Federal Parliament Returns To Melbourne
May 10, 2001
The Federal Parliament has returned to Melbourne for the first time since moving to Canberra in 1927.
The House of Representatives met in the Victorian Legislative Assembly and the Senate met in the Legislative Council for just over an hour.
Because of constitutional doubts about the validity of sittings outside Canberra (see Section 125 of the Constitution), the Parliament did not pass any legislation.
Instead, the party leaders spoke to a motion commemorating the Centenary of Federation.
A common theme of the speeches given by Howard, Beazley, Anderson and Stott-Despoja was concern over the public cynicism about Parliament and politicians.
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