Last Wednesday week ago, David and Linda Morris hosted Jo Baker and I for a tour of Parliament House, followed by afternoon tea. This was donated by David and Linda to an Auction that the Club held at Le Hoang pre Covid (so long ago, I can’t remember what we were fundraising for!).
We started off in Queen’s Hall, which separates the Chambers and has portraits of all the past Premiers of Victoria. Linda and David have also attended various function in the hall.
We then moved on to the Library, which was one of the earlier parts of the building completed. It’s quite ornate, with a lot of hand-painted gold leaf, stone spiral staircases and polished brass fireplaces. Again, it is situated centrally between the two Chambers.
Question Time in the Legislative Assembly Chamber was my highlight of the afternoon. Democracy in action! Dan and Matthew were going toe-to-toe – well, kind of. Questions were asked, but the response was rarely directed back at the questioner. At some points, one side would physically turn their backs on the other side, who then responded in like fashion – hmmm. It was fascinating to watch the theatre of it all – still so many old customs and conventions followed.
Unfortunately, I forgot to take pictures of the Assembly Chamber, but did remember in the Legislative Council Chamber:
The ‘basement’ of the building is also amazing – a bit like being in an old wine cellar. The bluestone foundations were built to support a dome that was never built on the top of the building (the gold rush ended and the cash dried up). There are now offices there that were never intended to be there and they have had to run industrial air conditioning ducts throughout to alleviate the dampness. Some parts have been modernised with glass partitioning which kind of looks good, but at the same time, detracts from the original charm.
Afternoon tea was cake and coffee, along with a glass of sparkling with excellent company. A quick look at David’s (extremely neat) office, before David had to run off to perform Speaker duty at the next session.
All in all a most memorable occasion! Huge thank you to David and Linda Morris