Canberra holds many titles, capital city, home of public servants and phallic owls and the most haunted city in the country. CD is on a mission to uncover the truth about paranormal activity in our fine city. In this edition, we head to the original home of Australian politics, Old Parliament House.
Once the place where bills were passed and government decisions were debated, now a space dedicated to teaching and history, the Museum of Australian Democracy within Old Parliament House is a visitor hotspot. Bustling with guests throughout the day, staff and guests have come across supernatural occurrences.
“A lot of people who work here have stories, but my experience as a front-of-house worker is that often visitors will come to you and say ‘I just couldn’t walk into that room, there was something about it, my shackles were up and I just got this vibe from the room’,” says Lee Webster, volunteer and visitor experience supervisor.
A sceptic at heart, Lee says there have been too many encounters for her to deny that there are some kind of supernatural happenings within the building. Lee hasn’t seen any convincing forms, but she has had moments where something feels different or when the hair on her arm has stood up.
“In this building, particularly, I lean towards people’s experiences and what they’ve told us about what they’ve seen here. Apparitions are really rare and to have so many of them reported over a long period of time, I think is the one thing that really convinces me,” says Lee.
While Lee may not have seen a human-like apparition herself, many others have. A common character people spot walking the halls is a tradesman wearing white painter’s overalls and carrying a tin of open paint – a major no-no in a heritage-listed building.
“One of the workers was convinced that this tradie had walked past him, so he followed him but when he went into the Senate Government Party room – there was nothing. Not even a drop of paint which he was expecting,” says Lee. “Security, unrelated to this, several years beforehand also reported a painter in a white overall uniform in the Senate Courtyard.”
Those who witness a person who wasn’t really there are often left quite confused says Lee, she recalls an encounter a sceptical museum experience officer had recently.
“She was walking, just doing a sweep at the end of the day close to closing, checking on visitors and she saw this gentleman walking past her so she went to find him to tell him we would be closing soon… gone.”
While the night outside is bitingly cold, inside the walls of Old Parliament House is warm and toasty, unless you come across the chill of something not of this world. Jumping on a Old Haunted House Experience, we wanted to find out firsthand what lurked within the corridors.
Taking a seat in the House of Representatives Chamber, the tour starts with our hosts for the evening Sarah and James telling us a bit about the history of the building and what experiences may be in store for us. Each guest is given a set of diving rods while the EMF readers and electric thermometers are divided among those who came together.
We were invited to put these to use straight away as we were told about a politician who died in the Chamber and still lurks near the benches. Walking close to the seat that had been his and the corner he is now known to dwell in, the EMF readers lit up like a firework show. For some in attendance, this wasn’t enough evidence to be convinced, luckily there were many rooms left to test.
In each room we enter, our excellent guides briefly explain the history of the space and the people who are said to remain. In the former Prime Minister’s office, which was said to be filled with the smell of cigar smoke shortly after the passing of longest-serving Labor PM Bob Hawke, there was a hive of activity on the EMF reader.
A visit from a former PM is almost unheard of, however, some backbenchers and politicians can be found on occasion, along with Walter and Marion Burley Griffin who can be sensed with their Canberra plans.
“My stories that I’ve heard come from gentleman in suits to workmen to other people that may have worked in the building. It’s not just Prime Minister’s or key figures,” says Lee.
While the stories Lee is told come from across the whole building, there are a couple of hot spots, particularly on the Senate side including the Leader of the Government Office, the Garden, the Government Party Room and the Chambers. So, why would spirits want to return to Old Parliament House?
“It was the seat of our governments and opposition for years and the decisions they made, the theatre of contesting ideas kind of manifests itself. 61 years of debate and people coming here to invest their energy in what they believe they were doing for the country, I think it permeates in the psychology and energy of the building,” says Lee.
On the evening ghost hunt, while we didn’t encounter any definitive proof, there were some surreal moments. A key to making the most of your experience is being open to the unknown says Lee. She already knows what she would say if she were to encounter a ghostly form.
“I’d probably say ‘You go about your business and I’ll go about mine’ and leave it at that, then tell someone,” smiles Lee. “I think that is what a lot of the guards do at night time, they just say ‘I’m here to do this, leave me alone and I’ll leave you alone.’”
Discover the truth about the MoAD ghosts for yourself in the Old Haunted House Experience this July; moadoph.gov.au
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