Parliament House Open Day

Sunday the 25th June 2006 marks the 150th anniversary of the Parliament of the state of Victoria. The Parliament officially opened as the seat of democracy exactly 150 years ago today.

To celebrate this 150th anniversary the Parliament welcomes all to come and walk the corridors of power and view the historic chambers of the Legislative Assembly and Legislative Council.

This is a rare opportunity which I did not intend to miss out on. The queue was long but the crowd was moving along quite quickly. Everyone had to undergo a security check before entering!

Entry is free, its all paid for by the tax payers aka you and I! Once they are satisfied you are not a threat all visitors enter through this front entrance leading into the Vestibule which is the main entrance Hall to Parliament House.

This is the Vestibule or the entrance Hall of the Parliament. Here you get your brochures and guides and a little map showing you how to find your ways around the Parliament House. From here we move into...

...the Queen's Hall named in honour of Queen Victoria. The Hall provides a venue for ceremonial occasions, official receptions and dinners as well as exhibitions and displays. You can check out the portraits of past Premiers on both sides of the walls.

Moving from the Queen's Hall, we walk through a corridor leading into the Chamber of Legislative Assembly. This is where important parliamentary proceedings take place. Today its taken over by the mob!

From the Legislative Assembly Chamber we moved past the Dining Rooms and out the back into the Gardens of Parliament House where there's a bowling green as well as a tennis court. Man those politicians sure know how to enjoy during work!

We make our way back from the gardens and into the Parliamentary Library filled from the ceiling to the floor tons of boring law books! The library actually consists of 3 main rooms; the Central Reading Room and 2 smaller rooms refered to as the North and South Libraries.

An impressive feature of the Central Reading Room is the chandelier which drops down from the magnificent dome made of brass and 2,000 pieces of crystal. Good to know my tax dollars putting to good use!

Next we move onto the Chamber of Legislative Council which has a grander finish than the Legislative Assembly Chamber with its large freemasons columns and Roman Corinthian style architecture.

It also has a magnificent ceiling that got me inspired with awe! It boasts Hannover eagles, Tudor roses and delicate sculptures of symbolic figures...plus a lot of hours of menial paintings!

Well thats the main level done so we'll walk up the marble stairs to the 2nd level to check out the Legislative Council Committee Room and other Parliamentary Committees displays.

This is the Legislative Council Committee Room where committees are formed to investigate and report on matters on behalf of Parliament. Too hard for my small brain, lets get out of here!

We are going to the basement level where some of the ministers have their offices but along the way we get to view the Vestibule and the Queen's Hall from an elevated angle showing the grandeur architectures.

Walking down the stairs to the basement level we can see ministerial offices built in between the supporting columns of the Parliament House. These cater for some of the ministers and members of parliament needs.


That takes us to the end of the tour. I managed to grab a lot of leaflets, brochures, pamphlets, bookmarks, badges, fridge-magnet and even a chocolate coin for keepsake. What do I do with them now?