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Australia's Old Parliament House, Canberra



Australia’s Old Parliament House, in Canberra on King George Terrace, commenced its construction in 1923 and was officially opened in 1927. It is situated between Parliament House and Lake Burley Griffin. It ceased its duties as parliament house in 1988 when the current Parliament House was constructed. Today it accommodates the Museum of Australian Democracy.

The building is low-rise, and expansive – with white exteriors. John Smith Murdoch, the Commonwealth government architect, designed the building. It was always intended to be temporary, and was therefore designed as such – modest and functional. It is also worth noting that he designed the Hyatt Hotel near Parliament House.

In the 1920s the Old Parliament House had its own library, post office, hair salon, carpentry workshop, bars and dining room. 











MARTINA NICOLLS is an international aid and development consultant, and the author of:- The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).
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