Seven-year-old Tabitha Ellem has the best story to tell her classmates at Gowrie Primary School after she met wrestling legend Hulk Hogan yesterday, the crowd which gathered to see him at Parliament House considerably larger than for the usual visiting dignitaries.

The big man took to a makeshift stage in the Senate courtyard with a mighty ''Whazup Hulkamaniacs?'', delighting star-struck staffers, media and politicians.

Hogan, who is touring Australia with his wrestling show, was in Canberra at the request of knockabout West Australian Labor Senator Glenn Sterle for the Make A Wish Foundation.

Mr Sterle said Hogan's immediate answer was: ''I'll be there brother.''

Hogan still had to go through the security scans at Parliament House, and was asked to remove his heavy gold chains when the machine kept beeping.

''This is a huge honour for me. I had no idea how beautiful the country was. I had no idea how kind and beautiful the people were ... I'm overwhelmed,'' he said.

The 56-year-old Hogan is apparently in the United States one of the Make A Wish Foundation's most-requested celebrities for sick children to meet.

''Children are our future,'' he told the crowd. ''I'm looking into their eyes and stealing their energy. They have more strength than all of us.''

Yesterday, he met Tabitha, from Gilmore, who has Hurler syndrome, a genetic disorder which affects growth and can damage organs. Her mother Sonia said Tabitha was thrilled to meet the Hulk.

''Oh, she loved him. She's seen him on Foxtel. She's very much a tomboy so she thought it was great,'' she said. ''The day was beyond words. I couldn't believe how big it was.''

Mark Dunn, 17, of Conder, who was diagnosed last year with a brain tumour, also met the Hulk, helping Sports Minister Kate Ellis to defeat the man mountain in an arm wrestle, despite Hogan's ''24-inch pythons''. A Year 11 student at Marist College, Mark is also going on a skiing trip next year to the Swiss Alps thanks to the Make a Wish Foundation.

''It was pretty good,'' he said, modestly, of his defeat of Hulk Hogan.

And enjoying all the razzamatazz was parliamentary secretary for disabilities and children's services Bill Shorten who reckoned ''in every politician lurks the soul of a frustrated wrestler''. Politicians were familiar with the ''policy back-flip, National Party chokehold and can spin as much as anyone in the WWF''.