2015

Australia,New Zealand & Singapore Joint Issue

Issue date: 14 August 2015, Product withdrawal date: 28 February 2016

This joint issue with New Zealand and Singapore marks 50 years of bilateral relations between Singapore and Australia, and Singapore and New Zealand. The 50th anniversary and the release of this joint issue coincide with Singapore 2015 World Stamp Exhibition. The three stamps depict the parliament houses of the three countries.

Opened in 1988, the Parliament House of Australia is the third to accommodate the federal government. This architecturally significant building is made almost entirely from Australian materials. Among its notable design elements are the forecourt mosaic, designed by Aboriginal artist Michael Nelson Jagamara from Papunya and based on his painting Possum and Wallaby Dreaming, and the 81-metre-high stainless-steel flag-mast. Australia’s Parliament House designed by Romaldo Giurgolai of Mitchell Giurgola opened in 1988.

In 2015, the New Zealand Parliament marks the 150th anniversary of its relocation from Auckland to Wellington. Today’s Parliament House emerged from the ashes of its predecessor, destroyed by fire in 1907. Only half of the planned building was built so Parliament House long had problems of too little space before “the Beehive” was built to address this in 1979.

Opened on 4 October 1999, Singapore’s Parliament House was built to accommodate its increasing number of members of parliament. It comprises three “blocks” integrated with a restored 19th-century building. Its rooftop prism is a modern interpretation of a traditional dome and its extensive use of columns a nod to classical architecture and the authority this symbolises.

First Day Cover