes, who was Prime Minister when the Shipping Line was established, was particularly critical of the decision.
The Government maintained that the Line was too expensive and caused higher freight rates whilst the Opposition claimed that it saved the key primary industries that exported agricultural products millions of pounds.
The Opposition motion was defeated 40 to 23 and the shipping Line was sold to Lord Kylsant, on behalf of the White Star Line, for 1 However, the Government did not collect all the proceeds from the sale.
He was later 'sentenced to one year's imprisonment for fraud'. Debates on matters of public importance covered a variety of issues including aboriginal affairs, the purchase of radium and the import duty charged on empty Australian wine casks. On 20 October, related to the first issue, the Member for Angas, Walter Parsons Nat, SA , presented a petition the only one presented to the Parliament in from residents of Australia stating that the Aboriginal races are dying out, and praying that a model Aboriginal State be established.
Eight days later a matter of public importance on the 'Exploitation of aboriginal labour in North Australia' was debated.
He maintained that Aboriginal workers were being paid three shillings a week when the award wage was 5 a week. I assert that more has been done to 'syphilize' than to civilize them'. He went on to say that 'the aborigines of the Northern Territory are of fine stature but with the mind of an infant'. The colours of the rooms are based on those used in the British Parliament, with red for the Senate and green for the House. These traditionally rich colours have been adapted to reflect the Australian landscape.
The green used in the House and the red in the Senate are similar to the grey-green and red ochre colours of the Australian landscape.
The distinctive flagmast marks the exact centre of the building, stands 81 metres high and weighs tonnes. It is one of the largest stainless steel structures in the world.
The Australian flag flies over Parliament House 24 hours a day and is about the size of the side of a double-decker bus. This photo shows the front of Parliament House with the Great Verandah and the flagmast. This aerial photograph shows Parliament House, including the curved walls, the Senate wing, the House of Representatives wing and the Executive wing. This image is of a large room with red furnishings. The seats are arranged around a large central table. There are 3 large chairs at the open end of the U-shaped seats that are elevated above the other chairs.
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