The New South Wales Parliament Under Siege
‘Build your House of Parliament upon the River’: The New South Wales Parliament under siege Gareth Griffith and Mark Swinson * You must build your House of Parliament upon the river . the populace cannot exact their demands by sitting down round you. — The Duke of Wellington This piece of advice is attributed to the Duke of Wellington, a man who knew about such things as pickets and blockades, but also about Parliament and its ways. On Tuesday 19 June 2001, a part of the populace associated with the trade union movement, determined to have its demands satisfied, massed round the New South Wales Parliament House. For those who do not know it, the New South Wales Parliament is not built on a river, or a harbour for that matter, but on the crest of a modest rise, fronted by Macquarie Street to the west and, at the rear, by Hospital Road and beyond that by a spacious open area called the Domain. To the north side is the State Library building; to the other, Sydney Hospital. At its height, in the early afternoon of 19 June, the Parliament was surrounded by a demonstration estimated to be 1,000 strong. The Premier called it a ‘blockade’. 1 Unionists called it a ‘picket’. 2 Some press reports referred to it as a ‘riot’. 3 * Gareth Griffith is a Senior Research Officer with the New South Wales Parliamentary Library; Mark Swinson is Deputy Clerk of the Legislative Assembly, Parliament of New South Wales. 1 L. McIIveen, ‘House is shut down by union blockade’, The Sydney Morning Herald , 20 June 2001; G.
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