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refrigerator. A sliding glass door opened onto a balcony.
Tom Webster and I had been kept together. We had adjoining suites on the ninth floor, facing west towards Macquarie Street, above the ancient roof of the chamber of the Legislative Assembly. The more senior members had better views from the eastern side of the building, looking across green grass and trees to the Harbour.
These splendid facilities were only fully utilised when Parliament was sitting. The electorate office in Manly was the centre of most of our activity, and Donna, Mary and Maureen were fully occupied there.
I had found the occasional need for a place to be alone so that I could work undisturbed, catching up on serious reading and writing. Parliament House on weekends and holidays was as quite as a mausoleum. I moved my professional library into my suite in Parliament House, and started files there containing information which might be useful for ammunition in debates -- I was oftened asked to speak on matters which involved science. One drawer in my desk was reserved for the draft of the thesis on kangaroos.
My plan was to devote six days each week to my duties as an MP, and to spend the seventh day -- usually Sunday -- shut away in isolation with the thesis. The deadline for its completion was March 1983.