The first Parliament of Australia
For peace, order and good government

The Parliament shall ... have power to make laws for the peace, order, and good governance of the Commonwealth ...

Constitution, Section 51

The Australian Parliament which met for the first time in May 1901 was the most democratic in the world.

The members of the first Parliament were a remarkable group of individuals, fired with a sense of destiny. In three years of hard work they laid the legislative foundation of the nation.

This is the story of our first federal Parliament: its origins, who its members were, how it worked, and its achievements.