Experience the beautiful sound of more than 80 voices as they fill King’s Hall and the House of Representatives Chamber at the Museum of Australian Democracy at Old Parliament House. The Museum of Australian Democracy is proud to present A Chorus of Women’s production of The Gifts of the Furies.
A Chorus of Women are a Canberra-based group with a history of giving voice to community concerns. During Floriade, they will be joined by some of the city’s most accomplished soloists, and instrumentalists and a large Chorus of Citizens that includes the ABC 666 Community Choir, for three spe…
Australia’s only hung parliament* in the first century of Federation resulted from the wartime election of 1940. During the next three years successive minority governments led Australia and ran our war effort, transforming the economy and experimenting with innovations in how Australia was governed. The Sixteenth Commonwealth Parliament and the wartime governments of Menzies and Curtin were, in many respects, the most significant and creative in our history. Robert Menzies had been Prime Minister for sixteen months when the election was held on 21 September 1940. His troubled United Australia Party/Country Party coalition won 37 seats in the…
On a winter’s evening in 1968, Prime Minister John Gorton made history by dancing with a young Aboriginal girl at the first national Aboriginal debutante ball. The ball was held at the Sydney Town Hall to celebrate the symbolic ‘coming of age’ of Aboriginal Australians in the referendum a year earlier. Twenty-five young debutantes were presented to the Prime Minister, with Mr Gorton choosing to dance with 16-year old Pearl Anderson. Dr Anna Cole, one of this year’s recipients of an Australian Prime Ministers Centre Fellowship, has produced a 30-minute documentary film about these events entitled ‘Dancing with the Prime Minister’. The film will…
Details of almost 6000 books from the Australian Prime Ministers Centre (APMC) collection are now available online. Catalogue entries for these publications have been uploaded to Trove, the National Library’s discovery service that enables you to search online across hundreds of Australian collections.
A search on Trove will identify a wealth of information on Australia’s key political figures and parliamentary democracy held by the Australian Prime Ministers Centre. The collection includes biographies of Australia’s prime ministers, publications on political and social history and an almost complete run of Parliamentary Debates (Hansard) and…
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
10 July to 18 August 2010 Blueprint for a Better World is an interactive exhibition examining the realities of global poverty and the possibilities for change.
The travelling exhibition will be open to the visitors at the Museum of Australian Democracy from 10 July - 18 August 2010 and is presented by Caritas Australia in partnership with AusAID.
With a focus on Australia’s regional neighbours, the exhibition brings the eight Millennium Development Goals to life through visual art, photography and multimedia. The Millennium Development Goals is a global action plan, signed by 189 world leaders, to eradicate extreme poverty by 2015 by working…
Sir Robert Menzies famously said that being in opposition is ‘…not a time in the wilderness … but a time in the garden of opportunity’. Gareth Evans clearly didn’t agree when he expressed his view about sitting on the opposition benches in 1997 as ‘Relevance deficiency syndrome’. The challenge of being in parliamentary opposition is explored in the recently opened Opposition Party Room and the Leader of the Opposition’s Office at the Museum of Australian Democracy. The opening was marked by a conversation to panel discussion facilitated by William McInness (Chair of the MoAD Advisory Council) and featuring Senator Joe Ludwig, The Hon Minister…
The third and final event of our Uncensored Conversations, ‘Freedom of speech and censorship: How free are we?’ was held at 6pm in King’s Hall at the Museum of Australian Democracy at Old Parliament House, Canberra on 15 June 2010. Three members of Sydney hip hop group, The Herd, shared their thoughts alongside Professor Dr Julianne Schultz. Event podcast
Download the podcasts of the final event, Freedom of speech and censorship: How free are we? held on 15 June, 2010.
Introduction
Julianne Schultz talk
Julianne Schultz - questions and answers
The Herd talk
General questions and answers
The Herd have used music as an outlet to express their…
The first event, ‘Immigration, asylum seekers and refugees: What is the real impact?’ was held at 6pm in King’s Hall at the Museum of Australian Democracy at Old Parliament House, Canberra on 11 May 2010. It delved into the personal experiences of Les Murray and Abdalla Ahmed. Event podcast
Download the podcasts of the first event, Immigration, asylum seekers and refugees: What is the real impact? held on 11 May, 2010.
Introduction
Les Murray talk
Les Murray - questions and answers
Abdalla Ahmed talk
Abdalla Ahmed - questions and answers
General questions and answers
Les Murray is well-known as a leading soccer commentator, however few Aus…
The second of our Uncensored Conversations, ‘Involvement or intrusion: Where is the line for our Government?’ was held at 6pm in King’s Hall at the Museum of Australian Democracy at Old Parliament House, Canberra on 27 May 2010, and featured a conversation with Tim Costello and Stephen Kenny. Event podcast
Download the podcasts of the second event, Involvement or intrusion: Where is the line for our Government? held on 27 May, 2010.
Introduction
Stephen Kenny talk
Stephen Kenny - questions and answers
Tim Costello talk
Tim Costello - questions and answers
General questions and answers
As Chief Executive of World Vision Australia, Tim has been…
