Series 02: Alan Gibson Stewart papers, 1987-1989 - Page 273
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The clerk of the Assembly, a slight man with a pallid face accentuated by grey wig and black gown, read the Governor's proclamation summoning Parliament--a form which had changed little since the early days of the colony. The archaic phrases were delivered in a thin monotone. The Clerk announced that he had received a list, certified by the governor, of the members who were entitled to sit in this parliament, as a result of the return of the writs which had been issued for the election.
The chamber was a long, relatively narrow rectangle, which originally had been intended as a church. The ninety-nine members were packed into the green leather branches, arranged in an elongated horseshoe , facing the speaker's chair at one end. The government, by tradition sat on the speakers right hand side, with the opposition on the left. Because of its overwhelming majority, the government now took up two thirds of the bench space, extending around the curve to the opposite side of the chamber. Then came the one independent: the Country Party; and the Liberals: A personification of the political spectrum before our eyes.
I examined the assembled representatives of the people and a moment of panic gripped me: How had I got mixed up with such a strange looking bunch?
The ninety-seven male and two (Liberal) female