1.
Parliament of Australia
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It consists of three elements, the Queen of Australia, the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Queen is represented by the Governor-General, through both Houses, however, there is a fused executive, drawn from the Westminster System. The upper house, the Senate, consists of 76 members, twelve for each state, Senators are elected using the single transferable vote proportional representation system and as a result, the chamber features a multitude of parties vying for power. The governing party or coalition rarely has a majority in the Senate and usually needs to negotiate with other parties and this tends to lead to the chamber being dominated by two major parties, the Liberal/National Coalition and the Labor Party. The government of the day must achieve the confidence of this House in order to gain and remain in power, although elections can be called early, each 3 years the full House of Representatives and half of the Senate is dissolved and goes up for reelection. The two Houses meet in separate chambers of Parliament House on Capital Hill in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, the Commonwealth of Australia came into being on 1 January 1901 with the federation of the six Australian colonies. The inaugural election took place on 29 and 30 March and the first Australian Parliament was opened on 9 May 1901 in Melbourne by Prince George, Duke of Cornwall and York, later King George V. The only building in Melbourne that was enough to accommodate the 14,000 guests was the western annexe of the Royal Exhibition Building. After the official opening, from 1901 to 1927, the Parliament met in Parliament House, Melbourne and it had always been intended that the national Parliament would sit in a new national capital. This was a compromise at Federation due to the rivalry between the two largest Australian cities, Sydney and Melbourne, which wished to become the new capital. The site of Canberra was selected for the location of the capital city in 1908. A competition was announced on 30 June 1914 to design Parliament House, however, due to the start of World War I the next month, the competition was cancelled. It was re-announced in August 1916, but again postponed indefinitely on 24 November 1916, in the meantime, John Smith Murdoch, the Commonwealths Chief Architect, worked on the design as part of his official duties. He had little enthusiasm for the project, as he felt it was a waste of money. Nevertheless, he designed the building by default, the construction of Old Parliament House, as it is called today, was commenced on 28 August 1923 and completed in early 1927. It was built by the Commonwealth Department of Works, using tradesmen, the final cost was about £600,000, which was more than three times the original estimate. It was designed to house the parliament for a maximum of 50 years until a permanent facility could be built, the building was opened on 9 May 1927 by the Duke and Duchess of York. The opening ceremonies were both splendid and incongruous, given the sparsely built nature of Canberra of the time and its small population, the building was extensively decorated with British Empire and Australian flags and bunting
2.
William Lambert (Australian politician)
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William Henry Lambert was an Australian politician and unionist, serving for one term as Lord Mayor of Sydney in 1921. Lambert was born at Swallow Creek, near Orange, on 24 March 1881 to Irish-born stonemason James Lambert and Elizabeth and he received a primary education and subsequently worked as a shearer. He soon became involved with the Australian Workers Union, on 9 October 1909 he married waitress Bertha Anne McConnell at Dubbo, Dubbo. In 1915 he became secretary of the AWUs central branch, Lambert was active in the anti-conscription movement during World War I. He was elected to Sydney Municipal Council in December 1918 and was Lord Mayor of Sydney in 1921 and he used his casting vote to support Labor policy, and was noted for preferring the Australian flag to the Union Jack. Lambert was elected to the Australian House of Representatives for the seat of West Sydney in the 1921 by-election following the death of T. J. Ryan and he kept a fairly low profile in Parliament, but became intimately involved in faction politics. His political fortunes declined after Jack Lang became leader of the New South Wales Labor Party, as such, he lost pre-selection for West Sydney in 1928. Lambert told the Daily Telegraph Pictorial that he had been offered ₤8000 pounds in 1925 to resign his seat in favour of Ted Theodore, Lambert died on 6 September 1928 of heart disease
3.
William O'Connor (Australian politician)
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William Paul OConnor was an Australian politician. He was educated at Catholic schools before becoming a clerk, as well as an organiser of the Australian Workers Union, in 1946, he was elected to the Australian House of Representatives as the Labor member for West Sydney. Following the redistribution of 1949, he transferred to Martin, which he held until 1955, in that year, Martin was abolished, and OConnor defeated sitting Labor MP Arthur Greenup for preselection for the seat of Dalley. OConnor held Dalley until its abolition in 1969, at time he retired. He died in 1987,11 days before his 77th birthday
4.
Werribee, Victoria
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Werribee is a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia,32 km south-west of Melbournes Central Business District. Its local government area is the City of Wyndham, at the 2011 Census, Werribee had a population of 37,737. Werribee is situated on the Werribee River, approximately halfway between Melbourne and Geelong, on the Princes Highway and it is the administrative centre of the City of Wyndham Local Government Area and is the Citys most populous centre. Werribee is part of the Greater Melbourne metropolitan area and is included in the capitals population statistical division, since the 1990s the suburb has experienced rapid suburban growth into surrounding greenfield land, and becoming a commuter town in the Melbourne-Geelong growth corridor. Due to this urban sprawl Wyndham and its suburbs have merged into the Melbourne conurbation and it was established as an agricultural settlement in the 1850s, originally named Wyndham and was renamed Werribee in 1904. The name Werribee is a name meaning backbone or spine. It is thought that name was given as the shape of the Werribee River valley. Early leasing of pastures was led by members of John Batmans Port Phillip Association, a rural township began in the early 1850s. The name derived from a suggestion by the owner of a village inn, Elliott Armstrong. The Post Office opened on 12 January 1858 as Wyndham and was renamed Werribee in 1904. However, its adjacent river was called the Werribee River, and the name was later changed to Werribee in 1884. Werribee at this time was popular for development. Thomas Chirnside, a person famous in this area today, was attracted to the open plains suitability for agricultural uses. By 1863 he controlled more than 280 square kilometres around Werribee, Chirnside bought other smaller holdings of land at this time. The town grew steadily, helped by a line from Melbourne to Geelong. The Shire was huge, extending from the suburbs of Melbourne to Little River to the northward town of Melton. Thomas Chirnside committed suicide in 1887 and he was found dead in the laundry at Werribee Park with a shotgun lying beside him. His brother Andrew died three years later, and the property was now divided between Andrews two sons, a new mansion was built, called The Manor
5.
Darlinghurst, New South Wales
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Darlinghurst is an inner-city, eastern suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Darlinghurst is located immediately east of the Sydney central business district and Hyde Park, Darlinghurst is a densely populated suburb with the majority of residents living in apartments or terraced houses. Once a slum and red-light district, Darlinghurst has undergone urban renewal since the 1980s to become an area composed of many unique precincts. Places such as Victoria Street, Stanley Street and Crown Street are known as culturally rich destinations and these high street areas are connected by a network of lane-ways and street corners replete with small bars, cafes and boutique indie retail. Demographically, Darlinghurst is home to the highest percentage of generation X and Y in Australia, Darlinghurst is also home to large number of off-street creative industries. This business mix coupled with the history of inclusion and acceptance give Darlinghurst an eclectic. Darlinghursts main street is Oxford Street and this major Sydney road runs east from the south-eastern corner of Hyde Park through Darlinghurst and Paddington and terminates at Bondi Junction. Oxford Street is one of Sydneys most famous shopping and dining strips and it is home to a number of prominent gay venues and businesses, while more broadly Darlinghurst is a centre of Sydneys burgeoning small bar scene. As a result of the influx of revellers, crime rates increased in the area around 2007, particularly for assaults. This reported increase should be understood in terms of a low background crime rate in East Sydney in general. There are a number of named localities in and around Darlinghurst including Taylor Square, Three Saints Square, Kings Cross and confusingly also East Sydney. This is because from 1900 to 1969 the entire area to the east of Sydneys CBD, already in 1820 the entire ridge line running from Potts Point to Surry Hills was known as Eastern Hill. East Sydney hosts numerous restaurants that consistently garner local and international media attention, Sydneys Eastern Suburbs cover all the land from the east of Darlinghurst up to the Pacific Ocean. The suburb was known as Eastern Hill and then Henrietta Town, after Governor Lachlan Macquaries wife. The loyalties changed with the change of governors and the suburb became Darlinghurst in honour of Elizabeth Darling, the suffix hurst is derived from the Old English word hyrst, meaning wooded area. Darlinghurst has two of Sydneys museums, the Australian Museum and the Sydney Jewish Museum, the suburb also features St Vincents Hospital, and is associated with the Sacred Heart Hospice on Darlinghurst Road, and the Garvan Institute of Medical Research. Darlinghurst Gaol, the large sandstone penal complex in the middle of Darlinghurst was built between 1836 and 1840, the large sandstone walls still bear convict markings, and the complex features six wings surrounding a circular chapel. Australian poet Henry Lawson spent time incarcerated here during some of the turbulent years of his life, the last hanging at the gaol was in 1907
6.
Australian Labor Party
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The Australian Labor Party is a political party in Australia. The party has been in opposition at federal level since the 2013 election, Bill Shorten has been the partys federal parliamentary leader since 13 October 2013. The party is a party with branches in each state. Labor is in government in the states of Victoria, Queensland, Western Australia, South Australia, the party competes against the Liberal/National Coalition for political office at the federal and state levels. Labors current National Platform describes the party as a social democratic party, the party of opportunity and security for working people. The ALP was not founded as a party until after the first sitting of the Australian Parliament in 1901. Nevertheless, it is regarded as descended from labour parties founded in the various Australian colonies by the labour movement in Australia. Labor is thus the countrys oldest political party, colonial labour parties contested seats from 1891, and federal seats following Federation at the 1901 federal election. Labor was the first party in Australia to win a majority in either house of the Australian Parliament, internationally, the ALP is a member of the Progressive Alliance network of social-democratic parties, having previously been a member of the Socialist International. The Australian Labor Party has its origins in the Labour parties founded in the 1890s in the Australian colonies prior to federation, Labor tradition ascribes the founding of Queensland Labour to a meeting of striking pastoral workers under a ghost gum tree in Barcaldine, Queensland in 1891. The Balmain, New South Wales branch of the party claims to be the oldest in Australia, Labour as a parliamentary party dates from 1891 in New South Wales and South Australia,1893 in Queensland, and later in the other colonies. The first election contested by Labour candidates was the 1891 New South Wales election, the major parties were the Protectionist and Free Trade parties and Labour held the balance of power. It offered parliamentary support in exchange for policy concessions, the United Labor Party of South Australia was founded in 1891, and three candidates were that year elected to the South Australian Legislative Council. The first successful South Australian House of Assembly candidate was John McPherson at the 1892 East Adelaide by-election, at the 1893 South Australian elections the ULP was immediately elevated to balance of power status with 10 of 54 lower house seats. The liberal government of Charles Kingston was formed with the support of the ULP, so successful, less than a decade later at the 1905 election, Thomas Price would form the worlds first stable Labor government. John Verran led Labor to form the states first of many majority governments at the 1910 election, in 1899, Anderson Dawson formed a minority Labour government in Queensland, the first in the world, which lasted one week while the conservatives regrouped after a split. The colonial Labour parties and the unions were mixed in their support for the Federation of Australia. They feared that federation would further entrench the power of the conservative forces, the first Labour leader and Prime Minister, Chris Watson, however, was a supporter of federation
