As
we were heading to the Parliament House, Malcolm advised us (the ladies) to
leave our handbags in the locked car.
 |
| The flag was flying and the fountain was flowing in the forecourt of Parliament House, Canberra |
He
went on to explain that visitors must go through security screening and
inspection of personal possessions, just like the screening at airports. So we followed
the instructions and got ourselves screened before entry into the grand
building on Capital Hill.
This
building which replaced the Old Parliament House where the Federal Parliament
sat from 1927 to 1988, is the New Parliament House which was officially
declared opened on 9 May 1988 by the Queen of Australia, Elizabeth II.
 |
| The House of Representatives |
I
learnt that the design of Parliament House is anchored around two large curved
walls that divides the structure into four quadrants.
Clockwise
these are: The formal entrance and event space, the House of Representatives
decorated in Green, the executive wing and the Senate chamber with a Red colour
scheme.
It
was interesting to discover that the Green colour décor in the House of
Representatives is muted to suggest the colour of eucalyptus leaves or the
Australian bush, while the colour scheme in the Senate chamber are in muted
tints of ochre, reminiscent of the colour of the earth and the Australian outback.
 |
| The Senate chamber |
[I
found these details very interesting as I consciously compared it to my visit
to the Dewan Negeri Johor or Johor State Assembly chamber in Bangunan
Sultan Ismail, Kota Iskandar, the Johor State Administrative Centre in
Iskandar Puteri.
 |
| The flagpole with the Australian flag unfurling |
By
day, this chamber is also bathed in natural light through a skylight, in a
design inspired by the oval shape of a pineapple because Johor was one of the
largest pineapple production centers in Malaysia.]
When
we walked through the halls and corridors, we saw portraits of Australia’s
highest office-holders in an art collection that belongs to the Historic
Memorials Collection. Malcolm named them one-by-one to introduce them to me.
Then we took an elevator to the rooftop and realized that the walls of the Parliament House are sunken into the hill so that the building appears to emerge from the land rather than towering over those who built it.
Malcolm
encouraged me to walk of the grass growing on the rooftop and said that this
illustrates the ability for people to walk on the grass roofs, literally over
their representatives which means “the people are above the government.”
The
entire structure is topped by an 81-metre (266 ft) flagpole flying the
Australian flag, which is the largest in the country, around the size of a
double-decker bus.
 |
| View of the Australian War Memorial situated directly opposite from the Parliament House, Canberra |
Before
we left the building, Malcolm was determined to show me a rare 1297 copy of the
Magna Carta which is on permanent display in the Parliament House.
After
a brief search, we found it on display in the Presiding Officers Exhibition
Area and closely guarded (manned by guards!) within a specially designed,
secure and environmentally controlled showcase.
Australia
holds one of only four surviving 1297 copies of the Magna Carta which was
purchased in 1952. This charter is considered a vital symbol of democratic
principles and a foundational document for modern democracy.
Pleased
with our tour of the Parliament House, we left with new knowledge of the
building that houses the seat of government in Australia.
#MyJohorStoriesTravelogue
#MyJohorStoriesFebruary2026
