Inside NSW Parliament – Introduction

Introduction

Front of Parliament House with students along the lower balcony.

Welcome

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Welcome to this site study of New South Wales Parliament. You can explore the main features of a significant historical and cultural site.

This site has been used since colonial times. You will discover what it looked like as the colonial Rum Hospital. Then you can trace the changing shape and features of the new buildings which were added up until the present.

But the site is more than its architecture – its walls and furniture. Significant historical events have happened in these buildings on Macquarie Street Sydney. Governors and politicians, who have represented the citizens of the state , have given the site its own heritage as they devised more and more democratic ways to run the government of the state from this same location for nearly two hundred years.

There are a number of questions which your virtual tour of the site will raise:

How and why has the site changed shape and design over time?
Which people stand out and why during the history of the site?
What are the important objects at the site?
What do the site objects tell us about the NSW Parliament?
What are the main features and roles of the main areas of the site?

During your investigation of the various areas and objects at the site, or associated with the site, you can piece together an evidence trail which will help you better understand and appreciate state Parliament House.

And we hope you can visit the site one day with this knowledge and understanding.