Question Time in the House of Representatives

My great uncle and great aunt have been in Canberra for the last two nights. This is my grandma's younger brother and his wife, who moved over here in 1972 for a 2 year post in Melbourne, and are still here. They now live in Towoomba which is outside of Brisbane. They are on holiday and stopped in freezing Canberra for a few days to visit. The last time I saw them was in 1997 in San Diego, so we had a fair bit to catch up on!

Anyway, I took the day off work today to hang out with them. Today we went to the Zoo in the morning to see real animals, then to Parliament House in the afternoon to watch Question Time in the House of Representatives, an entirely different type of zoo.

We went to the National Zoo and Aquarium this morning, after stopping at the Telstra Tower to check out the views. Telstra Tower is at the top of Black Mountain (812m) and provides good views of Canberra and the surrounding area. We didn't take the lift up to the top, but there were some good views. There's also a restaurant up there - from the looks of the menu is pretty pricey. I guess there's an extra cost in bringing food up the mountain?

We spent a few hours at the Zoo, we were there right after feeding time, so we got to see a fair number of animals chowing down. Cotton-top tamarins (I really want one of those!), otters, sun bears, red pandas (the last red pandas I saw were in DC at the US National Zoo, and it was just as freezing that day, I remember snow on the ground, as it was today), lions, a tigon (a tiger and lion cross that used to work in a circus and is living out his retirement at the zoo. According to his placard, he shouldn't exist. But he does exist.) We also saw cheetahs, cougars, kangaroos, giraffes, zebras. And lots of different monkeys. In short, we saw the animals you normally see at a zoo.

Moving on...

Parliament is currently sitting (they sit for two weeks every month... every other month.. I'm not sure actually). When Parliament is sitting, the public can view the Senate and House of Reps sessions. House of Reps is definitely the show to watch, it's all the pollies that are on the news all the time, fighting each other.

Currently, John Howard is the Prime Minister. His party is the LP, the Liberal Party, otherwise known as the goverment or the coalition. Although, doesn't a coalition need more than one party? Kevin Rudd is the leader of the ALP, the Australian Labor Party, otherwise known as the opposition. For the record, the Liberal party are the conservatives in this country. For the HoR session, the ALP and the LP are opposite sides of the room, Howard and Rudd sit at a table in the middle, presided over byt he Speaker, a member of the LP. There are a few representatives from other parties (Coutry Labor, Nationals, Independents), and they are seated in a semi-circle opposite the Speaker. Howard and Rudd sit across from each other at the middle table and immediately behind them are their cabinet, about 15 reps, each a minister of some area of government (education, health, etc). The way it's set up is that Rudd is the shadow of Howard, and each of the ALP ministers are shadow ministers of their counterparts in the government. I haven't quite figured out exactly how that works - do the shadow minister duplicate all the work, and do they all work towards opposite ends all the time?? I need government 101 apparently. (both for my ountry, and this one!)

From the first minute (after the group prayer that followed the presentation of a large gold sceptre that sat on the table in the middle) they two sides were all oer each other. Rudd got up to ask a question of Howard (although, in the session, everyone refers to everyone else by their title, not by their name), and the LP reps were booing, jeering, laughing - it was crazy. And completely fascinating. There are obviously rules of order, enforced by the Speaker, and thank goodness, because otherwise you wouldn't hear anything. I couldn't really follow the content of the questions and answers (productivity statistics, industrial relations, workplace laws), but here are some of the funny moments....

There are attendants that walk around the whole time, bringing water to the reps, passing notes from rep to rep, delivering forgotten glasses, papers to be read... anything the reps needed. I couldn't see how the reps called over an attendant.

The treasurer was answering a question and really attacking Rudd. Rudd was studiously ignoring the treasurer as he got louder and louder, and at one point turned around to his cabinet and they all started talking to each other. An attendant had just brought water to Rudd and the treasurer asked the attendants to stop serving vodka to the opposition, although suggested that maybe Rudd needed a double shot.

Periodically throughout the session the Speaker would call out warnings to representatives, for yelling too loudly, or eing rude, or whatever. I don't know how many warnings you need before something else happens.

A few times, when the opposition posed a question to Howard, he would get up and start to talk on some other topic, usually related, but not actually answering the question. The rep that asked the question would then stand up, and Howard would stop talking. The Speaker would ask for the point of order and the question asking member would cite some rule of order - something about answering the question and staying relevant. My favorite answer form the Speaker was, "The Prime Minister is entirely relevant and may continue." It's nice when the Speaker is a member of your party.

I had a great time watching the session and am looking forward to going back again.. it's truly fascinating. Espeially since on the evening news tonight there were clips from the session. I was there!!

Now I need to pay attention to *my* government and congressional sessions. I'm sure they are just as fascinating. I'd like to think there isn't the jesting and guffawing and arcane points of order used for obfuscation or the personal attacks, but I'm not so sure.