Rumours of secret passageways linking buildings, lizard people dwellings and spy headquarters beneath Canberra have been around for decades. On a mission to dig down to the truth of what lies below our city, CD has sought out to uncover some of the most mentioned theories. This time we look beneath the home of law and policy – Parliament House.

Guiding visitors twice a way on the Unconformity Tour and answering our questions is Dr Verity Normington, Director of Strategic Science at Geoscience Australia. When the tours are hosted during the Enlighten Festival and National Science Week, Parliament House calls on scientific experts to provide visitors with insight into the geological phenomenon that hides in the basement.

“In geology, we understand that rocks are constantly being deposited or eroded. When an erosional event occurs, removing rocks, it leaves a gap in the rock record. An unconformity is the preserved evidence of that gap within the rocks,” explains Dr Normington.

The only rock assemblage of its kind in Canberra, it was thought to have been destroyed during the build of the political landmark. However, it was rediscovered when Dr Wolf Mayer embarked on writing a book about the building stones of Parliament House.

“He was lamenting to the security guards and some of the tour staff there that there used to be this amazing unconformity at the top of the hill, and it got dug out when Parliament House was being constructed,” says Dr Normington. “They said ‘Oh are you sure? There are heaps of rocks in the basement,’ and they took him down there, that’s when he discovered it.”

The formation is now a listed Commonwealth Heritage Site.

The unconformity isn’t the only attraction in the basement. There is also The Cathedral, an open cavernous space that was intended to be extra rooms before construction ran out of money. Left exactly as it was, Dr Normington says neither attraction is often open to the public.

“The security requirement to get down there is quite stringent given where they are in the building,” says Dr Normington. “Basically, they are old construction zones that are now used for things like piping, not something you want people trekking through all the time.”

Hosting the tours, Dr Normington has heard all the rumours about tunnels, dwellers and spies hiding underground. She says she heard there were sections under Parliament House that were dug out and converted into bomb shelters, but she doesn’t know how true it is.

“There is a bit of graffiti up there that talks about the lizard people in the unconformity, but I think that is someone perpetuating the rumour rather than anything real… Unless I see scientific evidence, I can’t believe it is true.”

Dr Normington says everyone loves a good conspiracy, it is human nature to theorise something that may be strange or unusual. However, in this case, the evidence doesn’t seem to be there, you only see the wonderful story the rocks tell of what Canberra was like millions of years ago.

“Canberra was under the sea that long ago; the Eastern part of Australia didn’t exist as a land surface back then,” says Dr Normington. “440 million years ago, Canberra was still under the ocean, and the rocks we see here now were being deposited at the bottom of the ocean from the sediment that was shedding off proto-Australia.”

Fostering a fascination with the Australian bush and landscape from a young age, Dr Normington envisioned herself as an engineer in her adult years. However, troubles occurred, and she did not successfully complete her year 12 studies.

After a year off, she entered a year 12 program and saw that geology was offered as a subject. Within a month, she knew this is what she wanted to do forever.

“Having an understanding of our natural world and forming a connection to the area where we live is something that I truly cherish.”

She encourages other students who might be struggling that sometimes failing isn’t the worst thing that can happen.

“It’s not the end of the world if you fail, you just have to keep your mind open to doing it again or doing something else. Once you find your passion, you find it is much easier to succeed in it.”

Keep an eye out around the Enlightened Festival and National Science Week in 2025 for your chance to peek beneath Parliament House.

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