Charles Nuttall - Opening of the First Federal Parliament 9 May 1901

Charles Nuttall - Opening of the First Federal Parliament 9 May 1901

Australian 45c Stamp issued 2001

Painting held in Museum Victoria Collection, Melbourne

This scene was also depicted by Tom Roberts - both artists were working on this at the time at opposite sides of the stage.

The first address to parliament took place in the Exhibition Building in Melbourne, and this stamp was issued to commemorate the centenary of this event.  

Unlike some other countries, the formation of Australia took place after a series of controlled political meetings in the 1880s and 1890s, referendums across the six states from 1895 to 1900, and the signing of the Commonwealth of Australia Act by the British Parliament in 1900.  Melbourne was the initial capital (probably causing some angst in Sydney), so parliament was eventually established in Canberra in 1927.