The Search for a Site
Australia became a federated nation in 1901. The selection of a site for the National Capital for the new nation was not to be easy. The new Constitution directed that the seat of government should occupy its own Territory in New South Wales but not be closer than 100 miles (160 km) from Sydney. In the meantime, until a site was found, the Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia was to sit in Melbourne. The colonial premiers had proposed this solution after the delegates to the 1898 Federal Convention accepted the need for a new Federal Capital but could not agree on a site.
In 1902 Senators and Members of the Federal Parliament began inspections of possible sites. The following year the Government set up a Commission to find a site but even the Commissioners could not agree on which one was best. On general suitability, however, they recommended Albury first, then Tumut and Orange. Parliament couldn't agree on any of them! The House of Representatives chose Tumut but the Senate selected Bombala in south-east New South Wales.
To break the deadlock, the Senators and Members began to look at other sites in southern New South Wales which resulted in Dalgety coming into favour. In 1904, the Parliament passed a Bill nominating Dalgety, as the site. The NSW state government disagreed because the proposed site would be nine times larger than the area for the capital specified in the Constitution.
The impasse between the Federal Government and the NSW state government continued until 1906 when the state government indicated it was willing to cede a site in the Yass/Canberra district for the Federal Capital Territory. As a result, Senators and Members undertook a tour of inspection and became enthusiastic about the area.
It was not until 1908 that the Federal Parliament repealed the 1904 Seat of Government Act which named Dalgety and declared that the Capital would be in the Yass/Canberra district, that it would contain an area of not less than 900 square miles and would have access to the sea. The NSW Government Surveyor Charles Scrivener was engaged to determine the actual site for the city. To assist him, the Federal Minister for Home Affairs, Hugh Mahon, said: "the Federal Capital should be a beautiful city, occupying a commanding position, with extensive views and embracing distinctive features which will lend themselves to a design worthy of the object, not only for the present, but for all time".
Scrivener selected the Canberra site and wrote: "The Capital would properly lie in an amphitheatre of hills with an outlook towards the north and north-east, well sheltered from both southerly and westerly winds". He also indicated that the flood plain of the Molonglo River could form an ornamental lake in the centre of the city site.
Scrivener's recommendation was accepted and was ratified by the Seat of Government Acceptance Act in 1909 which made provision for an area of about 900 square miles.
King O'Malley was appointed Minister for Home Affairs in 1910, and stated that the new capital would be ''the finest capital city in the world".
On 1 January 1911, the Seat of Government (Administration) Bill passed through Parliament and the Federal Capital Territory of 910 square miles came into existence. There were 1714 persons living on farms in the area, slightly less than the number of horses (1762) and vastly outnumbered by the 224,764 sheep grazing in the district.
After 10 years of searching and disagreement, a site had been found for the proposed National Capital. The next problem was to design and build the Capital!