But hubris was in the air, the old familiar Australian hubris which is now telling us that we'll make an easy bundle out of the Olympics. For design they went not to a Glen Murcutt or a Ken Woolley or a Harry Seidler but to a New York firm which drew up grand plans. They incorporated Australian materials but they could not capture a trace of Australian character. The facade that appears on TV is a slotted thing with international smarts, the entrance hall is pure department store. Every member and senator has a suite of reception area, office and bathroom.
Ministers have offices and offices within offices.
The press gallery houses some journalists who work on parliamentary affairs and many more who ought to be out among the departments and industry lobby offices. New Parliament House is twice the size needed. But this is where we came in. The great spread turned out to be mostly superfluous. Most of Canberra's water comes from NSW, forests are less than huge and the city itself occupies only a small corner of the Territory.