The Colonial Secretary’s building in Sydney took six years to complete, from 1869 to 1875, but the building was worth it, thanks largely to the Colonial Architect, James Barnet.
There are two things about stone buildings which we should all note: they last a long time; and, if they are government buildings, as stone buildings commonly are, they store information for a long time. They have many stories to tell – or to keep quiet.
Henry Parkes, the man behind the construction of what was, after all, only a bureaucratic office building - designed with panache and authority by James Barnet, the Colonial Architect - played more than one significant role, in more than one of the projects to ensure that Sydney would grow to meet the demands of a future city; not just by erecting buildings but by devising efficacious methods of administering the colony and the soon-to-be Federation.
While Barnet was architect of the building, a curious change in plan appears to have been ordered: a massive bookcase, on casters, appeared in the Secretary’s own office. It could be pulled easily away from the wall, revealing a door behind the bookcase; and, behind that, a staircase entirely within the southern wall of the building, which debouched into a laneway.
The story that circulated through the city was that Sir Henry did not want to be disturbed by creditors or, worse, Lady Parkes. One knock at the door, and he was ready to leg it out the back way.
I know: it sounds like a Boys’ Own adventure, something out of Treasure Island[1]. But the hidden door and secret staircase are real.
I have pulled that bookcase out, opened that door, and made my way down the winding staircase – finding myself, slightly disoriented and blinking in the late afternoon sun, on Philip Street.
It seems that some of the great individuals behind Sydney’s, and Australia’s, development were obsessed by their major goals to the point where they regarded other aspects of their life as mere distractions. Perhaps that is how obsessive one has to be to deliver real change, genuine improvement.
There is another reading of Parkes’s contribution to the city: that having shown with the construction of the building on the heights of the city he was powerful, he wanted rumour to circulate about his raffish behaviour. It was not enough to be King of the Hill. Parkes was also demonstrating that he could do what he wanted ... and get away with it.
Barnet, from Arbroath in Scotland, designed some of Sydney’s most distinguished buildings, especially those still standing along Bridge Street, running from the Chief Secretary’s Office, (the title changed after Federation) downhill past the Lands Department, and looking west to Macquarie Place.
At least Barnet’s buildings are, as buildings should be, still where they ought to be (except that the Courthouse for Wagga Wagga seems to have been built in Deniliquin by mistake).
The comments about Sir Henry Parkes, on the other hand, may have altered as they passed down the generations. All that supports their credibility is that they have survived so long.
That is why the stone buildings designed by Barnet – not just the Colonial Secretary’s Office are important: they bear witness to the history of New South Wales, and we accept the credibility of the stone, whether it is a government office, Berrima Gaol, Newcastle Customs House, a lighthouse at Barrenjoey;another at Seal Rocks; Darlinghurst and Bathurst gaols, and Callan Park Hospital.
Barnet’s Courthouse at Goulburn is brick, not stone, but its copper roof is magnificent, and magnificently positioned to complement the city of Goulburn’s formal mid-city park opposite the court’s entrance. Such buildings lend credibility to a city, and reinforce to those who live in it, or merely visit, that their home is permanent, not like the homes of the pioneers who opened up the country.
These buildings do not just provide shelter: they deliver faith.
Such credibility is a quality vital in politics. It is also a quality that does not belong to the individual making policy or decisions.
Our democracy is based on the notion that the constituency as a whole has the power to approve or reject a political position. I have dedicated myself to that form of democracy.
It is not the Australian Labor Party’s democracy; neither is it the Liberal-National Coalition’s democracy; ours is a democracy of all Australians, for all Australians.
Judgment is in their hands. They decide who is credible. If stone signifies permanence, then its presence was important in the development of pioneering towns and cities that were not merely temporary but lasting statements about the importance of civic and social development.
Compare this stance, against the slogan inlaid in the floor of the vestibule in the Parliament Hose of Victoria:
"In the multitude of counsellors, there is safety."
There are times when “safety” is not enough. Politicians whose aim is to achieve more for their constituents cannot call “safety” a pass mark. That could never be an attitude that would satisfy me.
I always liked cricket and, having entered the NSW Legislative Council, I wanted -metaphorically - to bowl down a few fast ones, and I wanted to make a few runs. I didn’t go into politics to play a dead bat to every delivery.
I would rather be caught in the slips than go out LBW at the crease.
If I am perceived as having made mistakes, I am happy to have had a go, and achieved some objectives, especially in the province of public housing. The constituency at large, however, tends to remember the mistakes and forget the goals achieved. That is simply the price we can expect to pay - in business, politics, and family life.
The constituency at large, however, tends to remember the mistakes and forget the goals achieved. That is simply the price we can expect to pay - in business, politics, and family life.
One miscalculation I made was how long an apprenticeship I would have to serve when I entered the Parliament.
My arrival in 1988, meant I was in Opposition, following the defeat of the ALP Government after almost 13 years.
I had expected that I could make an impact, but the Liberal-Country Party government was intent on shoring up its return to office after those years.
Our own representatives in the Parliament were getting familiar with the seating on the left side of the President of the Legislative Council, after so long on the right.
Naturally, they allowed us few opportunities in the Chamber. I understood the strategy.
Even so, I was looking forward to some level of recognition, some allotment of work to do, within Opposition but, from the time I became a Member of the Legislative Council, I had to wait until the next election before I was permitted any substantial activity.
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