We eased into Sunday with a lazy morning, farewell to Saul and Ryan, and a stop at the Parliament of Australia. The Commonwealth of Australia was established in 1901 by the six British colonies in Australia. Sydney and Melbourne were the two largest cities in Australia but neither could become the nation's capital because of their long history of rivalry. Rather, an independent state was formed to house the country's seat of government. Federal Pariament met in Melbourne until 1927, when they relocated to ACT.
The above building is the Old Parliament which was in use until 1988, when the new building was finally completed. The Australian War Memorial stands behind the Old Parliament.
The design of the $1.1 billion site is in the shape of two boomerangs enclosed within a circle. Much of the building is buried beneath Capital Hill, but the meeting chambers and accommodation for parliamentarians are free-standing within the boomerang-shaped arms. There are 25,000 granite slabs on the curved walls which, placed end to end, would stretch 46 km. The building required 300,000 cubic metres of concrete, enough to build 25 Sydney Opera Houses. The building has 4,700 rooms and has 2,416 clocks that are used for voting.
The Australian Coat of Arms features a kangaroo and emu as these are two of very few animals said to be unable to walk backwards, thus we "Advance Australia" as in the national anthem.
The public entrance to Parliament House opens into a main foyer leading into the Great Hall, which features a tapestry based on a painting by Arthur Boyd. Functions that have parliamentary and federal relevance often take place here, but the Great Hall is also open to functions for the general public, such as weddings and graduation ceremonies.
The House of Representatives
The Senate
The flag flown from the 81-metre flagpole is 12.8m by 6.4m, about the size of half a tennis court. The flagpole weighs 220 tons and is made of polished stainless steel. It was designed to be the pinnacle of Parliament House and is an easily recognizable symbol of national government. It is visible by day from outside and inside Parliament House and floodlit at night. The flag itself weighs approximately 15 kg.
