HL Deb 29 February 2000 vol 610 cc61-2WA
Lord Laird

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What plans they have to celebrate the centenary of the Australian colonies becoming the Commonwealth of Australia on 1 January 2001. [HL1059]

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Baroness Scotland of Asthal)

The centenary of the Commonwealth of Australia is an important event. My honourable friend the Minister of State, John Battle, announced in Sydney on 25 February that Her Majesty's Government is contributing A$400,000 to a UK-Australian project to create, as part of the centenary celebrations, a permanent park at Magna Carta Place in Canberra's parliamentary triangle. This will be a celebration of Australia's democracy and Britain's fundamental contribution to it.

I also refer to the oral Answer I gave the House on 17 January in reply to a Question from Baroness Gardner of Parkes.