Multifone Telephone Used By William McMahon

This telephone was used by Australia's 20th prime minister William 'Billy' McMahon from 10 March 1971 to 5 December 1972. Nowadays we wouldn't think much of it, but Billy McMahon was notorious for ringing business leaders, journalists, public servants and staff at all hours for advice and assistance. Imagine what he could have achieved with a mobile.

A light taupe plastic Multifone phone with 16 red buttons, 2 green buttons and a manual hand dial. The receiver sits on the side with a curly rubber cord.

This telephone was donated to the museum by Neil Baker.

This black and white group photograph captures Prime Minister McMahon in a tuxedo with ruffled white shirt and black velvet bow tie standing next to his wife Sonia who is wearing a sleeveless light-coloured dress with heavily jewelled belt. Her long blonde hair is piled up in a chignon and she is wearing large earrings. To her left is Prince Philip in a more restrained tuxedo and bow tie. The group are standing in an elegant room and there is a flower arrangement and oil painting in the background.

The user of the telephone Prime Minister Billy McMahon, Mrs Sonia McMahon and Prince Philip during the Duke of Edinburgh's tour for the Golden Jubilee celebration for the Royal Australian Air Force, 1971. Photograph Australian News and Information Bureau, National Archives of Australia: A1200, L95905

This Multifone telephone has the rotary dial mechanism and curly-corded handset familiar to telephone users of the 1960s-70s. But it has an added feature – direct dial buttons. Before telephones like this one, telephone numbers had to be manually dialled with the specific string of numbers you required. Multifones had a set of programmable buttons that let the caller press one button and place a call directly to the person they required – an exciting development in telephony.

And when those offices or individuals called you, the buttons would light up so you could see who was on the line. The buttons on McMahon's telephone are linked to specific six-digit telephone numbers in Parliament House including switchboard operators, ministers, assistant secretaries, and press and private secretaries.

This amateur colour photograph gives us a peek into the small, crowded and messy office occupied by the Telecom employees at Old Parliament House. The office is crowded with desks, chairs, bookshelves and a cupboard. A young, smiling Scott Cadden stands to the left in jeans and sweatshirt, Neil Baker sits at a desk holding a telephone handset and dressed in trousers, checked shirt and casual blue jacket. He has red hair and a beard and was known as ‘Bluey’. Seated behind Neil is a smiling Jeff Wilke with hi

The Telecom employees in their busy office at Old Parliament House in 1987. L to R: Scott Cadden, Neil Baker (the donor of the telephone), Jeff Wilke and Milton Rickerby.
Courtesy Neil Baker/Museum of Australian Democracy Collection

This professional colour photograph lets us view the switchboard operators’ office in Old Parliament House in 1988. In the foreground, a young woman with a gentle smile looks directly into the camera. She has shoulder length brown hair and a fringe and is wearing a black long-sleeve top. She is wearing a headset with headphones and a mouthpiece and her hands are resting on a thick binder. There are three other women seated at desks checking listings and handling telephone calls. The room has a large pinboar

Switchboard operators handled hundreds of local, national and international calls for politicians and staff at Parliament House, 1988.
Photograph by Robert McFarlane, Department of the House of Representatives

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What does a switchboard operator do?

A switchboard operator, or telephonist, ensures a telephone call reaches its intended recipient. The role was introduced into Parliament House in 1927. In the earliest years there was only one telephone number for Parliament House, so all incoming calls were directed to an office or person by a switchboard operator physically connecting a cable to connect the call.

Over time it became possible to call a specific number directly. However, switchboard operators were still integral – directing calls for people who didn't know the number of the person they wished to speak to, answering questions, connecting interstate and international calls, taking messages and paging staff and politicians.

To become a switchboard operator, applicants were required to take the Commonwealth Public Service Telephonists Exam, which included spelling, maths, a practical test, and efficiency in operating a switchboard.

Photographs of the switchboard operators' office at Parliament House taken in 1988 show seven switchboard stations that could be used simultaneously.