Roaming Reporter: Lunar New Year, Parliament House lawns, Hobart, Tasmania
2 April blue Parliament House @ Hobart 2014
International Autistic Awareness day
Dia Internacional de Autismo
'Great to see' female Tas MPs 'having a stoush'
Assistant Editor at the West Australian Jenna Clarke says she enjoyed the “rambunctious behaviour” of several women in the Tasmanian chamber today.
Survivors Australia Launch in Tasmanian Parliament House
Survivors Australia launched in Tasmania's Parliament House on 17th November 2011
Peter and Tina Cundall on the steps of Parliament House Hobart Tasmania.
A PULP THE MILL protest on the steps of Parliament House Hobart, 19 November 2009. Fifty five people were arrested.
One of a number of protests against the GUNNS pulp mill on the Tamar River. See pulpthe mill.org for more information.
Xi delivers speech at Federal Parliament of Australia
Chinese President Xi Jinping delivers a speech at the Federal Parliament of Australia in Canberra, capital of Australia, Nov. 17, 2014.
Parliament House, Caberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia, Oceania
Parliament House is the meeting facility of the Parliament of Australia located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. The building was designed by Mitchell/Giurgola Architects and opened on 9 May 1988 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia. Costing more than A$1.1 billion, it was the most expensive building in the world at the time of its construction. Federal Parliament meetings were first held in Melbourne until 1927. Between 1927 and 1988, the Parliament of Australia met in the Provisional Parliament House, which is now known as Old Parliament House. Construction of Australia's permanent Parliament House was delayed while its location was debated. Construction of the new building began in 1981. The principal design of the structure is based on the shape of two boomerangs and is topped by an 81-metre flagpole. It contains 4,700 rooms and many areas are open to the public. The main foyer contains a marble staircase and leads to the Great Hall which has a large tapestry on display. The House of Representatives chamber is decorated green while the Senate chamber has a red colour scheme. Between the two chambers is the Members' Hall which has a water feature and is not open to the public. The Ministerial Wing houses the office of the Prime Minister and other Ministers. After World War I the Federal Capital Advisory Committee was established to prepare Canberra to be the seat of government, including the construction of a Parliament House. The committee decided that it would be best to erect a provisional building, to serve for a predicted 50 years until a new, permanent House could be built. In the event, Old Parliament House was Parliament's home for 61 years. In the last decade of its use as a parliament the building had a chronic shortage of available space. In 1978 the Fraser government decided to proceed with a new building on Capital Hill, and the Parliament House Construction Authority was created. A two-stage competition was announced, for which the Authority consulted the Royal Australian Institute of Architects and, together with the National Capital Development Commission, made available to competitors a brief and competition documents. The design competition drew 329 entries from 28 countries. The competition winner was the New York-based architectural firm of Mitchell/Giurgola, with the on-site work directed by Italian architect Romaldo Giurgola, with a design which involved burying most of the building under Capital Hill, and capping the edifice with an enormous spire topped by a large Australian flag. The facades, however, included deliberate imitation of some of the patterns of the Old Parliament House, so that there is a slight resemblance despite the massive difference of scale. Construction began in 1981, and the House was intended to be ready by Australia Day, 26 January 1988, the 200th anniversary of European settlement in Australia[citation needed]. It was expected to cost A$220 million. Neither the deadline nor the budget was met. The building was finally opened by Queen Elizabeth II on 9 May 1988, the anniversary of the opening of both the first Federal Parliament in Melbourne on 9 May 1901 by the Duke of Cornwall and York (later King George V), and of the Provisional Parliament House in Canberra on 9 May 1927 by the Duke of York (later King George VI). The flag flown from the 81 metre flagpole is 12.8 m by 6.4 m, about the size of half a tennis court. The flagpole weighs 250 tonnes and is made of polished stainless steel from Wollongong. It was designed to be the pinnacle of Parliament House and is an easily recognisable 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. The building was designed to sit above Old Parliament House when seen from a distance. It was proposed originally to demolish Old Parliament House so that there would be an uninterrupted vista from the New Parliament House to Lake Burley Griffin and the Australian War Memorial, but there were successful representations for preservation of the historic building, which now houses a parliamentary museum. The original idea was for Parliament House to be open freely to the public, and the sweeping lawns leading up to the entrances[citation needed] were intended to symbolise this. The building is a major visitor attraction in Canberra with about 1 million visits each year. With the increased risk of terrorist attacks in recent years, the security of Parliament House has been increased greatly. One result has been the construction of crash barriers blocking vehicular access to the lawns.
Parliament House Longroom
The Longroom in Parliament House, Hobart, Australia.
Touring Parliament House: The Basement
Speaker of the Tasmanian House of Assembly Elise Archer explores what lies in the Parliament House Basement.
How Charles Tiffin Built Queensland Parliament House
When the Queensland Parliament first convened in 1860, members met at the convict barracks on Queen Street. In 1863 an Australia-wide competition was held for the building design of a new parliament house. Plans by Queensland Colonial Architect Charles Tiffin were ultimately selected, and the foundation stone was laid in July 1865. Parliament House was first occupied in 1868, electricity was connected in 1868 - making it the first Parliament House in Australia to be electrified - and the building was finally completed in 1889.
Tiffin contributed greatly to the quality of historical architecture throughout Queensland. Apart from designing Parliament House, he was also responsible for Old Government House, Customs House, the Old Ipswich Court House, the Lands Office, Sandy Cape Lighthouse, as well as several other buildings including churches and post offices around the state. Several projects were completed in his personal time.
Born in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, Northumberland, England in August 1833 to Robert Tiffin, a whip manufacturer, and his wife Jane Haig, Tiffin was their third son but the only one to survive infancy. Records indicate Tiffin was trained as an architect by John Edward Watson in his home town. In 1855, Tiffin emigrated to Victoria, working briefly in Geelong before forming a private practice with William Davidson, Tiffin and Davidson, in Hobart.
On 1 January 1857, Tiffin married Mary Anne Haig, the daughter of a prosperous Hobart merchant. Tiring of private practice and seeking a Government position, Tiffin was employed by the New South Wales Government as the clerk of works for the Moreton Bay settlement in 1857 following a recommendation from the New South Wales Colonial Architect Alexander Dawson. After the creation of the Colony of Queensland in 1859, Tiffin secured the post of Colonial Architect. As such, he was charged with the responsibility of providing accommodation for the new colony's bureaucracy, Governor and Parliament. Aged just 26 at this time, he took up the challenge, in his own words, as a young, active, zealous, self-reliant man.
Tiffin took his Government duties seriously and is said to have worked tirelessly to design and construct more than 300 public buildings throughout the colony despite limited resources, vast distances and difficulty in securing reliable contractors. In December 1863, a competition for the design of a permanent Queensland Parliament was announced. Tiffin won first prize in April 1864, among great controversy and acrimony. Another design was initially favoured but was rejected on the basis of cost. Tiffin was accused of having input into the judging of the competition. So moved were the architects of Brisbane, in May 1864, eight local architects petitioned Parliament. Tiffin indignantly denied any wrongdoing, and contributed the 200 guineas prize money to the Ipswich Grammar School to set up a scholarship. Regardless, the controversy continued throughout the year resulting in a revised design by Tiffin eventually being chosen.
The title of Tiffin's office was changed in 1869 to Superintendent of Roads and Buildings when the Government attempted to cut expenditure by transferring the responsibility for roads and bridges in the southern part of the colony to his office. Tiffin inherited an administrative burden without any additional Government support. As a result, he was soon worn down by overwork. Adding to the burden, friction with the Minister for Works in 1870 resulted in Tiffin being accused of being extravagant, particularly in relation to the construction of Parliament House. Tiffin was required to report to Parliament on the issue. An unsavoury episode in February 1871 basically ended Tiffin's career in Queensland.
After a year's leave of absence in April 1872, he retired on medical grounds. Following medical advice to move to a cooler climate, Tiffin sold his home, Darrama. On route to Tasmania, he was delayed in Sydney by further illness. He died in Sydney on 9 January 1873 at the age of 40. An obituary said Tiffin had contributed the best years of his life to Queensland, and that he deserved a more fitting reward.
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Using documents from the Queensland State Archives, we can see letters, floor plans, images, posters, reports and investigations that occurred during the building of Queensland parliament.
See more images in our Flickr album:
The Queensland State Archives are located at 435 Compton Road Runcorn. Opening hours are 9.00am to 4.30pm Monday to Friday.
Chinese President addresses Australian parliament
President Xi Jinping says China is committed to pursuing a peaceful and common development with other regional economies. Xi made the remarks while addressing the Australian Parliament on Monday. He noted that China and Australia were both significant powers in the Asia-Pacific region, and urged the two countries to enhance their bilateral ties and boost cooperation.
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TS Hobart end of march at parliament house 22/09/2013
Survivors Australia launches in Hobart, Tasmania 17th November 2011
Survivors Australia launches in Tasmania's Parliament House.
WIN NEWS TAS: Parliament House Garage Sale
Ejection Question Time 27Nov2014
(9 mins) A new record (in lows) was set on Thursday in Parliament (27 Nov) when eighteen ALP members were ejected from Question Time. Naturally, the Coalition lost that little battle with a score of nil.
The session starts in complete silence for a condolence motion for the late Senator Reg Withers who died this week at age 90. Withers was known as the toe-cutter and was the architect of the Liberal Party's blocking actions in the Senate in 1975 which led to Gough's dismissal.
Give them ten minutes, or give them another hour, and you can see precisely how puerile and immature they can be - especially Christopher Pyne. Mind you, old Bronnie needs to take a good look at herself, as toward the end she was just throwing people out (randomly using her own words) for maybe taking a well-expressed point of order, and in Kelvin Thompson's case, simply asking the minister to table a public document being quoted.
If you watch right to the end, you'll see Christopher Pyne referring to Tanya Plibersek by an appalling phrase, which even he was forced to withdraw.
I've managed to keep it down to less than half a minute per ejection, and hopefully have it remain in context. There were some amazingly stupid things also said that didn't make the cut, alas, but if you'd like to see the full session, you can go here:
Here's a list of the members ejected - 'sequentially' (that word is of significance, you'll see...)
* Ed Husic (Chifley, NSW)
* Michelle Rowland (Greenway, NSW)
* David Feeney (Batman, Vic)
* Richard Marles (Corio, Vic)
* Julie Collins (Franklin, Tas)
* Nick Champion (Wakefield, SA)
* Clare O'Neil (Hotham, Vic)
* Joel Fitzgibbon (Hunter, NSW)
* Terri Butler (Griffith, Qld)
* Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, NSW)
* Michael Danby (Melbourne Ports, Vic)
* Jill Hall (Shortland, NSW)
* Kelvin Thompson (Wills, Vic)
* Melissa Parke (Fremantle, WA)
* Matt Thistlethwaite (Kingsford Smith, NSW)
* Pat Conroy (Charlton, NSW)
* Graham Perrett (Moreton, Qld)
* Alannah MacTiernan (Perth, WA)
I didn't include it in the footage, but at the end Bronwyn Bishop looked at her ejection list and said a number of members booted out were from Victoria and therefore must have wanted to get back and campaign for the state election today.
Not true, Bronnie, when you look at the distribution, it's purely in line with the proportion of Victorians (indeed any state) in the parliament anyway. Ah, these Liberals love to draw conclusions based on their convenience rather than facts, don't they?
Source:
Scott Morrison brings a lump of coal into Australian parliament
Australian politician Scott Morrison celebrates coal, by bringing a lump of it into parliament. Now Prime Minister, Morrison is facing widespread criticism at his government's lack of action on climate change.
Buses at Australia's Parliament House - Canberra Transport
Parliament House on Capital Hill is the centre of Australia's representative democracy. It's where the Commonwealth Parliament meets to govern the country, while the building itself is a fantastic example of modern Australian architecture. But did you know that you can actually take a public bus here? Parliament House is directly served by ACTION bus routes 1 and 81 on weekdays, and 934 & 981 on weekends.
In this video we see various ACTION buses outside Parliament House at the courtyard. Buses seen include a Scania L94UB, some MAN A69 18.320 HOCL-NL/E5's and Scania K320UB's. We also see some buses passing underneath along Capital Circuit.
Date: 17th January 2018.
ATH TV: MIKTA meets in Hobart
Presiding Officers from the Parliaments of Mexico, Indonesia, the Republic of Korea, Turkey and Australia (MIKTA) have gathered in Hobart for a meeting on Open Parliaments. We spoke with Australia’s Presiding Officers – President of the Senate, Senator the Hon Stephen Parry, and Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Hon Tony Smith MP, to discuss Australia’s role in the MIKTA partnership.
THE MINT AND THE NSW PARLIAMENT HOUSE LIT UP FOR XMAS
THE PROJECTED LIGHT SHOW IN SYDNEY INCLUDES THE OLD MINT AND THE NSW PARLIAMENT HOUSE. THEY LOOK SPECTACULAR.