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    Entrance to the Museum of Australian Democracy, a.k.a. Old Parliament House, the first in Canberra, opened in 1927 by the Duke of York (King George VI, that must have been quite a speech), when Canberra was but a field. The parliament had sat the previous 26 years in Parliament House in Melbourne, now the Victoria state parliament.: by flyted, Views[1059]
         		 The Parliament House flagpole, complete with the flag that everyone points out is the size of a double-decker bus.: by flyted, Views[873]
         		 In the Australian House, the Prime Minister and her Deputy sit at the left side of the big desk in the rolly chairs, directly across from the Opposition leader and his deputy (the opposition right now is the Liberal/National coalition, the deputy is thus the National Party leader). Thus the leaders don't sit on the front benches but at the actual table. Copies of Hansard line the table in the middle, and the brackets for the mace are at the bottom end. The smaller desk below is for the official recordist of Parliament, who in fact does not type every word anymore but monitors the voice recognition system, and every 12 minutes switches out with someone to double-check and publish the official record of every word uttered (insults included).: by flyted, Views[453]
         		 Contemplating Canberra on the roof atop Parliament House. I only had one question, where do they keep the boot?! It's one of their proudest traditions!: by flyted, Views[531]
         		 The fine view from Parliament House roof down the national lawn to Old Parliament House, now the outstanding Museum of Australian Democracy, and past that to Lake Burley Griffin, Anzac Parade, the War Memorial in the distance and Mt. Ainslie. The arch before the lake is the stage set up for the big INXS concert that night (featuring Canada's own J.D. Fortune!).: by flyted, Views[710]
     
    The left axis from Parliament, looking out towards the City Centre. The Canadian Embassy is in the trees on the left side of the wide Commonwealth Avenue, just down from the hill.: by flyted, Views[420]
         		 The right axis from Parliament, and the corresponding Kings Avenue. At the far end, corresponding to the City Centre, is a big traffic circle and monument to Australian/American relations.: by flyted, Views[370]
         		 The official copy on display of the Apology to Australia's Indigenous Peoples, made on February 13, 2008, by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd in Canberra. The previous government had long rejected making such a statement but when Labor took office in late 2007 it was one of their top priorities and represented another small but symbolic step towards reconciliation.: by flyted, Views[971]
         		 The House of Representatives, named after the American version as opposed to
         		 The Great Hall, scene of many national receptions and banquets. The Parliament House was officially opened by the Queen in here. At the far end is a giant tapestry based on a painting by Arthur Boyd, one of Australia's famous artists. He was in his late 70's though when this was commissioned so he said rather than paint the whole thing again, why not have it done up as a woven tapestry.: by flyted, Views[890]
     
    This is all dyed wool woven to recreate the painting and now hanging on the wall, you can see the shadow. If you go back to the last photo and look closely at the top, there is a faint curved streak going across the top-middle of the tapestry, the only addition from the original painting: Halley's Comet, which was in the skies when the tapestry was created in 1986.: by flyted, Views[457]
         		 The latest addition to Parliament House: a muddied flag recovered from the Queensland floods and presented to Prime Minster Gillard just this past February 8, 2011.: by flyted, Views[344]
         		 The front entrance to Parliament House, a modern interpretation of classical columns. This is the scene of many demonstrations and festivities.: by flyted, Views[1256]
         		 The entrance foyer to the building; the stairs opposite are on the House of Representatives side, the stairs beneath are on the Senate side, and the far right wall leads to the Great Hall.: by flyted, Views[874]
         		 The current ministry, a minority Labor government held in power by 3 independents and a Green Party MP. The Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, ousted Kevin Rudd, who is now the Foreign Minister (centre row, far left), in a back room deal last June when the party felt he was too weak as leader to win them re-election. She became Australia's first female PM and subsequently was voted into office outright in August, barely; it took a few weeks to secure enough support. Rudd meanwhile has been rebuilding his credibility as one of the world's high-profile Foreign Ministers; he may yet get another shot at the top. Peter Garrett is at the top-right, the former lead singer of Midnight Oil and activist for indigenous and environmental issues, who became Environment Minister in 2007 and is now Minister for Education.: by flyted, Views[572]
     
    An excerpt on display of Captain Cook's famous reflection on Aboriginal first contact, 1770, becoming more prescient perhaps with the passing of time:
         		 A beautiful morning on Lake Burley Griffin, named after Canberra's planner. This location was chosen as the site for Australia's compromise capital in 1913 (to avoid favouring Sydney or Melbourne), but was built very slowly over the next 70-plus years. Even now the population is barely 350,000, but it is one of the world's greatest planned cities, endlessly fascinating. In this picture the National Carillon is on the left and the High Court (Supreme Court) the big blocky building in the middle.: by flyted, Views[1510]
         		 Looking the opposite way down the lake, towards Black Mountain and Black Mountain Tower on top. The National Library is the long building on the left and the Canadian flagpole and Museum of Canberra on the right. Walter Burley Griffin was an American designer who submitted the design for Canberra in the 1910's, which still makes up the master plan for the city.: by flyted, Views[578]
         		 This is a great model of Canberra from the Canberra Museum: Capital Hill and Parliament House is centre-right, one apex of
         		 The Lodge, in a subdivision on the far side of Parliament House, official home of the Prime Minister. On the model (previous photo), if you follow the big avenue from Parliament heading down, The Lodge is on the right hand side in the clump of dark trees, at the first little perpendicular intersection.: by flyted, Views[859]
     
    Parliament House lawn on Capital Hill. Parliament House was only opened in 1988 after 7 years of construction and just over $1 billion in cost. The winning design called for the entire Capital Hill, which was previously untouched forest and grass, to be razed, the building constructed, and then the soil returned to bury the bulk of the new building. Thus it appears to be built into the hill, when actually the hill was rebuilt around it.: by flyted, Views[1545]
         		 A travel agent's window in Canberra: The World from Australia's perspective. Maps with this perspective would be standard issue in every classroom and Australian atlas.: by flyted, Views[438]
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         		 On the Parliament House tour, in the Senate chamber, Eric the outstanding tour guide doing his thing. He was really polished with a great mixture of information, jokes and timing. I was sure to compliment him afterwards. The seats in the gallery purposely fade as they get higher, to symbolize bleaching by the sun. The Senate is similar to the Canadian upper house except it is elected, to staggered 4 year terms, and based on equal representation for all the states. It can initiate legislation in any area except the annual budget, which comes from the House but must be approved by the Senate.: by flyted, Views[1569]
         		 The Senate throne, big chair at the back, reserved for the Queen and her consort alongside. They have never sat in it. The President of the Senate (Speaker) is the next chair forward, donated in fact to the new Parliament House by the Canadian government. Above the throne, a kangaroo and emu keep careful watch on both sides of the house. The government side is below and opposition on the far side.: by flyted, Views[2809]
     
    The PM's speechwriter and press officer shared this little office, scarcely 20 years ago. It also has a very Bata Library-esque feel.: by flyted, Views[564]
         		 These offices sat gathering dust for almost 20 years before being opened to the public in 2009 as the new museum.: by flyted, Views[543]
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