A fire at an anti-government protest caused "substantial damage" to Canberra's Old Parliament House that will cost more than $4 million to repair.
Daryl Karp, the director of the heritage building's main tenant, the Museum of Australian Democracy, said discovering the extent of the damage was devastating.
The building's iconic front entrance, where political history unfolded throughout last century, "will never be the same", she said.
However, most of the damage inside the building — caused largely by smoke and water — can be fixed, with some painstaking restoration efforts.
The massive doors were set alight twice in December by protesters who had varied grievances, such as opposition to Australian sovereignty and to COVID-19 vaccines.
The demonstrators camped near the Aboriginal tent embassy but were not associated with its residents, and later clashed with them.
Police charged a 30-year-old Victorian man, Nicholas Reed, with arson, alleging he had carried burning coals to the building's entrance.
Smoke and water damage throughout building
Ms Karp said the second fire, on December 30, damaged Old Parliament House's doors, front steps, facade and interiors.
She said the repairs would take "many months" and initial insurance estimates suggested a cost of "over $4 million".
"It's substantial damage, largely due to the acrid smoke that went through the building and the extra moisture that was in the air from the fire [hoses] and from the water sprinklers at the front entrance," she said.
"The Hansard is covered in this grimy soot, and there's just this overwhelming … grey, dusty, smelly residue."
Ms Karp said smoke had affected most rooms on the main floor, while water had damaged areas near the entrance and on the lower floor.
The museum's exhibits escaped harm and its furnishings could be "individually hand cleaned, repaired and repainted", she said.
But the grand entrance was damaged more severely.
"The doors were absolutely blackened — you could almost peel off little pieces of soot," she said.
The doors were made from four compressed layers of jarrah — a valuable timber used in the old and new parliament buildings. At least one of the layers is irreparable.
During the blaze, the doors' intricately designed brass fittings had popped off.
Ms Karp described how the museum's head of heritage had found one of the handles while sifting through the damage.
"That was that first moment of … hope," she said, of the restoration work to follow.
Museum visitors may have fewer freedoms
Ms Karp warned the alleged arson attack would force the museum to rethink some of its practices, including security.
She said it grieved her but it might be necessary to adjust "this openness that we've been known for".
"You can go anywhere in this building, you can sit anywhere," she said.
But after last month's "assault on the building", she said she would need to find a balance between keeping Old Parliament House "as open as possible, representing all that is good about Australian democracy, and at the same time … keep[ing] it secure".
The museum accepts public donations to support its conservation work.
However, Ben Morton, the federal minister responsible for the museum, said while donations were welcome, the government was committed to restoring the damage at Old Parliament House.
