Shore Thing
Peter Broelman
In February more than 40 male asylum seekers, who had arrived by boat, were flown to Nauru after being found in Beagle Bay, a tiny Indigenous settlement in a remote part of Western Australia. Opposition Leader Peter Dutton accused the government of having lost control of Australia’s borders: ‘I do not know whether the same level of surveillance is being undertaken as was the case when we were in government’.
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Collection
Our collection captures the ideas, movements, people and events of Australian democracy.
Stories
Deep dive into stories about Old Parliament House, Australian history and democracy.
1916: Conscription
Australians were asked to vote on whether men in National Service could be deployed to fight in World War One.
Audio described cartoons
Hear audio descriptions of political cartoons from Behind the Lines exhibitions.
1937: Aviation
A 1937 referendum asked Australians if the Commonwealth should regulate air travel.
1999: Republic referendum
In 1999 Australia voted no to replacing the Queen as our head of state with a president.