The National Archives “I don’t say I was a good Prime Minister but I do accept the general view that I was the best.” Gough Whitlam 2002

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Gough Whitlam

Parliament House Old Parliament House Floriade Riding the Buses National Gallery National Museum Sleeping with Cops National Zoo CSIRO Black Mountain Tower National Archives High Court War Memorial The Big Dry CLICK ANY PHOTO TO SEE IT AT FULL SIZE				Oh Gough, how we miss you. Those readers who have been paying attention will know that Gough was thrown out of office in 1975, but he’s still one of our favourite, and least humble PMs. In the National Archives building, (which was Canberra’s original post office), there is a potted history of all of Australia’s prime ministers, where one can learn all kinds of interesting things – for instance, did you know that Joseph Lyons was the first politician to campaign by aeroplane, in the 1934 federal election? Neither did we.
Australia’s Prime Ministers so far – we’re writing this shortly before a federal election, after which we sincerely hope there will be a new face added!
But the National Archives is about much more than prime ministers. It houses Australia's Commonwealth records dating back to Federation in 1901, tracing the events and decisions that shaped the nation. Among the displays is this wall of ‘Faces of Australia’, made up of 227 images chosen from the three million images in the National Archives collection. Most were taken by photographers working for the Australian News and Information Bureau in the 1950s and 60s – they travelled around the country to record life in an increasingly prosperous postwar nation. As such the images show the face the Australian Government wanted to present to the world – people at work and at play, commemorating and celebrating.
		There are many things to gaze upon and read in the National Archives, but we’re sure that these get enough ‘press’ without us having to contribute, so instead, we’ll just mention two more things that we found memorable – unfortunately we don’t have pictures of either of them, so you’ll just have to use your imagination: The enthusiastic young woman who greeted us as we entered the building. She could hardly wait to tell us how wonderful the National Archives is/are, and she wore red socks, which particularly endeared her to Linda, who has a penchant for red socks. The toilets – these are the most beautiful public toilets we’re ever likely to have the pleasure of weeing in, with lots of timberwork, tesselated tiles, brass fittings and other elegant and old-fashioned touches. And absolutely sparkling clean. Tony made a point of complimenting the cleaning staff.
The view from the front the Archives building, showing the path we followed to the High Court and National Gallery.
		To visit the official National Archives website, click here > http://www.naa.gov.au/