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Anteroom, Prime Minister’s Suite
This room was used as the anteroom for the Prime Minister in the Prime Minister’s suite. This room is situated in the northeast corner of the Provisional Parliament House, an area that was occupied by the Prime Minister and his staff throughout the life span of the building. The original suite of rooms was occupied by fourteen of the Australian Prime Ministers, from Stanley Melbourne Bruce (Prime Minister from 1923-1929) to William McMahon (Prime Minister from 1971-1972). In 1972, due to a growing number of Ministers and staff in the building, the suite was demolished. New offices (for the Prime Minister and his staff), an anteroom (used for press conferences and as a waiting room) and bathrooms for the Prime Minister and his staff were built in its place. These particular rooms were only occupied by three Prime Ministers: Gough Whitlam (Prime Minister from 1972-1975), Malcolm Fraser (Prime Minister from 1975-1983) and Bob Hawke (Prime Minister from 1983-1991). This room was used as a waiting room for visitors, and as a media room by Hawke where he recorded numerous interviews. Media was an important aspect of politics in Australia and it was an important tool for many politicians. Hawke used television as the principal medium for communicating national policies to the people of Australia. Voters responded well to the image they saw of Hawke on television and during the 1970s and 1980s opinion polls rated him as one of Australia’s most popular political figures.