Parliament of Australia

The Australian Parliament is one of the most visited landmarks in Australia and one of the few Parliaments in the world, which give access for the public inside the building. It attracts more than a million people every year and was constructed at a total cost of 1.1 Billion AUD. It took 7 years to complete and was opened on May 9 ,1988. All the major streets in Canberra, like the tentacles of an Octopus. leads to the Parliament premises. These roads bear the names of the capitals of the states of the Federation of Australia, namely Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide, Canberra Avenue etc. Then there is Commonwealth and Kings Avenue which are the major thoroughfare, joining the two sides of the parliamentary triangle as per the design of Canberra by Walter Griffin. The Parliament house is built into Capitol Hill or Kurrajong Hill. The 81 metre flag post on top of the building can be seen from any road approaching the parliament house from far away distance. The splendid monument of the War Memorial is visible from the front of the Parliament building. The building has 4700 rooms and has 3 elements. The upper House or the Senate, the Crown and the lower House of Representatives. It is modelled after the British and the US System. The senate, with 76 Members, is represented equally, in terms of members by all the six states of the Federation of Australia. The Senate is modelled after US System. The House of representative has 150 members and is modelled after the Westminster Parliamentary System of Britain. It is made up of single member electorate with roughly the same population. Literally it means, each of the 150 members represent the voice of the people of Australia, dividing the entire population into roughly 150 equal parts. Legislation is introduced into the House of representatives to become a law. This bill once then reaches the Senate and then finally to the Governor General, representing the Crown, who gives the Royal Accent for the legislation to be passed as Law. Except money bill, like an expenditure or tax bill, which can only be introduced by the House of representative, all the other bills can be introduced by both the Upper and Lower Houses. The parliament house is surrounded by lush lawn and gardens. There is a shallow pond at the front of the building where you can find water fowls. The building is built into the Capitol Hill, representing the fact that it serves the people, while simultaneously looking after the affairs of the nation, by virtue of its elevated altitude, relative to the other surrounding land marks around. The major landmarks like the Tallest structure in Canberra, the Telstra tower on top of Black mountains and War Memorial and ANZAC parade grounds on the foothills of Mont Ainslie can be seen from the Parliament House. The Flag hoisted on top of the steel spire on top of the building is half the size of a tennis court . The 81 metre Spire along with flag is a prominent landmark in Canberra.

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• Date: 2018-11-26 11:45:55
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