Roses, tennis & democracy

"The 87 year-old Parliament House Gardens rank today amongst the most outstanding public gardens in Australia. Roses remain a diominant element. Between 1927 and 1988 they served 900 parliamentarians. For those working in the then overcrowded Provisional Parliament House, they were a valuable safety valve. Here were landscape places close to the Parliament to which they could retreat from the pressure of working in the building. In this book, John Gray sketches the story of these gardens. He records why thay were originally created by the Australian Parliament, how the parliamentarians used them, how they have been converted to public gardens and in what way the gardens now reflect the priinciples of Australian democracy"--Back cover.