The Press Gallery reported political debates, deals, decisions and debacles to the nation from the 1930s, when the male-dominated newspaper press occupied the Gallery, to the last days in 1988 when politicians had perfected the ‘ten second news grab’. In 1927, the Gallery held only 25 print journalists, but by 1988 it had expanded to house up to 300 print, radio and television journalists, as well as technicians and other staff.
Old Parliament House was one of the first to provide specially built accommodation for journalists within the legislative chamber (above the Speaker’s Chair) marking the increasing importance of the media to both parliament and in everyday life. And, after 1927, the advances in technology which led to parliamentary broadcasts meant that the media were even more central to the running of the House. In both television and radio the first broadcasts marked historic occasions – with the first direct radio coverage being the announcement of the end of World War II, and the first televised broadcast marking the historic Joint Sitting of both Houses in 1974.
Media representatives sat in the Gallery by courtesy of the Speaker and the Parliament, and there were strict rules governing their behaviour. Impassioned journalists sometimes found it difficult to abide by these rules. This was the case in 1971 when Australian newspaper journalist, Alan Ramsey, interrupted a speech by John Gorton with a cry of ‘you liar!’ from the Press Gallery. He then hurriedly wrote an apology before he was censured.
Old Parliament House was infamous for the number of ‘leaks’ which occurred while Parliament was sitting here and there were many theories about how these leaks came about. One of these mysteries was uncovered several years ago when workmen are said to have discovered a crawl space above the Leader of the Opposition’s office. In the space between the main ceiling and the false one they found several chairs with the legs sawn off (so they would fit) placed around an air vent, which came up from the office. Seemingly private conversations which took place in this office probably ended up as front page news more than once!