Old Parliament House evacuated after fire breaks out in the historic building

A fire on the steps of Old Parliament House in Canberra has caused extensive damage to the front of the building. 

Just before 12pm on Thursday ACT Emergency Services were called to the scene to find the front doors alight.

The building was evacuated as a precaution and crews extinguished the blaze.

Social media footage depicts police dragging protesters away from the front steps of the building. 

It also shows a large fire burning on the doors. The building was set on fire by protesters on December 21 and there have been daily protests outside it since December 26. 

The building is now home to the Museum of Australian Democracy.

Huge plumes of smoke billowed into the air as firefighters rushed to save the historic building from being gutted by the flames.

Protestors holding Aboriginal flags screamed and jeered as the blaze engulfed the entrance, yelling ‘let it burn’.

The cause of the blaze, including whether it was deliberately lit, is not yet known. 

The unruly crowd had to be held back from Old Parliament House by a line of police before the altercation became a full-blown brawl.

The protesters also scuffled with media who arrived to film the burning building and scrapped with police trying to contain the demonstration. 

Federal politicians have criticised the protesters who allegedly set fire to the building.

Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce said Australians would be ‘disgusted’ if it turned out the fire was deliberate.

‘The fire at Old Parliament House is an absolute disgrace if deliberately lit,’ he wrote on his Facebook page.

‘This is the Parliament that for so long underpinned the freedoms we have as a democracy and made the decisions that formed us as a nation, fighting for the increase of rights and corrections to our colonial past.

‘If someone is trying to make a statement then it is a very bad one that will be received with overwhelming disgust.’

Former Nationals leader Michael McCormack said there should be ‘swift and severe’ repercussions for those responsible if the blaze was deliberately lit. 

‘How disgraceful. An outrageous attack on our democracy, our history, our sovereignty. This modern penchant for tearing down our past serves no purpose,’ he said on Twitter.

Resources Minister Keith Pitt said the full force of the law would be applied.

‘No matter what your cause, setting old Parliament House on fire and endangering all those inside is not the answer. Expect full force of the law to be applied,’ he said.

Adrian Richardson, a chef visiting from Melbourne, witnessed the blaze.

‘There’s a lot of police, there’s a lot of police with flags all waving and screaming, a lot of fire trucks,’ he told 3AW radio.

‘I saw the balcony above the front steps bursting into flames.’

Mr Richardson described the scene of chaos he was witnessing. ‘There’s a lot of police, there’s a lot of people with flags … screaming. A couple of fire trucks, a lot of police here. It’s just crazy.’

He came across the scene while out for a morning walk. ‘I heard a lot of commotion and I saw the front steps, the balcony above the front steps bursting into flames. 

‘A lot of flames, a lot of smoke, police came running out and blocked the whole lot off.’

He also spoke about the protest outside the building. ‘There’s a lot of anger, a lot of noise, a lot of police keeping it under control. It’s a crazy scene. Who said Canberra was boring? 

‘There seems to be a group of Aboriginal people that seem very angry. They’re banging sticks and screaming and yelling, they’re obviously annoyed with something.

‘There’s a big cordon of police in front of them, and fire trucks. It looks like the police are there making sure the firemen can go about their work without anyone hindering [them].

‘I got the impression that they wanted the whole [Old] Parliament House to burn down. They’re pretty angry with something. I can’t really tell, but they’re pretty upset,’ he said. ​ 

Video on social media showed fire and plumes of smoke billowing out of the building.

The fire was eventually extinguished but the old Parliament House entrance was severely damaged

The doors, front wall, and portico were all blackened by fire and the paint boiled away and plaster flaking off.

Firefighters surveyed the damage protected by a line of police as the protest raged on.

Old Parliament House was Australia’s seat of government from 1927 to 1988, when the larger new parliament was built a short walk away.

The building was converted into the Museum of Australian Democracy at Old Parliament House, with numerous exhibits.

The damaged entrance is perhaps best known as the site of former prime minister Gough Whitlam’s defiant speech after The Dismissal in 1975.

‘Well may we say ‘God Save the Queen’, because nothing will save the Governor-General,’ he famously said.

The lawn in front of Old Parliament House is the site of the Aboriginal Tent Embassy since 1972, which is a rallying spot for indigenous protests.