22nd Dec day 68 Parliament and back to Parkvale

After our last lovely hotel breakfast we walked down to Parliament in order to be there for the first hour long tour of the day. I can't believe I haven't got pictures of the 3 separate buildings that are all linked together by corridors. The oldest is a beautiful Victorian library and archive, the second one is a late 20th century grey and white magnificent marble building that holds the Parliament itself, plus debating rooms and offices (it is currently being cleaned so behind tarpaulin and scaffolding). The newest (and of course the most ugly) is this 1960s monstrosity shown here in the middle, known affectionately as the Beehive. It holds the Prime Minister's and other executive offices, plus a weirdly shaped semi-circular banqueting hall. 

The tour was fascinating but because of very tight security I have no pictures. New Zealand has just a House of Representatives like our House of Commons, they abolished the equivalent of the Lords in the 1970s when they went to a system of proportional representation. I found it fascinating to hear how it works well in practice.

There are 121 MPs made up of 57 which represent the electoral districts and the other 64 are known as List MPs, taken from the 7 political parties, based on the number of votes cast for each party. The operation of Parliament still retains many of the British features e.g. the speaker is generally elected from the party with the highest majority, Sgt at Arms (our Black Watch) carrying in the huge Mace every day when the chamber is in session, Ayes to the right and Noes to the left etc.

 This is Richard John Seddon an immigrant from St Helens England, near where I was born, who came to NZ aged 22 and was elected as an MP aged 39, he went on to become Prime Minister and a widely regarded world leader. His is the only statue in Parliament Sq.

I didn't realise NZ was the first country in the world to give women the vote, it happened on the 19th Sept 1893, although some propertied women had it a short time earlier. There was on display a copy of the 240,000 strong petition that was presented in Parliament to support the vote in favour. It was on a huge roll and apparently, as John Hall was speaking, he stood at the one end of the chamber and suddenly bent down and pushed the roll so hard that it went the length of the room, hitting the other wall with a loud thud. Am sure if petitions were presented so visibly in our Parliament the views of ordinary men and women would be better much more visible.

All British women didn't get the vote until 1928 (propertied women did in 1918) some 35 years later. I love how the pelican crossings around Parliament Sq all have the green as Kate Shepard, the Suffragete who fought to win this vital right for women. Kate later travelled the world speaking to other governments and encouraging Suffragete movements widely.

We were ready for morning tea after all that information so popped into the McDonalds cafe nearby for this tasty snacks before beginning our journey back to 904, which is in the Hastings district of Parkvale. 

It was a terribly grey, wet journey back and it did definitely feel like coming home, especially as Simon and I taught Nicholas the ridiculous 2 songs for the end of journeys we always sang when he and Cheryl were little. They are a Noddy one called 'Coming Home' and then 'For he's a jolly good driver'. 

Philippa called around to see Nicholas and catch up with him. She was delighted with the hand and height card he had also made for her.