On the evening of Monday, 19 July, the House of Representatives and half the Senate were dissolved, writs were issued for a general election, and both the federal government and the Australian Public Service went into caretaker mode. What does ‘caretaker’ mean in this context? It’s a long-established convention which goes to the heart of our democratic system and the ideas of responsible government that underpin it. Find out more in our Prime Fact 63, The Caretaker Conventions in Australia available for download
The Museum of Australian Democracy at Old Parliament House recently acquired a collection of images by the notable Australian artist Tom Thompson. Approached by his local member of parliament, Murray Sainsbury, in October 1982, Thompson ventured from his home in nearby Braidwood to depict proceedings of the House of Representatives at Parliament House in Canberra. A number of eminent Australian politicians of the era are depicted in the sketches, including Malcolm Fraser, Bob Hawke, John Howard, and Billy Snedden. The images capture glimpses of the final months of Malcom Fraser’s Liberal Government prior to the ascension of the Labor government…
On 9 May 1927 His Royal Highness the Duke of York opened Australia’s first purpose-built federal parliament building, now known as Old Parliament House. There was no national capital city when the Australian federation was formed in 1901 so, for the first 26 years as a nation, the federal parliament met in the Victorian state parliament in Melbourne. However, provision had been made in the Constitution for a seat of Government of the Commonwealth, to be located within Commonwealth territory in the state of New South Wales but not less than 100 miles from Sydney. The site for the national capital was finally announced in 1911, and an inauguration…
On 13 October 2009 Senator the Hon Joe Ludwig, Cabinet Secretary and Special Minister of State, announced the recipients of 9 Australian Prime Ministers Centre Fellowships for 2009-2010. Now in its third year, the APMC Research and Scholarship Program is proving to be a valuable—and popular—initiative. The program supports scholars, creative workers and researchers working in the fields of political science and history, with Australia’s prime ministers and how they shaped the Australia we live in today as a major part of their focus. The Fellowships are selected by an independent selection panel convened by Old Parliament House representing…
We’ve recently acquired an important item for our collection. The photo album, ‘Views of Sydney’, is a handsome leather-bound volume of photographs, largely of Federation arches, taken in Sydney and Melbourne in 1901. The photographer is unknown. The album was purchased from a second hand book dealer. These unusual photographs are coloured. After seeking the advice of photographic experts at the National Gallery of Australia and the Australian National University, it appears most likely that they are photo lithographs from a negative, with the colour being printed from hand drawn tint stones.
The images from the album are on the Old Parliament…
On 25 November, Special Minister of State, Senator John Faulkner, announced the recipients of the Australian Prime Ministers Centre Fellowships and one Summer Scholarship. The Australian Prime Ministers Centre (APMC) at Old Parliament House offers a program of fellowships and summer scholarships. These allow researchers to explore the history of Australia’s prime ministers and how they shaped the Australia we live in today. The Fellowships are selected by an independent selection panel convened by Old Parliament House representing national collecting institutions and the academic community.
The 2008-2009 research subjects cover a diverse range…
