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On 9 May 1927, nearly
three decades after the first Australian parliament opened in Melbourne,
provisional Parliament House was opened in Canberra by the Duke
of York. The new federal capital was now the seat of government.
On the same date in 1988, Queen Elizabeth II opened the new Parliament
House.
Despite the fact
that Aboriginal people were ‘controlled’ under the New
South Wales Aborigines Protection Act, at least one Aboriginal man
attended the first Parliament House opening in 1927. At the new
Parliament House a large mosaic, by Aboriginal artist Michael Nelson
Jagamara, is a prominent feature of the forecourt.
Research notes,
Ann Jackson-Nakano
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 Illuminated
address: Duke of York’s speech for
the opening of
Parliament House,
Canberra
1927
National Archives of Australia |
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