The two decision theatres will explore how decisions are made in Australia’s parliamentary democracy, and the impact of those decisions on the everyday lives of Australians. They will provide an interactive, engaging, thought-provoking experience where visitors will be immersed in an issue and invited to actively grapple with the complexity and uncertainty of a major decision. These will be key visitor attractions at the Museum of Australian Democracy opens at Old Parliament House.
The design and function in each space will be distinctive and appropriate to their respective locations. The former Cabinet Room will offer an authentic heritage space and values, while the South West Wing will be a learning precinct, primarily intended for school audiences but also accessible for the general public.
Cabinet-in-confidence
Cabinet-in-confidence is an interactive activity that will allow visitors to participate in decisions of government from the past that affect our lives today. The decision-making forum is strategically located in the former Cabinet Room. Cabinet-in-confidence will attract a general audience, but will be sufficiently flexible to accommodate both independent visitors and formal school groups.
Cabinet-in-confidence will launch with a scenario that looks at Malcolm Fraser’s Cabinet and the refugee crisis of 1977. Visitors will be taken into the Cabinet Room, behind closed doors, and there deal with a real-life situation in which a fishing vessel carrying five Vietnamese refugees has landed in Darwin. Visitors will be asked to decide whether to allow the refugees to settle in Australia.
The scenario will reflect the tensions that existed over policies on immigration, including the recent abandonment of the old White Australia Policy. They will debate whether immigrants should be admitted on compassionate grounds alone, or only where it is in Australia’s economic interest to do so. The experience will bring out the diversity of views in Australia at the time, and will explore the balancing act between the need to keep Australian voters on side and Australia’s international obligations.
So what will you decide?
Decisions 360 (working title)
A second similar forum will be available to schoolchildren and book groups in the redeveloped South West Wing. Decisions 360 will be available to schoolchildren and groups in the learning precinct of the redeveloped South West Wing.
Image credit
Group of men on the boat from Vietnam, Darwin, November 1977. Image courtesy of the National Library of Australia.