The Museum wasn't something that was going to interest Madam over much, so a thirty second reconnaissance was enough to establish that I was up for $2 if I was going to have a wander around, and there was no direct route through the building to its replacement.
We skirted round the western, or Senate, end of the building, making our way up the hill towards Parliament House, a progress that had me reflecting on the wisdom of placing the Federal capital outside Sydney or Melbourne.
It would have been easy, in hindsight, to have done something along the lines of the South African model, with the Parliamentary capital here, the Judicial capital there and the Executive Capital somewhere else, but that would have precluded the opportunity to build the sort of extensive and integrated landscape we could see as we ascended.
I'll continue to be critical of the compromises that delivered deep flaws in the actual Australian Constitution, matters that really do need to be addressed in the light of changed circumstances over a hundred and ten years, but as far as the national capital is concerned I think they got it very close to right. More...
