Parliament House, Canberra

오스트레일리아 국회의사당

Parliament House is where Australia's national Parliament meets, in the capital city, Canberra. It also holds the cabinet room and the offices of the prime minister and other federal ministers. The building sits on and beneath Capital Hill at the southern point of the National Triangle.

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At a glance

Country: Australia
Location: Canberra, Australia
Built: 1988
Height: 81 m
Type: Government building

Quick answers

Where is Parliament House, Canberra?

Parliament House, Canberra is in Canberra, Australia.

When was Parliament House, Canberra built?

Parliament House, Canberra was built in 1988.

How tall is Parliament House, Canberra?

Parliament House, Canberra is about 81 m tall.

Australia's parliament, built into a hill and topped by a giant four-legged flagmast.

Its most striking feature is the giant flagmast on top, which rises 81 metres above the hill. The building was designed by the architects Mitchell/Giurgola & Thorp and was opened by Queen Elizabeth II on 9 May 1988. It cost more than 1.1 billion Australian dollars to build, and it also houses the Senate and the House of Representatives.

Why is the capital in Canberra?

When the six colonies joined to become Australia in 1901, Sydney and Melbourne were the two biggest cities, and each refused to let the other be the capital. The compromise was a new capital in a federal territory in New South Wales, at least 100 miles from Sydney.

In 1909 Parliament chose the site of today's Canberra. The Parliament stayed in Melbourne until 1927, when it moved to the provisional building now called Old Parliament House.

A building in a hill

The new Parliament House replaced Old Parliament House, where Parliament met from 1927 to 1988. Members and staff moved up the hill in 1988. Much of the new building is set into Capital Hill itself.

Work started in 1981, and the project was built by a joint venture of Concrete Constructions and John Holland. The new building even appears on the Australian five-dollar note.

Fun facts

Sydney and Melbourne could not agree which should be the capital, so Canberra was created.
The building is partly built into Capital Hill.
It opened on 9 May 1988.