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.

Tom Roberts - Opening of the First Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia

Tom Roberts - Opening of the First Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia by HRH Duke of Cornwall and York, May 9, 1901

Australian $2.45 stamp issued 3 May 2001 - Centenary of Federation

Painting held at the Australian Parliament House Canberra

This 12 by 18 foot painting is now held in the Parliament House Collection in Canberra - details on the people and ceremony  have also been well documented on the Parliament Website.  It was completed in 1903, some two years after the opening of this first parliament of Australia, which happened in Melbourne.  (Canberra did not exist at the time).  Tom Roberts and Charles Nuttall were resident artists during the sitting of this first parliament, as they were well established artists at this time when TV was a long way off.  

Tom Roberts was from the Heidelberg School of Art - his works have been used on other Australian stamps:

Mentone Impression, 1888

Shearing the Rams, 1888