Last Thursday the Australian Prime Minister, John Howard, chose to speak at the National Press Club on the topic of Iraq. National Press Club speeches are usually held at the National Press Club, just down the hill from New Parliament House here in Canberra. However, a couple of days before the speech was to occur, it was decided that in this case, the presentation would occur in the Great Hall at Parliament House. Some commentators suggested that perhaps this change was made so that the Prime Minister could avoid the hassle of making his way through a potential blockade of protestors. Whatever the case, on the day I made my way up the hill to witness/possibly add my presence to the protest. It turned out I was a little late. When I arrived just after 1pm, although the PM was still in full swing, most of the protestors had headed off. A passing friend returning to our place of employment informed me that indeed one could still enter the public areas of Parliament house and that for the convenience of those so inclined, the live broadcast was available on television sets within the foyer.

I made my way to the entrance, only to be informed by the security guard that, for the moment, the House was closed. He explained that there were just so many people inside, no more could be let in, for our own safety. Looking through the glass doors I was a little bemused to only be able to see a few security guards standing around. A few others turned up and were a little more insistent in their questioning of the guard. He explained that there were about five hundred people who were being kept to either side of the foyer. He also noted that the regular public tours of the building had been cancelled. After a while some of those present put to the guard that about thirty people had left the building while we waited, and that perhaps it was time to allow more people to enter. Calls were made, and we finally entered through the standard security screening.

Coming out of the security check area I expected to find the foyer abuzz with hundreds of people. Instead I could only see about 20 people standing on each side of the foyer, gathered around a couple of television sets showing the PM answering questions from journalists. The PM was in fact only about 100m away, through a couple of closed wooden doors, across the parquetry floor of the great hall. In front of those doors stood two security guards. I wondered whether the concern with numbers was less so much about public safety, and more about how many (so inclined) people it would take to cause an undesirable noise for those inside. Whatever the case, I think a little more honesty about the real situation inside the building would not have harmed anyone.