OLD PARLIAMENT HOUSE ANNUAL REPORT

20
REPORT ON PERFORMANCE
OLD PARLIAMENT HOUSE ANNUAL REPORT 2011-12
remained live to receive further donation offers,
and the program also continued to be promoted in
the museum. The associated advertising and media
activity generated 13 radio stories nationally and
981 microsite visitors.
Photo: OPH Collection
‘Woman’s place is in the House and in the Senate’
badge—1970s Badge donated by Diana Pittock. As part
of the Great Badge Swap, Diana donated numerous
badges which she had worn in support of causes such as
the environment, Indigenous rights, social equality, gay
rights and nuclear disarmament. She wore this badge to
show her support for women’s rights.
Acquisitions Committee
In accordance with the Collection Management
Policy and Procedures, the Acquisitions Committee
assesses all proposals for new acquisitions for the
collections. The committee approved the addition of
420 objects to the collection during the year.
A review of the Acquisitions Committee and its
activities was completed during the year as part
of the ongoing internal audit program. The review
found that the committee was operating effectively,
and made no adverse findings or recommendations
for amendment to the committee’s activities or
procedures.
The committee’s membership is shown in
Table 15 in Part 4 of this report.
Acquisitions and loans
A detailed list of items added to the collection
during the year is in Table 5. All proposed additions
to the collection were assessed by the Acquisitions
Committee and approved by the delegate.
Acquisition highlights included:
• a ceremonial certificate and cigar box belonging
to Prime Minister Billy Hughes in the early part of
the twentieth century
• a Knight Grand Cross insignia and collar, and a
Privy Councillor’s uniform, all worn by Australia’s
first prime minister Edmund Barton
• a sculpture by artist Penny Byrne titled ‘Saint
Kevin 07 and the Real Julia’
• a rare pamphlet titled ‘Women’s Suffrage in New
Zealand and Australia’, dated 1907 and produced
by a British suffrage group to promote votes for
women in Britain
• a rare book by Algernon Sidney, Discourses
Concerning Government, dated 1698, a powerful
statement of the radical republicanism and
democratic ideals for which Sidney was executed
in 1683
• an 1838 report on the Myall Creek massacre,
presented to the British House of Commons in
1839
• three political cartoons (two recent works by
Peter Nicholson, and one dated 1888 by Bulletin
cartoonist Phil May), donated by Dr Barry Jones
• four framed posters relating to women’s struggle
for the vote in Britain and in Queensland, donated
by Dr Dale Spender
• a message stick and message book covered in
kangaroo skin used during the 2011 Freedom
Ride, which took place to commemorate the 1965
Freedom Ride in support of Indigenous rights
• a collection of election material donated by
Campbell Newman relating to his recent
campaigns for Lord Mayor of Brisbane and
Premier of Queensland
• a wig and gown worn by various Clerks of the
Senate, last worn by Harry Evans from 1988 to
2009, donated by the Department of the Senate.