No. 6 The Despatch Boxes of Parliament House, Canberra 100
Canberra 100
In 2020 Capital history here has started Canberra 100. The project is exploring Canberra’s history by identifying objects that can connect us with Canberra’s past. The end goal is to profile 100 objects that can tell the story of Canberra. Five objects have been examined so far. See Canberra 100 for details of these. The Despatch Boxes of Parliament House are the next objects considered (note, for the purposes of Canberra 100 we are counting the two Despatch Boxes as one object.)
The Despatch Boxes of Parliament House
For more than 90 years the Despatch Boxes of Parliament House have sat upon the Table of the House of Representatives (as shown in the photo above). Silent witnesses to Australia’s parliamentary history and some of the most important moments in Australia’s history. They came to Canberra in 1927 when the provisional Parliament House (now the Museum of Australian Democracy Old Parliament House) was opened and Canberra became officially the seat of Government. Gifted by King George V they are a continuing link between the British House of Commons and the House of Representatives.
The Despatch Boxes sit on each side of the table between the government (left side) and opposition (right side) benches in the House of Representatives chamber. One is next to the Prime Minister's chair and the other sits next to the Leader of the Opposition's chair. The Despatch Box on the government side of the House contains forms and religious books used for swearing-in new members of the House. The Prime Minister, Leader of the Opposition, ministers, and shadow ministers also use the Despatch Boxes to rest their speech notes and other documents while addressing the House. This is called speaking 'from the Despatch Box'.
Without this context they might appear as age-old, pirate treasure chests. Hinged and lockable they are made of rosewood and decorated with silver and enamel. One of the boxes is inscribed with the Royal signature and the words, "This box, presented by His Majesty King George V to the Commonwealth House of Representatives on the occasion of the opening of the Parliament House at Canberra by H R H the Duke of York on the 9 May 1927”.
The British House of Commons also has a pair of Despatch Boxes sitting on its Table at Westminster. They are virtually the same as the Australian ones. Despatch Boxes as a tradition of the British Parliament is an old one. Their original purpose has been lost in time but the most accepted theory is that Ministers, Members and the Clerk of the House of Commons carried their papers in a box and these were put upon the Table while they conducted their affairs.
A Seat of Government, 1901
On 1 January 1901, the Commonwealth of Australia was declared. The Constitution of the new nation provided for a Seat of Government.
125. Seat of Government
The seat of Government of the Commonwealth shall be determined by the Parliament, and shall be within territory which shall have been granted to or acquired by the Commonwealth, and shall be vested in and belong to the Commonwealth, and shall be in the State of New South Wales, and be distant not less than one hundred miles from Sydney.
Such territory shall contain an area of not less than one hundred square miles, and such portion thereof as shall consist of Crown lands shall be granted to the Commonwealth without any payment therefor.
The Parliament shall sit at Melbourne until it meets at the seat of Government.
In 1908, after much lobbying, debate, and consideration it was decided that the Seat of Government of the Commonwealth would be developed in the rural district of Yass‑Canberra in New South Wales. This was made law with the Seat of Government Act 1908.
The Parliament moves to Canberra, 1927
Almost twenty years later Canberra become officially the Seat of Government. With much ceremony the Parliament moved from Melbourne to Canberra in 1927 — to the provisional Parliament House. The Duke of York, later to be King George VI (the Queen’s father) in the company of his wife, the Duchess of York, the Queen Mother, opened the new Parliament on the 9 May 1927. You can read his address to the Parliament here.
The King’s gift
By February 1927 Australian newspapers had started reporting King George V’s intended gift for the new Parliament. The Duke of York handed over the Despatch Boxes, replicas of the House of Commons’ Despatch Boxes, to the Speaker Sir Littleton Groom in Melbourne. The Speaker directed they should be placed on the Table of the House of Representatives following the practice of the House of Commons. In thanking the King, the parliamentarians described the gift as ‘a further connecting link with the mother of Parliaments’ indicating how influential Britain was at this time.
Lost in the London Blitz, 1941
In 1927 none could know that the House of Commons Despatch Boxes reverently copied for the King’s gift would be no more by May 12, 1941. Designed by Augustus Pugin in his neo-gothic style in the mid-1800’s they were destroyed in the London Blitz. On the nights of 10 and 11 May 1941 incendiary bombs fell on the Palace of Westminster. The Commons Chamber was engulfed by fire which spread to the Members' Lobby and caused the ceiling to collapse. By the following morning, all that was left of the Chamber was a smoking shell.
The Australian Despatch Boxes were used as the template for the replacement boxes. A gift from New Zealand they were made from puriri, a native New Zealand wood, and decorated with metalwork of an entwined “GE” for King George VI and his Queen, Elizabeth and the words “The Gift of New Zealand” and the Latin words “Domini Dirige nos” (Lord, guide us).
The new Parliament House, 1988
In 1988, the year of Australia’s bicentenary, the Australian Parliament moved again, leaving the provisional Parliament House for its permanent home, new Parliament House. The Queen opened the building on 9 May 1988 echoing her father’s actions sixty-one years earlier. Only two objects from the provisional Parliament House were formally moved to the new Parliament House — the Despatch Boxes and the Mace.
Witness to history
The Despatch Boxes have been a constant of our parliamentary history for more than 90 years. Recently highlighted by Treasurer Josh Frydenberg’s coughing fit as he delivered his economic update and concerns that if he had COVID-19 the Government’s Despatch Box may be a source of infection for other politicians. In addition, they have featured in two of Canberra’s most historic moments — the opening of the Provisional Parliament House in 1927 and new Parliament House in 1988. Lastly, they are a continuing connection between the House of Representatives and the House of Commons, a reminder of our longstanding ties to Britain and its parliamentary traditions.
Please let me know if you have any comments on the Despatch Boxes of Parliament House and/or Canberra 100 by contacting me at mail@capitalhistoryhere.com. Also would love to hear if you have ideas for Canberra 100 objects.
And please share. Let’s get the past and present talking.
References
Books
Brown, Nicholas. 2014, A history of Canberra / Nicholas Brown Cambridge University Press Port Melbourne, VIC.
On line
Newspapers
2020 ‘Josh Frydenberg tested for coronavirus after coughing fit during economic update.’, The Guardian, 12 May, viewed 29 June 2020, https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/may/12/josh-frydenberg-tested-for-coronavirus-after-coughing-fit-during-economic-update
1927 'THE KING'S DESPATCH BOXES.', The Federal Capital Pioneer Magazine (Canberra, ACT : 1926 - 1927), 24 February, p. 28. , viewed 29 Jun 2020, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article66351018
1927 'THE KING'S GIFT', The Canberra Times (ACT : 1926 - 1995), 13 May, p. 3. , viewed 29 Jun 2020, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article1213112
Other
Australia. Parliament. House of Representatives, author, issuing body. & Elder D. R. & Fowler, P. E. 2018, House of Representatives practice / editor, D. R. Elder ; assistant editor, P. E. Fowler Department of the House of Representatives Canberra, https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/House_of_Representatives/Powers_practice_and_procedure/Practice7
George. 1927, Address by the Duke of York at the opening of Parliament House, Canberra, , viewed 29 June 2020 http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-229724713
McCann, J, Hough A, Heriot, D, 2018, The 30th anniversary of Australia’s Parliament House, Parliament of Australia, https://www.aph.gov.au/25th_Anniversary_Chronology, viewed 29 June 2020
Parliamentary Education Office 2019, Despatch Boxes, viewed 29 June 2020 https://peo.gov.au/understand-our-parliament/parliament-and-its-people/house-of-representatives/despatch-boxes
UK Parliament. 2020. Living heritage, viewed 29 June 2020, https://www.parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/
