So this is what a minority government looks like…

We promise never to use the ‘p’ word again. But we wanted to know what one looked like. A new paradigm, that is.

So Mike Bowers of Insiders’ Talking Pictures — yes THE Mike Bowers — kindly offered to stalk the halls of Parliament House to shoot democracy for us as politicians returned to work.

So here it is, Crikey‘s very first official picture gallery — yes, a whiz bang slide show. Click below for your viewing pleasure:

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Bowers has been embedded with Crikey‘s Canberra correspondent Bernard Keane for the past two days to capture the essence of Canberra on the cusp of greatness.

Gasp at his holiness Kevin Rudd in church, marvel at Julie Bishop’s red power suit (and newly minted WA Liberal MP Ken Wyatt  in possum skin) for the Welcome to Country ceremony, pause at the sight of Steve Fielding in the Senate Chamber, and take a moment to contemplate the cross-benches.

Bowers will be there as Question Time kicks off this afternoon so check back to the gallery for pictorial updates. It’s a new dawn, apparently, so tune in this afternoon at 2pm for Crikey’s live blog to see if Rob Oakeshott’s sun shall indeed shine in. Or on. Whatever.