Parliament House.

So...on Friday we were lucky enough to get a behind the scenes tour of Parliament House in Canberra. Tracy's sister Maria works there in the Senate for the Chief Whip.We drove into the city and parked in the underground carpark which is under the forecourt of the Parliament building and then walked down to Lake Burley Griffin for our packed lunch. We passed the 'Aboriginal Embassy' which is growing collection of tents on the lawns in front of Old Parliament House. It could have been the Aboriginal Ambassador, but one occupant of the tents wished us a 'Happy New Year' as we wandered past.We headed back up to the 'New' Parliament House and after passing through security, (empty pockets, all belongings pass through x- ray machine and you go through a metal detector like at the airport) we met Maria in the marble foyer.We booked onto one of the free official public tours at 2.00 pm and we were given clip on identification badges and then we went to another security desk to get access to the areas the public don't get to see....unless they pay $25 for  behind the scenes tour....but that is only limited access.Our photographic ID was checked, Maria signed us in and we were given another pass to wear. We than passed through another security area where Maria swiped her pass card and we had to show our passes to a very burly security woman, possibly an ex- shot putter who nodded approval."What are the rules for taking photographs through here?" Asked Maria."I'm not sure" grunted the ex-shot putter."It's OK. I will phone Security," said Maria.We passed through a sliding glass doorway and left the public area behind.The public basically have access to the foyer and level 1 of the building. We were able to explore the ground floors and Level 2 with Maria.She rang Security to check if I could take pictures. It was a very brief call and the answer was no unless I had applied for permission. So sorry folks but there are no photos from our behind the scenes tour which is a shame as there was some fantastic Contemporary Australian art work and lovely quiet outdoor courtyards that I would loved to have showed you. (I was able to take photos on the later public tour.)Maria showed us the gym and swimming pool then we headed to Maria's office in the Senate side of the building. We stopped off in one of the many shady courtyard areas that only the politicians, staff and a few birds get to enjoy.Back inside Maria headed towards an open door that had a sign saying 'Senators Only'."We'll go this way," she said."Excuse me Madam?" said a Security Guard lounging on a leather sofa nearby, with his feet stretched out, "You can't go through there.""But I have been through there hundreds of times," said Maria, "I work here in the Senate.""I'm sorry" said the almost horizontal guard, " you can't go through there, you will have to go round."Maria was exasperated but didn't make a fuss and we duly walked around a different way."It's not as if there were any Senators in there," she said, "they are all on holiday. We always go through that way. He was just showing off his muscles."She showed us at the other end the shorter way we would have taken. It was just a short passage through a conservatory-like room filled with empty leather sofas."Well, let's just go back out that way on the way back" I said. ( We didn't).Maria had to phone security again when she opened her office door so that they could cancel the alarm that would have gone off on their monitoring panel.She worked in the Whip's office right next to the President of the Senate's office. From there we wandered around the ground floor of the Senate building. All the carpet was red on the Senate side of the building as were the seats in the actual Senate Hall, that we would see later on the public tour.We couldn't actually enter the Senate Hall at ground level and even Maria was only allowed in a small section of it when it was in session.She showed us more of the lovely courtyards with fountains and a particular granite water feature that Tracy had wanted her to show us. She took us to where Tracy used to work, also on the Senate side but she had worked in the Office of the Prime Minister.Maria then took us to the Government part of the building at the back of Parliament House. Here the carpet is blue.They had had new security doors fitted since Maria had last been there. The Security Guard behind the desk said that they had finished being fitted last week. We couldn't go past them."It all changed under Tony Abbott," said Maria, "When I showed Mum round she sat in Julia Gillard's chair but we can't go in there anymore."We went to the central atrium which had a glass pyramid roof directly under the steel frame holding an Australian flag as big as a double decker bus that always flies above the building. Here at ground level was a central black marble water feature set in the white marble flooring. Water pumped up through the centre of the black marble square flowed over it and trickled over the edge. The whole atrium was filled with the calming, gentle sound of flowing water.We took the lift up to the second floor to view a some large ceramic wall panels depicting Australian rivers which were stunning and I was itching to sneak a photo but didn't want to get Maria into trouble.We peeped in the Members Dining Room and then it was time to head back for the Public Tour. Maria said that we could back after it and see more of 'behind the scenes.'By the time we got back out the 2.00 pm tour had started and was already seated in the balcony of the Great Hall. We tiptoed in and sat down apologetically. Eric was our guide.Canberra of course was built from scratch to be the Capital City after bickering between Melbourne and Sydney about who should be the capital. The design, chosen from many put forward, was by the American Architect, Walter Burley Griffin. At first Parliament was held in the now 'Old Parliament House' building which was built to house it for 50 years but that in the end housed it for 66 years before it moved to the present building.Some more people slipped in late including Deranie, Phoebe's Mum."Can you start again?" Asked a woman."No," said Eric.The present building was begun in 1980 and finished in 1988 and was opened by Queen Elizabeth in the Great Hall where we were sat. Architects worldwide submitted designs but the one chosen was by Romaldo Giurgola, an Italian - American. Capitol Hill was dug out and the building built within in it before the earth was put back to provide the sloping grass facade you see today.At the end of the Great Hall was a huge tapestry depicting the Australian bush."There are no people in it but there is a Sulphur Crested Cockatoo depicted just above the centre," said Eric.It made Will and I smile after suffering the cockatoo cacophony at Wee Jasper."Also you can see Halley's Comet depicted as it was passing over when the tapestry was created."We moved out of the Great Hall and Eric told us about the clocks. There were over 2000 in the building and when a vote is being called a green light flashes and the Members have 4 minutes to get into the House of Representatives before the doors are locked. He told us they chose four minutes initially because they took the oldest member of Parliament at the time to the furthest point away from the House of Representatives and timed him walking there. He did it in 3 minutes 45 seconds so if he could do it the rest could easily get there within 4 minutes. All the clocks were synchronised....it was weird to see the second hands in exactly the same place.We went and sat in the public gallery of the House of Representatives. The carpet and the seats on this side of the building were all green. They have copied a lot from the British Parliament, dispatch boxes, the mace, the speaker and Hansard (a written collection of every word that is spoken in the Houses).We passed some of the official portraits of past Prime Ministers in the main Atrium on Level 1. Eric said that they were still waiting for three new portraits to be added to the wall. Two were in progress, one for Kevin Rudd and one for Julia Gillard but Tony Abbott's was still to be commissioned. Eric showed us his present favourite portrait of the previous Governor General Dame Quentin Bryce.Lastly we went over to the Senate and sat in there. Eric pointed out another clock on the wall that he said was used to limit the length of speeches as it counted down how long Members had left to speak before their microphones would be switched off. He said this was introduced after one Member stood and spoke for over 12 hours."He's now showing people round a mine near Wee Jasper." I said to Will.Eric also pointed out the illuminated 'exit' sign which by rights should have had a green background by law....but it would have clashed with the colour scheme and so a special law was passed that allowed just that one sign to have a red background."Do you love your job?" Maria asked Eric as the tour filed out."I do," he said."You can tell," said Maria."I am clinging on to it though," said Eric. "There used to be 36 of us and now there are only 6 left. They want to change everything and bring in new people."It was all very sad. We all went to the desk and filled in feedback sheets, even Phoebe, saying how brilliant Eric had been on the tour with his enthusiasm and knowledge. We hope it helps him. We had a drink in the public cafe and went up on the roof terrace before Deranie left us.We went back 'behind the scenes with Maria. She showed us the library, and the press offices. Here there were rooms for all the television channels to broadcast up to date events to all of Australia and the World. This section was all a bit shabby and untidy ad could have done with some 'Nickification!'We wandered passed some of the Senators offices. They had a small window next to their door , a bit like a small shop window, which the Senators used to display posters and notices on subjects and issues they believed in and supported. We passed Jacqui Lambie's room, one of the Tasmanian Senators, who is always outspoken. One of the Senator's windows just displayed a portrait of Margaret Thatcher!Maria took us to Penny Wong's Office and frightened one of her office workers by peeping in. Penny Wong wasn't there but she had been Acting Leader of the Labour Party that week. Penny Wong is currently the Leader of the Opposition in the Senate and is one of those rare politicians who actually is articulate, speaks sensibly and fairly and hopefully one day will be the excellent Prime Minister Australia needs. She is also a lesbian...but we are not biased. We loved the photographic art that she had on her wall.Maria then took us through some of the courtyards on the House of Representatives side and we saw some more fabulous artwork that only the politicians and staff get to see. Maria said that there was an art department and that the art works on display are constantly changed.It was time to go and wandering back through the security doors and out into the foyer we found that all the public had left and the building was closed. Even Eric was gone....though not for good we hope.We thanked Maria for her time and company and left her to go back to close up her office. We handed in our passes at Security and passed back out of the metal detectors. We all beeped as we passed through but the security guards were not bothered they wanted to get home too.