New and Old Parliament House
Parliament House belongs to the people of Australia and is open to the public seven days a week. Inside, a collection of more than 4,000 artworks, ranging from historic portrait to contemporary landscape, will amaze the visitor. Free guided tours leave every half hour, or you can wander the public spaces at your leisure, enjoying the art collection and magnificent architecture. When Parliament is sitting, you can observe proceedings from the public galleries. A visit to Parliament House is a must; your stay in Canberra simply isn’t complete without it.
Parliament House is the Center of Australian Politics for our nation and is situated in our Nations Capital Territory, Canberra. The two main chambers of Parliament House where our politicians sit are: The House of Representatives and the Senate. In these two chambers politicians have their say about how our nation runs and make all the laws that our nation lives and governs by. The heart of our countrys Capital is in Parliament House and the space taken up by a Fountain.
Straight above this fountain is the top of Capital Hill where the Australian Flag is situated. This flag sized12.8m by 6.4m, apart from being huge the flag is also raised up on a mast of 81 meters, high and over 200 tonne making it one of the largest stainless steel structures in the world.
Parliament House itself is built of enough concrete to build twenty five Sydney Opera Houses. Thats a lot of concrete! As well as being built of concrete, Parliament House is also made of expensive surfaces of marble, granite and fine Australian timbers. Parliament House was opened by Her Majesty the Queen on May the 9th 1988.
Before this another building was used to accommodate our Government. That is now used as the Electoral Education Centre.
The forecourt in front of the building has a featured mosaic dot painting featuring approximately 90,000 hand- guillotined circular pieces of granite. This recognizes the important history of Australia’s Indigenous People.
You follow through to the foyer. The use of marble and timber here shows the arrival of Europeans to Australia. Most of this marble comes from Italy. The colours of the marble represent Australia. The grayish-green on the pillars represents the Eucalyptus leaves which are found through out Australia. The black marble contains small fossils of crustateans that lived thousands of years ago.
In the Great Hall the theme is the settlement and the cultivation of the land. The rich timbers of Australia, the Great Hall tapestry and the embroidery make this possible. Some people may think that you can play a game of basketball in this room because of the timber floor, except it does not have the markings of a basketball court. A basketball has never entered the door. The tapestry is made of four different sections. It is a copy of the painting by Arthur Boyd. It is the same as the painting except the painting does not have Haley’s comet which was inserted in the tapestry with Arthur Boyd’s permission.
In Parliament House there are approximately 2,500 clocks. Between the 4 and the 5 and the 7 and the 8 there are little windows. When a vote needs to be held in one of the chambers a bell rings for four minutes only. This is the time that the members of the house have to get to the chamber before the doors are locked. If it is the House of Representatives the window between the 4 and the 5 flashes green and if it is the Senate the window between the 7 and the 8 flashes red.
The Member’s Hall is a ceremonial place located directly under the flag mast at the heart of the building. It is the space in which the north-south axis of the building crosses with the east-west legislative axis that joins the Senate and the House of Representatives chambers. Here portraits of past Prime Ministers such as Edmund Barton and Alfred Deakin and other important members of politics. There are also portraits of people who were the first at something. For example: the first lady president, in the Senate.
In the bottom level a small fountain is placed, the object of this is so that people above in the higher level cannot hear what politicians are saying below because the water flowing drones the sound of the people speaking below.
Parliament House is surrounded by 23 hectares of landscape design to blend in with the architecture of Parliament House. Native trees and shrubs are many of which are indigenous to the region, border the perimeter area through which all visitor are welcome to take a stroll.
The gardens on the eastern perimeter are trimmed hedges with pergolas and a variety of annuals and perennials. These gardens are a combination of English and French form of gardens reflects the British and European influence on Australia.
The main Committee room represents the future of Australia as the work of the committees affect the future of Australia’s representative democracy.
This building is noted as a major international achievement in the integration of art and architecture. It features lots of commissioned pieces of artwork built into the fabric of Parliament House.
Featured on the great verandah is the Coat of Arms was made by the silversmith Robin Blau, and at the bottom of the foyer’s marble stairs and the finials are sculptured by Anne Ferguson.
Artwork from the Parliament House Art Collection, portraits from the Historical Memorials Collections and some gifts to Parliament House can be seen right through the public areas of Parliament House.
The public galleries overlook both of the House of Representatives and the Senate chambers. Visitors are aloud to look at the proceedings when Parliament is sitting . Guides will explain the operations of each chamber on their non-sitting days.
Before Parliament sat in New Parliament House it sat in Old Parliament House and before then it sat in Melbourne.
Old Parliament House opened in 1927 and accommodated Australia’s Federal Parliament until 1988 when new Parliament House opened. Before our Federal Parliament sat in Canberra it sat in Melbourne. Because Sydney and Melbourne fought about who was the best to have Parliament sit in they decided to situate it in the middle of the two which is Canberra.
In the early years of the Canberra Government the Political House was quiet and a more social friendship House. Over time the House witnessed some of Australia’s most important moments and decisions. Including declaring to go to World War 2 in 1939. Since then lots of decisions were made in both Parliament Houses.
