1. law, govt and politics
2. government
3. parliament

OPEN DAY
at
PARLIAMENT HOUSE
Darwin, Northern Territory
Saturday 22 November, 2014
Celebrating
40 years of the Legislative Assembly and
20 years of the Parliament House building.
“Welcome to Parliament House”
The Honourable Kezia Purick MLA
Speaker of the Legislative Assembly
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So much has changed in the Northern Territory in 40 years since the first Assembly sat
on the site of the existing Parliament House in 1974.
Back then, a can of soft drink was ten cents and a banana paddle pop was 7 cents,
cigarettes were still being advertised on TV and the metric system came into official use
on 1 July that year when the tallest building on the Darwin skyline was the Travel Lodge
on the Esplanade.
Now, with skyscrapers some would never have envisaged and a shining building
befitting our aspirations toward still unrealised Statehood for the Northern Territory, it is
a good time to reflect on our growth and development and on the seat of Government at
Parliament House here in Darwin.
I welcome you to join with my colleagues, my staff, special guests including former
Members from that first Assembly, and with me to explore the building and the precinct,
to look at the archives and displays, to learn about how laws are made and what has
motivated those who have become Members of this Assembly.
There are some very interesting facts associated with our Assembly. Women have been
present and active Members in every Assembly since that first one in 1974 and we have
had Aboriginal Members in every Assembly as well. Today’s Assembly is perhaps the
most ‘representative’ with a balance of men and women getting closer to that in the
community at large with 11 of the 25 (or 44%) of Members being women and six (or
24%) serving Members who are proud of their Aboriginal heritage.
Today, looking back at that first Assembly of 19 Members and the ten Assemblies in
between then and the current 12th Assembly, we can learn so much from our recent
history about what impacts on our lives such as natural disaster response and
management (Cyclone Tracy), development and Self-Government in 1978, the
unsuccessful bid for Statehood in 1998, controversial laws such as the Rights of the
Terminally Ill Act (in 1996), the first ever change of government in 2001 and the
everyday routine of just getting on with governing the Territory.
Today is not a day for partisan politics, it is a day when we look at the contribution
Territorians have made to our democratic institution, from the tradespeople who literally
built Parliament House, the cleaners and painters who keep it spruce, the caterers who
feed our visitors, the parliamentary staff who prepare our sittings and the Members and
their staff doing what they believe to be the best on behalf of the constituents of the
Territory.
Welcome to your building and I look forward to talking to you throughout the day.
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Milestones In Governance
1863 Northern Territory annexed from New South Wales to South Australia.
1911 Northern Territory transferred to the Commonwealth.
1948 Legislative Council established with 13 members but has limited powers.
1958 All six elected Legislative Council members resign in protest at delays in the
Commonwealth’s reforming of the Council.
1962 Legislative Council sends a remonstrance to the Commonwealth protesting
about lack of control over local affairs. The Council is given control over
defining its own powers within certain limits.
1974 Legislative Council replaced by 19 elected Legislative Assembly Members.
1978 Northern Territory granted self-government under the Commonwealth
Northern Territory (Self-Government) Act 1978 although some powers are
retained by the Commonwealth.
1982 Increase in Members of the Legislative Assembly from 19 to 25.
1988 Memorandum of Understanding signed between the Commonwealth and
Northern Territory allows the Territory to be funded the same as the states.
1997 Remonstrance sent by Legislative Assembly to the Commonwealth with
concerns about the Commonwealth’s amendments to the Self-Government
Act which overrule the Territory's Rights of the Terminally Ill Act 1995.
1998 Referendum held in Northern Territory asking whether the Territory should
become a state - defeated by a 51% ‘no’ vote.
2005 Statehood Steering Committee established with bipartisan support by the
Legislative Assembly. Committee undertakes community consultations and
awareness campaigns.
2011 Legislative Assembly defers proposed Constitutional Convention.
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Open Day Events
8.30am
Bombing of Darwin Tour
9.00am
Guided tour of Parliament House
9.45am
Chamber Chat: The First Assembly
11.00am
Chamber Chat: The Construction of Parliament House
11.00am
Litchfield Room: Law Making and Drafting
11.00am
Guided tour of Parliament House
12.00pm
Chamber Chat: A Sitting Day Now and Then
1.15pm
Parliament House Design Tour
1.30pm
Guided tour of Parliament House
2.45pm
Chamber Chat: Today’s Leaders
3.45pm
Lucky Door Prizes drawn
Please meet in the Foyer for all tours
5
Open Day Attractions
Speaker's Green &
fountain
Speaker’s
Corner Cafe
5
6
7
4
8
11
i
2
10
Foyer 1
Entrance to
Chamber
security
screening
ENTRANCE
6
9
stairs to
mezzanine
Parliament House
Main Reception Hall
3
stairs to mezzanine
& Litchfield Room
Library
1
Foyer: Please meet in the Foyer for all tours
2
Artifacts of the Legislative Assembly
3
Northern Territory Library
4
DVD of historic news footage supplied by the ABC
5
Democracy display
6
Reading area
7
Speaker’s display
8
Memorial to old Darwin Post Office site, bombed in WWII
9
Madam Speaker’s Chamber Chats 9.45am, 11am, 12pm & 2.45pm
10
Biographies of Members of the 12th Legislative Assembly & Electorates
and Electorate Offices of the Northern Territory
11
Building display
Facilities
Toilets near entrance to NT Library and on mezzanine level
Water fountain near the NT Library
Refreshments available at Speaker's Corner Cafe
Telephone available on mezzanine level, left at top of stairs
i Information desk to the left of the Main Reception Hall entrance
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A Beacon In Darwin
O
verlooking Darwin Harbour, Parliament House is a spectacular
feature of the Darwin landscape. Construction commenced in
1990 after the Foundation Stone was laid by the-then Speaker of
the Legislative Assembly, the Honourable Nick Dondas MLA.
The building was part of the State
Square project which included a new
Supreme Court, car parks, and
landscaping.
The Governor-General the Honourable
Bill Hayden AC officially opened
Parliament House on 18 August 1994.
Key features about Parliament House:
 In the foyer the NT floral emblem,
Sturt’s Desert Rose, is embedded in
the floor in granite, stainless steel,
and bronze. The mosaic was
designed by local artist Geoff Todd.

The Main Reception Hall opens to
the Legislative Assembly Chamber
and Northern Territory Library.

Distinctive handmade light fittings
grace the foyer, the hall, the library
and the Chamber. They are part of
6000 energy efficient globes which
illuminate the building.
 The Main Reception Hall forms a
central atrium passing through three storeys in its seventeen-metre
height.
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
Timbers throughout the building include jarrah, sassafras and
brushbox - all Australian and commercially grown.
 Floor tiles are Mount Bundy brown granite, South Australian black
granite, and Swedish white granite.
 Almost 1500 metres of glass is used throughout the building.

The Chamber has seating for an
eventual 40 Members. Press and
public galleries and a sound proof
gallery overlook the proceedings.

The lights in the Chamber were
designed for efficiency and beauty
with glazings to the fittings being
among the largest glass pieces ever
hand-blown in Australia.

Furniture in the Chamber was crafted in
Tasmanian Golden Sassafras. The Table is
made of Tasmanian Brushbox and the Speaker’s
Chair is crafted from Tasmanian Black Oak.

A time capsule, to be opened on the 100th
anniversary of the first session of the Northern
Territory Legislative Council, is cast in the floor
of the Historic Lobby.

A wall section from the original Darwin Post
Office, which was on the site of Parliament
House and bombed during World War II, has been built into the
Historic Lobby at the entrance to the Northern Territory Library.
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Chamber Seating 12th Legislative A
Lia Finocchiaro
Member for Drysdale
Hon. John Elferink
Member for Port Darwin
Hon. Kezia Purick
Speaker
Clerk
Michael Tatham
Hon. Peter Styles
Member for Sanderson
Hon. Adam Giles
Chief Minister
Member for Braitling
Hon. Bess Price
Member for Stuart
Hon. Peter Chandler
Member for Brennan
Gary Higgins
Member for Daly
Deputy Clerk
Marianne Conaty
Hon. Robyn Lambley
Member for Araluen
Francis Kurrupuwu
Member for Arafura
Hon. Matthew Conlan
Member for Greatorex
Hon. Willem Westra van Holthe
Member for Katherine
Nathan Barrett
Member for Blain
David Tollner
Member for Fong Lim
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Hon. Kezia Purick
Member for Goyder
e Assembly of the Northern Territory
Michael Gunner
Member for Fannie Bay
Delia Lawrie
Leader of the Opposition
Member for Karama
Gerry McCarthy
Member for Barkly
Nicole Manison
Member for Wanguri
Natasha Fyles
Member for Nightcliff
Ken Vowles
Member for Johnston
Lynne Walker
Lauren Moss
Member for Nhulunbuy Member for Casuarina
Alison Anderson
Member for Namatjira
Larisa Lee
Member for Arnhem
ck
er
Gerry Wood
Serjeant-At-Arms Member for Nelson
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11
Country
Liberals
NT Labor,
Australian
Labor Party
Palmer
United Party
Independent
Fast Facts about Parliament
NT
The ntary
ame
parli em is a
syst n of the
tio
varia tminster
e
W s
hich
em w Britain.
t
s
y
S
d in
nate
origi
The Mace is a symbol
of the power of the
Speaker and must be
in the Chamber for
Parliament to be in
session.
The word
parliament co
mes
from the Fre
nch
verb parler w
hich
means ‘to sp
eak’.
Cabinet is made up
of the Chief Minister
& all other
Ministers. The word
was first used in the
16th century when
advisors to the
English monarch
would meet in a
small room.
Le
The Legislative
Assembly’s
furnishings are
green, reflecting
the colour used
in the House of
Representatives
in Canberra
adapted from
the British
House of
Commons.
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T he
the official
NT
Par name f
liam
or
L
e
g
e
Ass
emb islative nt is
ly, f
La t i
ro m
n
(law words L the
)
( p r o an d L eg i s
gisla posing) atio
mea tive A . So
ns
sse
of p an ass mbly
e
e
prop ople w mbly
ho
ose
laws
.
The Northern Territory
Coat of Arms has all NT
emblems (kangaroo, eagle,
Sturt's Desert Rose).
Fast Facts about the Building
Designed by Meldrum Burrows architectural firm.
The building houses all Members, the Department of the
Chief Minister (ministerial staff and the Office of the
Parliamentary Counsel), the Department of the Legislative
Assembly, the Northern Territory Library, tactileARTS
(formerly the Crafts Council), and Karen Sheldon Catering.
There are 450 rooms with almost 1000 doors.
About 180 people work here every day. This increases to
around 300 during parliamentary sittings.
Over 130 local sub-contracting firms and 10 interstate
contractors were hired during construction.
An old WWII fuel storage tunnel passes under the building.
There are 2500 tonnes of steel, 10 500 cubic metres of
concrete, and more than eight kilometres of copper and
brass piping in the building.
The site received ten bombs during the first raid of the
bombing of Darwin on 19 February 1942, targeting the
Darwin Post Office and Telegraph Station.
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Parliamentary Committees
What is a Parliamentary Committee?
Parliamentary committees are made up of small groups of Members
of the Assembly from both government and non-government
parties. They are extensions of the Parliament and operate according
to the authority delegated to them.
What do Parliamentary Committees Do?
They report on government activities, evaluate the merits of proposed
laws and hold inquiries into a wide range of public issues.
The Value of Committees
Committees give Members the opportunity to consider complex
issues in detail and to hear the views of experts, interest groups, and
people affected by the issue being considered.
They provide opportunities for the public to actively engage with the
democratic process through making submissions, giving evidence as
a witness and attending public hearings or forums.
The small size of committees enables issues to be addressed in more
detail than would be feasible for the whole Assembly. Committees
also provide Members with the opportunity to exchange views across
party lines and to reach bipartisan conclusions and recommendations.
Getting Involved
Anyone can be involved in a committee inquiry by writing or
recording a submission or attending public forums or hearings.
For more information, visit www.nt.gov.au/lant/ and click
‘Parliamentary Business’ or call 8946 1485.
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Sitting Dates 2014/2015
November 2014
25 - 27
February 2015
17 - 19
24 - 26
March 2015
24 - 26
April 2015
28 - 30
May 2015 (Estimates)
26 - 28
June 2015 (Estimates)
2-4
16 - 18
August 2015
25 - 27
September 2015
15 - 17
November 2015
17 - 19
December 2015
1-3
For further information visit the Legislative Assembly’s website
www.nt.gov.au/lant
Open Day at Parliament House booklet 2014
Parliamentary Education Services
Department of the Legislative Assembly
Northern Territory
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Thank you
for attending the
2014 Parliament House Open Day.