After our HASS units on the three levels of Government in Australia, we visited two out of the three that we have right here in Hobart. 5/6, 6A & 6B all participated in the excursion, rotating between Town Hall, Parliament House and a tour of Old Hobart Town planned by Miss McDonald.  

When we arrived at Town Hall, we all walked in. Most of us noticed the automatically opening doors, which were cool, because it was a really old building.  

When we got inside, we put our bags down and sat in the Henry Hunter Reading Room on fancy and comfy chairs. Then Anna Reynolds walked in. She told us that members of the public to come and relax in this room and talked about the building’s history, that it opened in 1866 and other stuff about our local government. 

We got to look in the Town Hall guest book, which had been used since 1974. We got to look at all the signatures of the people who had visited Hobart since then.  

We then got shown around all the rooms, including the ballroom and the council chambers. In the council chambers, we conducted a local council role play. We got to say an idea, debate on it, then vote, 6B voted that Hobart should get a new pool and there should be a three-day weekend. 6A voted on the idea to create a new science-based festival targeting kids, and on the idea to build the stadium. The voting process starts with someone talking about an idea then other people got to share their opinion. After everyone who wanted to talk had talked there was a vote. 

After we went to town hall we walked down to Parliament House and went through security. First we walked upstairs to the long room, everything was green! Two people were picked to do two roles, the clerk (pronounced Clark) and the sergeant at arms. The clerk’s role was to make sure that everyone followed the rules and the Sargeant At Arms role was to protect the speaker and carry the mace.  

At parliament house we did a scripted role play in the House of Assembly room. Everything was also green! We all sat in the actual chairs that the State Government representatives sit in. Everyone had a role to play, we all wore sashes to show what side of Parliament we were. The main roles were chosen by the teachers and then we all had to find a seat, we debated that every school should have a therapy dog.  

After the House of Assembly we went to the Legislative Council room- walking up the hallway everything turned red! 

By Ollie, Louis, Echo, and Harvey (6B)