The People's House

ACT - The People's House

Canberra's Parliament House is a potent national symbol

What goes on inside might bring your blood to boiling point, but Canberra's Parliament House is a potent national symbol. Showcases for Australian materials, design, craftsmanship and aspirations don't come any better than this.

Completed for the Bicentennial in 1988, Parliament House is still Australia's most expensive building ever, at a total cost of more than $1 billion. A domed roof covers the building, which was designed to blend with the contours of Capital Hill. From a distance, the most striking feature is the four-legged, 81-metre flagstaff that stands over the top of the building like a giant insect. Although the Australian flag that flies at the top of the mast might look about the size of a postage stamp, it's actually as big as a double-decker bus.

The design for the new Parliament was chosen from an international competition that attracted more than 300 entries. The winning design was the work of New York-based Italian architect Romaldo Giurgola. In a curious footnote, on Australia Day 2000, Giurgola and his family became Australian citizens.

The approach to the Parliament building takes you across a courtyard decorated with an enormous mosaic, Meeting Place, designed by Aboriginal artist Nelson Tjakamarra. Inside the foyer, the 48 grey-green marble columns represent a eucalypt forest, while the timber panels depict some of Australia's native plants. The upper floor of the building overlooks the Great Hall, featuring a 20-metre tapestry, one of the largest in the world, designed by Arthur Boyd.

Beyond the Great Hall, near the gallery that runs above the Members Hall, one of only four of the existing originals of the Magna Carta is on permanent display.

Free guided tours of the building depart every half-hour when Parliament is not in session. At other times, there are talks on the building, held in the Great Hall. At all times, visitors are welcome to wander around the public areas.

Old Parliament House

While the focus of political power might have shifted from under its feet, Old Parliament House shows every sign of enjoying a liberated old age.

Built in 1927, Old Parliament House is a stately, sprawling, colonial-style building mirrored by reflecting ponds on the edge of Lake Burley Griffin. Although this was never intended to be the permanent Parliament House, more than 60 years passed before it was finally replaced by the present Parliament building. When the politicians moved out, the building underwent a long period of renovation, which revealed a few surprises, such as the peephole between the Prime Minister's office and the office of his principal private secretary.

Since 1992, this gracious old building has become 'the people's house', a museum dedicated to Australia's social, cultural and political history. Guided tours take visitors through the former legislative chambers, the party rooms and the suites that belonged to the prime minister and the president of the senate. Some of the more memorable moments from the building's historic past are recalled in 'Order! Order!', a sound-and-light show that runs daily at noon.

Since 1999, Old Parliament House has been the site of the National Portrait Gallery, and here, the building shows its lighter side. Highlights from the permanent collection include portraits of such unlikely co-stars as Captain James Cook, Eddie Mabo, Kylie Minogue, Slim Dusty, Dame Edna Everage, Michael Hutchence, Senator John Button, Stefano Manfredi and the Reverend Fred Nile. The gallery's program of changing exhibitions counts as some of the national capital's gems.