Shortly before the 2010 federal election, a couple were spotted in the museum wearing one of these T-shirts. One of our staff members asked if we could eventually have the shirt for our collection and was surprised when the visitor removed it then and there and handed it over!
The answer is Sydney – and in the recent acquisition by the museum of a rare 17th century book, a copy of the first edition of Algernon Sidney’s Discourses Concerning Government (1698).
The Museum of Australian Democracy is searching for an image of Ada Jane Watson (nee Lowe), who was the wife of Prime Minister John Watson.
In June 2011 the museum commissioned a significant artwork as a focal point for its Designing Democracy exhibition which celebrates the 1901 Federation of the Commonwealth of Australia.
Following the completion of the external facade upgrade to the rear of the Old Parliament House building, work commenced this month on stage two of the external facade upgrade to the roof levels.
The Museum of Australian Democracy is proud to announce it has purchased an artwork by Penny Byrne for the museum’s collection – Saint Kevin 07 and the real Julia (2010). The museum has a particular interest in collecting material relating to prime ministers, and this acquisition is part of a collection that includes caricatures and cartoons.
The museum is undertaking an object reconstruction project that will ensure that visitors continue to enjoy the unique heritage of the Old Parliament House building and its collection.
Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II will be in Australia from 19-28 October. While her visit will culminate in the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting to be held in Perth, the itinerary for the Queen and her husband Prince Phillip is a busy one, and in just eight days they will spend time and attend official functions in Canberra, Brisbane and Melbourne.
In 1936, the Commonwealth government approved a memorial to the recently deceased King George V. George V had an important association with Australia; besides being king from 1910-1936, he had also, as Duke of York, opened the first Commonwealth Parliament in Melbourne on 9 May 1901.
Located on the main floor of the Old Parliament House building and across the Opposition (northern) lobby from the Senate Chamber the Senate Opposition Party Room evokes a rich character in its warm timber panelling, frosted-glass-fronted bookcases and the convivial groupings of its generous furniture.
Probably the most common type of enquiry received by the research staff at the Australian Prime Ministers Centre are family history enquiries. If there is a parliamentarian in your family tree, we can help you find out about their political career.
An unusual aspect of the museum’s Killen collection is a large group of ties, selected from several hundred in his wardrobe when Lady Benise Killen donated Sir James’ memorabilia to the museum.
The family of Sir James Killen has given the museum a collection of his political memorabilia and the complete contents of Sir James’ library.
In recent months the museum has acquired a rare and important new suffragette item: a hunger strike medal belonging to British woman Charlotte Blacklock.
Andrew Moffat was born in Marrickville, Sydney, in 1914, and was recorded, at the age of 96, for a pilot oral history project about rank-and-file political party activists being run by the museum in cooperation with the National Library of Australia.
The museum has recently acquired an exciting new object which will help us tell the story of how women in Britain acquired the vote.
A Special Constable’s truncheon and armband in the museum’s collection reminds us of a time of widespread civil unrest in Australia.
A recently acquired example of Suffragette Jewellery
The Museum of Australian Democracy’s Oral History collection contains a wealth of personal recollection and insight into the building and its people during the era when it was home to the federal parliament.
Our labour of Hercules, which in many ways resembled both a mental and physical boot camp, has been to retrieve all designated volumes from storage, ensure they are registered in our collection database and put them on display
