Situated on the Table are the Dispatch Boxes, which were a gift from the Commonwealth Parliaments in 1978 to mark the Northern Territory's attainment of self-government . They are replicas of those in the House of Representatives and are modelled on the Dispatch Boxes of the House of Commons which were destroyed during World War II. Traditionally, in the British Parliament, these were used for carrying documents to the king or queen to be signed. They are made of oak, ebony and silver and were crafted by apprentices at Her Majesty's Naval Dockyard, Williamstown, Victoria.