Document ID: chunk:federal_register_of_legislation:F2021L01868:reg:4:p37
Version: federal_register_of_legislation:F2021L01868
Segment Type: reg
Provision Reference: reg 4 (pt 37/63)
Character Range: 447538–450390

on 28 September, himself collapsed in the House of Representatives Chamber and died that night in the small Canberra Hospital.34

  Despite the comfortable appointments to the new building and its handsome, dazzling white appearance in the Canberra landscape, serious problems began to manifest themselves as soon as Parliament commenced regular sittings in the building. The first of these was acoustic difficulties in the Chambers.
  Complaints were made about the acoustics from the very start of sittings in the building, with one member claiming in November 1927 that it was impossible for most Opposition members to hear what government members were saying on the opposite side of the House of Representatives Chamber. Sir John Butters, Chairman of the Federal Capital Commission – a powerful statutory body established in January 1925 to oversee and accelerate the development of Canberra – quickly brought in experts to try to rectify the problem. This resulted in the laying of felt floor coverings over the rubber flooring in both Chambers in 1928 and the hanging of heavy drapes. Later, green carpet was laid in the House of Representatives Chamber in 1929 and red carpet in the Senate in 1936.35

  In this same early period, there emerged what would become one of the most prolonged and intractable problems with the building: trouble with the roof. In spite of appearances to the contrary, the first intimation of problems was actually not as serious as it seemed. As was not wholly unexpected, the oregon beams and trusses over King's Hall, some with a span of 52 feet (15.85 metres), began to shrink in Canberra's hot, dry climate. By early September 1927, the shrinkage had caused the ceiling over King's Hall to sag by nearly a foot in some places, with consequent damage to the plasterwork. The sag was corrected by tightening the

    33      Gavin Souter, Acts of Parliament, Carlton, Melbourne University Press, 1988, p. 219; Grover, A Descriptive Guide to Canberra, p. 35; letter, Owen to G Sydney Jones, 16 March 1925; memorandum, Murdoch to HM Rolland, 'Parliament House – Grounds, etc.', 24 July 1925; memorandum, Superintendent, Parks and Gardens Section, to Assistant Secretary, Works and Services Branch, 20 March 1933, CRS A292/1, item C3516; memorandum, F U'Ren, Secretary, Joint House Department, to Secretary, Federal Capital Commission [FCC], 2 March 1928; memorandum, Alex E Bruce, Acting Superintendent, Parks and Gardens Branch, to Chief Commissioner [FCC], 'Areas – Eastern and Western Sides and rear of Parliament House', 6 March 1928; memorandum, JH Butters, Chief Commissioner, to Minister for Home and Territories, 7 March 1928, CRS A1/15, item 30/1344; LD Pryor, 'Landscape development', in HL White (ed.), Canberra, A Nation's Capital, Sydney, Halstead Press, 1954, pp. 221–22.
    34      Frank C Green,