VPRS 14961 Right Honourable Srinivasa Sastri's Visit to Australia 1922, Seating Plan for Parliamentary Dinner

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The records in this series were transferred to the Public Record Office Victoria by Parliament, Administration and Services (VA 4682).

The series consisted of two separate table seating plans, both drawn on linen, for a dinner held at Parliament House, Victoria. The plans are not dated nor is it titled. The names listed on the larger of the two plans however suggest that the dinner was is in relation to the visit by Right Honourable Srinivasa Sastri, President of the Servants of India Society to Australia in 1922. The Australian Prime Minister at the time, W M Hughes, had arranged for Mr Sastri to visit Australia in 1922 to negotiate with the federal government and people for full citizenship rights and equality for Indians who had been allowed to settle in Australia. Mr Sastri also visited New Zealand and Canada in the same tour in 1922 to discuss the rights of Indians lawfully domiciled in those countries. A state dinner seems to have been held in Victoria in honour of Mr Sastri's Australian visit. Mr Sastri arrived in Australia in June 1922 for his visit, therefore the dinner would have been held around that month.

The doors to the House of Representatives and Senate are marked on both plans. The smaller of the two plans, likely to have been the first draft, shows seating arrangements for 151 people. It does not give the names of guests. The second (larger) plan details seating arrangements for 189 people with the names of guests seated at the head table. It would appear that a revised plan was drawn to accommodate all guests, including guests of honour, Srinavasa Sastri and his secretary Mr G S Bajpai and two servants. The remainder of the guests included selected members of Parliament, Chief Justices and other dignitaries. Prime Minister Hughes and Mr Sastri were positioned at the centre of the head table.