Parliament House

It was our last whole day in Melbourne and, after an early breakfast, we checked out of our Airbnb apartment at Empire Apartments by 10 AM and consigned our luggage at a storage facility nearby.  We still had a full day for touring so we decided to complete what remained in our bucket list of places to see in the city.  We opted to first visit Parliament House, getting there by tram.

The meeting place of the Parliament of Victoria (one of the parliaments of the Australian states and territories), Parliament House is located on  the edge of the central city grid, its grand colonnaded front dominating the vista up Bourke Street. Designed by John Knight and Peter Kerr , its construction, commenced on December 1855, was done in stages (owing to its vast size and cost).

L-R: the author, Jandy, Grace and Kyle

The first stage, consisting of the two chambers (one for the Victorian Legislative Assembly and a smaller more ornate chamber for the Victorian Legislative Council), was officially opened, to great acclaim, on November 25, 1856 with the first session of the Victorian Government in the new chambers. With various sections completed over the following decades, it has never been completed with the planned dome one of the most well known unbuilt features of Melbourne.

In 1858, construction of the Library and eastern wing began and was completed in 1860. Freestone from Bacchus Marsh was chosen for the exterior but this decayed rapidly and, within a few years, large parts had to be replaced with stone from Tasmania. Upon completion of the library, the two legislative chambers were joined at the rear, resulting in a `U-shaped’ building. For 18 years, no further construction took place. Circa 1877, the first set of electrical bells, used to call members to divisions, were installed

In 1879, the Great Hall (used for formal receptions and banquets, it was renamed Queen’s Hall in 1887) and vestibule were completed. The vestibule, a formal entry to Parliament House, was completed up to the base of the proposed dome. However, for another decade, the grand front steps were not to be completed. In 1888, imported Minton were laid on the tiled floor of the Vestibule, spelling out “Where no Counsel is the People Fall; but in the Multitude of Counsellors there is Safety” (a quote from Proverbs 11:14).

In 1889, the grand classical colonnaded front of the building, using suitable sandstone from Mt Difficult in the Grampians National Park (where a quarry was opened up) as well as the grand front entry stairs was completed. In 1890, the final interior decoration was completed and, over the next year, final elements like the ornate wrought-iron fence around the grounds and the elaborate cast-iron lamps and the bronze lions of the entry stairs were completed.

There was no free tour as Parliament House was closed that day, it being a holiday (Melbourne Cup Day)

The last major additions, the refreshment rooms occupying the northeast corner, were paid for by the Federal Government after the Federal Parliament relocated to Canberra in 1927. The exterior, completed in 1929, followed the 1877 design.

Between 1901 and 1927, when Melbourne was the temporary national capital (the new capital city envisaged in the Australian Constitution did not yet exist and there were long delays in finding a site and commencing construction), it served as the first home of the Commonwealth of Australia‘s Federal Government and the meeting place of the Parliament of Australia. During these years the Victorian Parliament met in the Royal Exhibition Building in Carlton.

Check out “Royal Exhibition Building“

Plaque commemorating the centennial of the First Seating of the Federal Parliament of Australia (May 10, 2001)

Some of the major events of the early federal period that took place in this building include:

• The formation of the Federal Parliamentary Australian Labour Party
• The “fusion” of the Free Trade Party and the Protectionist Party into the first Liberal Party in 1909
• The declaration of the Great War in 1914
• The split in the Labor Party over conscription in 1916.

In 1928, the building resumed its original use as the Victorian Parliament chambers. In 1982, the building is listed on the Victorian Heritage Register and, from 2005–2006, it celebrated its 150th anniversary.

From 2016 to 2018, a $40 million two-storey office building, for MPs’ use, was constructed in the gardens of Parliament House. To specifically reduce its impact on Parliament House and other nearby buildings, the new building is embedded into the landscape.  

Royal Parliamentary House: Spring Street, East Melbourne VIC 3002, Australia. Open Mondays to Fridays, 8:30 AM – 5:30 PM.  Admission: Adult: 15AUD, Child: Free