Parliament, the Embassy, and the ANZAC War Memorial

Our day tour in Canberra turned out much better thamn I thought it would -- I was very nervous about moving about, being on time, and having programs of interest to the students, but it all turned out just fine.

We began at the Australian Parliament house a little after 9am. There were some school groups ahead of us, so we didn't start our tour until 9:30am, but it really did not matter much. Our guide was a native of Thailand, I believe, though I'm sure she was an Australian citizen -- she certainly knew her stuff, as my junior colleague discovered when he asked her a couprl of tough questions.
Australian government, though a parliamentary system, is still organized in a way similar to our own. There are two houses, the House of Representatives and the Senate. Representation in the House is proportional to population size -- they solve some of the apportionment problems by allowing the size of their house to vary. Each state is equally represented in the Senate, though the territories have fewer votes there. Tax bills and expenditure bills must begin in the House.
Of course, the Prime Minister is the head of government, so that makes things somewhat different, as the powers of the executive branch and legislative branch are therefore merged in Australia. There are some other differences, too, such as the mandatory voting of the citizens.

The parliament building is beautiful, and full of symbolism for the Australian people and its land. White marble columns in the entry represent the eucalyptus trees, while dark red columns in the lobby stand for teh satinays. The color theme of the senate chamber is the ochre of the central desert, while the house is the sea green of the ocean. There's earth from the Olgas around the outside of the building, and a large representation of an Aboriginal painting serves as a central location on the front of the building. The roof of the building is a park -- the people walk over the representatives. And above everything is the Australian flag, waving atop four stainless steels pillars.

There is nothing obstructing the view between Parliament House and the ANZAC War Memorial. That, too, is intentional. If a government is going to send its young man and women into harms way, one hopes that they take a good, long look at the War Memorial before doing it. The visit to the ANZAC War Memorial and Museum was emotional for some of our students; I saw at least one getting a little choked up. It is a memorial; I believe that the Australians have done their best to list every one of their casualties in every action they've ever been in. Many red poppies adorn the long list, put there by families of teh fallen. Even names of those killed in the Boer War have their poppy.
The museum is one of the better ones I have seen. There are relics, memories, battlefield diagrams, trophies, and a retelling of the history of it all. I think I've talked about the heartbreaking Gallipoli campaign in another year's journal, so I want to just say a few things about the Battle of the Coral Sea. At the time of WWII, the Japanese had invaded New Guinea and were setting their sights, so it was thought, on Australia. Australian troops were engaged in Africa, and the British were unwilling to release them so that Australia could defend itself. But along came the American troops. Because of our commitment to help and our subsequent involvement in the Coral Sea, Australia was saved, and then in turn played a major role in the rest of the war. Australians recognized that we were probably better to have as an ally, at least in part because we did not treat them like dirt (I think the Brits have never quite realized that they don't own it anymore.) That was the birth of the Australian-American alliance, the strongest we have, in my opinion.

Preserving and nurturing that alliance is the job of the staff of teh American Embassy, one of our stiops today. The staff members we spoke with reveal a deep level of patriootism and service that I frankly sis not expect -- and I believe was not due to any kind of party affiliation. I think that a few of our students might be thinking about foreign service now, and I can't blame them.

Well, there are people waiting to use the machine, so I think I'll sign off now. We leave for Brisbane tomorrow; I'll write more after we arrive.