Day 17 Tuesday A Visit to the Big School on the Hill in Canberra

Today we were guests of an old friend, Luke Howarth, the home grown Bracken Ridge boy who achieved a dream, and is the elected representative for Petrie in the Federal Parliament.  Luke's parents owned Sandgate Pest Control, and were our preferred pest company when I had my business.

Luke's mum was even a customer of mine when I had a baby and children's wear shop way back in 1974, when Luke was 2 years old.

Luke has been helpful when I was researching and compiling the book, The History of Bald Hills and Bracken Ridge Area".  

Thanks to his staffer, Emily, we were taken through all the "working" areas, of the House of Representatives and the Senate.  We then were Luke's guests for Question Time.  

School house? The best description.  Everything is run with an eye on the clock.  Everyone seems to leave it to the last moment to front up to the "chamber".

First though we had to find a park, not that easy in the underground parking area, and we managed an outdoor park.  The protesters seemed to take the best parks.

There were great views to the old Parliament House, and it is said that if you sit in the Prime Minister's Chair, you can see straight through to the War Memorial.  We were not able to prove that particular theory.

Inside the foyer, marble everywhere.  

Emily had in mind some particular photo opportunity spots, and we took advantage of them.

Queen Elizabeth statue.

The clock was from the Netherlands and is dated in the 1700's

Another vantage spot

 Australia holds a copy of the Magna Carta, to that makes 3 out of 4 of the originals that we have seen.

A special man in our historical memories,
Sir Robert Menzies.

 The Banquet Hall, apparently the kitchen is out the back.

A view from the roof

 

 The fountain above is especially designed so that conversations cannot be overheard.  There are courtyards everywhere, with only some used for media conferences.  The building contains a large amount of artwork and sculptures.

Party Room

No we didn't take a photo inside, this is our admittance card.

Luke took our friends into their members office, complete with crocodiles and memories of North Queensland.

Then we waited to watch the PM and senior Ministers walk towards the chamber, and a rush up the stairs to the cloakroom to leave all our belongings, and then into the Speakers Seating area.

Well what followed was nothing short of a display of disrespectful childish antics from those seated on our right.  We were quite shocked that taxpayers money is being spent for such wasteful antics as we saw.

Our children would display more respect than we saw, and it was rather an embarrassment to realise that these paid politicians were supposed to be representative of the people.  Goodness knows what the guests from other countries must have thought.

Perhaps that behaviour is not the norm every day, one would certainly hope so.  

A drive to Red Hill followed, the restaurant is not working, lucky we stopped at Manuka shops for coffee first.

Then a family dinner with cousins, and second cousins.  

Lovely to have that chance to catch up with them all.

Even better to learn that they have an interest in their family history!

With two of Lachlan's boys!  Vertically challenged.