Parliament House in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

is the meeting place of the

Parliament of Queensland The Parliament of Queensland is the Unicameralism, unicameral legislature, legislative body of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland. As provided under the Constitution of Queensland, the Parliament consists o ...

, housing its only chamber, the Legislative Assembly. It is located on the corner of George Street and Alice Street at Gardens Point in the CBD, and is next to the

Queensland University of Technology The Queensland University of Technology (QUT) is a public university, public research university located in the city of Brisbane in Queensland, Australia. It has two major campuses, a modern city campus in Gardens Point, Brisbane, Gardens Point ...

and

City Botanic Gardens The City Botanic Gardens (formerly the Brisbane Botanic Gardens) is a heritage-listed botanic garden on Alice Street, Brisbane City, City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It was also known as Queen's Park. It is located on Gardens Poi ...

. It was listed on the

Queensland Heritage Register The Queensland Heritage Register is a heritage register, a statutory list of places in Queensland, Australia that are protected by Queensland legislation, the Queensland Heritage Act 1992. It is maintained by the Queensland Heritage Council. As ...

on 21 October 1992.

History

Queensland State Archives 3376 Parliament House erection of balconies on George Street frontage c 1878

Planning

The Parliament of Queensland first met on 22 May 1860 in the former convict barracks on Queen Street. The building was not considered a suitable meeting place for Parliament in the long-term, but the government was preoccupied with the construction of

Government House Government House is the name of many of the official residences of governors-general, governors and lieutenant-governors in the Commonwealth and British Overseas Territories. The name is also used in some other countries. Government Houses in th ...

, and plans for a new legislative facility were not made until after its completion. In November 1863 a commission chose the site for the new parliamentary building on the corner of Alice and George Street. The commission soon opened an Australia-wide competition for the new building's design, and offered a 200 guinea prize for the winning submission. In April 1864, a design by Benjamin Backhouse was selected, but was later rejected after it was estimated that it would require to construct, exceeding the maximum cost of specified in the competition. In October 1864, a design by William Henry Ellerker was recommended by the Parliamentary Commissioners. However in November 1865, the commissioners withdrew their recommendation and resigned, following criticism by James Cowlishaw who claimed none of the submissions was satisfactory. In December 1864, Ellerker wrote a public complaint about the process, but ultimately plans by Charles Tiffin, the

Queensland Colonial Architect The Queensland Government Architect is a position within the public service of Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and t ...

, were selected. Amid controversy and allegations of undue influence on the outcome of the competition, Tiffin donated his prize money for the design to the

Ipswich Grammar School Ipswich Grammar School is a historic, independent, non-denominational, day and boarding school for boys, located in Ipswich, a local government region of Brisbane on the Bremer River in South East Queensland, Australia. The school is situate ...

Construction

On 14 July 1865 the foundation stone for the building was laid by Sir

George Bowen Sir George Ferguson Bowen ( zh, 寶雲; 2 November 1821 – 21 February 1899), was an Anglo-Irish author and colonial administrator whose appointments included postings to the Ionian Islands, Queensland, New Zealand, Victoria, Mauritius and H ...

. It was built by Joshua Jeays who used sandstone from his own quarries. Stained glass windows depicting royalty were imported from

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

. The first section was completed in 1867. The George Street frontage was completed in 1868 in

French Renaissance The French Renaissance was the cultural and artistic movement in France between the 15th and early 17th centuries. The period is associated with the pan-European Renaissance, a word first used by the French historian Jules Michelet to define ...

Revival style, with some Second Empire-style elements. The archways and colonnades facing George Street were built in 1878, and construction on the Alice Street frontage commenced in 1887. The Alice Street wing was completed in 1889. In 1886 Parliament House was connected to the Government Printing Office via an underground cable which provided it with electricity. The building was the first parliament house in Australia to be electrified.

20th century

Prince Alfred visited Parliament House in 1922 and on 29 February 1922 planted two trees at the entrance. In March 1939, the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly George Pollock committed suicide at his office in Parliament House by shooting himself with a shotgun. Led by George Gray, in August 1939 members of the League for Social Justice marched on Parliament House to protest unemployment, "armed with batons, coils of barbed wire and hammers". They interrupted a meeting of the ALP caucus in the old Legislative Council chambers. Gray and 36 others were charged with unlawful assembly, but were acquitted by a sympathetic jury. In 1969 the Government began to investigate the feasibility and cost of an extension to Parliament House. Three years later the State Works Department and Parliamentary Buildings Committee began planning the building, and designed a

brutalist Brutalist architecture is an architectural style that emerged during the 1950s in the United Kingdom, among the reconstruction projects of the post-war era. Brutalist buildings are characterised by minimalist constructions that showcase the b ...

extension called the Parliamentary Annexe. Tenders for the Annexe were called in August 1975, and construction began soon after. The Annexe was completed in March 1979 at a cost of $20,000,000. The building is linked to Parliament House, forming a square like the one in Tiffin's original 1864 plan. The square has become known as Speaker's Green and is used for ceremonial purposes. Alongside parliamentary and government offices, the Annexe also includes accommodation for regional MPs to stay in when in Brisbane. It previously also included a penthouse suite built for then premier Sir

Joh Bjelke-Petersen Sir Johannes Bjelke-Petersen (13 January 191123 April 2005) was an Australian politician and farmer who served as premier of Queensland between 1968 and 1987, for almost 20 years, as state leader of the National Party (earlier known as the C ...

with a jacuzzi. The Annexe underwent a refurbishment in 2000, and again from 2022 to 2024.

Design

The George Street face of Parliament House has a

porte-cochère A porte-cochère (; ; ; ) is a doorway to a building or courtyard, "often very grand," through which vehicles can enter from the street or a covered porch-like structure at a main or secondary entrance to a building through which originally a ...

, with a

balustrade A baluster () is an upright support, often a vertical moulded shaft, square, or lathe-turned form found in stairways, parapets, and other architectural features. In furniture construction it is known as a spindle. Common materials used in its ...

d terrace above. The original zinc and galvanised iron roof was replaced in the 1980s with one constructed from sheet copper from

Mount Isa Mount Isa ( ) is a city in the Gulf Country region of Queensland, Australia. It came into existence because of the vast mineral deposits found in the area. Mount Isa Mines (MIM) is one of the most productive mines in world history, based on co ...

Public use

Art exhibitions and other displays are frequently staged in the spacious ground floor areas of the Annexe. Free public guided tours of the Parliament are available each week day. Also, a gift shop, selling souvenirs and memorabilia, is located in the main foyer. Parliament House was also used as one of the

filming location A filming location is a place where some or all of a film or television series is produced, instead of or in addition to using sets constructed on a movie studio backlot or soundstage. In filmmaking, a location is any place where a film crew wi ...

s for the 1980s Australian series of '' Mission: Impossible'', the 2022 TV series '' Joe vs. Carole'' and the 2024 Disney plus produced series

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Notes

References

General references

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Specific references

External links

Parliament of Queensland website
{{Legislative buildings in Australia Parliament of Queensland Tourist attractions in Brisbane Buildings and structures in Brisbane Legislative buildings in Australia Second Empire architecture in Australia Government buildings completed in 1867 Landmarks in Brisbane 1867 establishments in Australia Charles Tiffin buildings Heritage of Brisbane Government buildings in Queensland Alice Street, Brisbane George Street, Brisbane Queensland Heritage Register