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CANBERRA -
AUSTRALIA Canberra is
Australia's capital city and largest inland city, though only the 7th
largest overall in the country. It is located at the northern end of the
Australian Capital Territory, (ACT).
The word Canberra is
believed to mean "meeting place" in the Ngnunawal language, though some
accounts say that it means "women's breasts", a reference to Mt Ainslie and
Black Mountain, two elevations in the central Canberra area. It was
apparently used in relation to the Molonglo River, which flows through
Canberra. As with other capital cities, the word Canberra is also used to
refer by metonymy to Australia's federal government and especially the
Parliament.
Canberra has many national monuments and institutions such as Government
House, Parliament House, the High Court of Australia, the Australian War
Memorial, the National Gallery of Australia, Telstra Tower, the Royal
Australian Mint and the National Museum of Australia.
Geography
Canberra is located in a portion of the Brindabella Ranges, approximately
150 km inland from Austalia's east coast. Its latitude and longitude are
35°15' S and 149° 28' E. It is located at altitudes that range from 550m to
700 m above sea level. This results in temperature ranges from -5° C to 35°
C. The hottest days are generally in December and January. In wintertime,
the days can get very chilly, and once every few years snow can fall.
The soil in the Canberra is reasonably fertile, but is of a nature that
makes it unsuitable for the construction of heavy-duty underground tunnels.
There are also some limestone plains and some limestone caves in the region.
The Molonglo River flows through Canberra. At one point, it has been
artificially widened to form what is called Lake Burley Griffin. Other
rivers near the Canberra area are the Murrumbidgee and Queanbeyan Rivers.
The Molonglo flows into the Murrumbidgee at a point northwest of Canberra,
which in turn flows along Canberra's southwestern outskirts. The Queanbeyan
River joins the Molonglo River at Oaks Estate just within the ACT's borders.
A number of creeks that flow off from the Molonglo River and Murrumbidgee
River, such as the Jerrabomberra and Yarralumla Creeks, also exist in the
Canberra area. Two of these creeks, the Ginninderra and Tuggeranong Creeks,
have likewise been dammed to form Lake Ginninderra and Lake Tuggeranong.
The area had a history of sometimes lethal floods until recent times -
indeed, prior to its formation, the Lake Burley Griffin area was a flood
plain.
A wetlands, known as the Jerrabomberra Wetlands, lies directly east of South
Canberra. This is now a nature reserve area.
Numerous hills, such as Mt Ainslie, Mt Mugga Mugga, Mt Taylor and Black
Mountain dot the Canberra area, but have been left unsettled. This does mean
a colder existence for Canberra's residents as in winter cold air pours down
from these peaks to form cold pockets of air in the inhabited valleys. At
wintertime, snow has been known to form on the top of some of these hills,
and on the more distant ones on the Brindabella ranges.
Even in summer, humidity is generally low. Fog frequently occurs during
winter mornings, and has often caused flights to and from Canberra
International Airport to be cancelled or delayed.
See also Canberra Region, notably for the rural uses and viticulture (wine
making).
Structure
Canberra's 311,000 residents live in a city originally planned by Walter
Burley Griffin. The city is laid out on two major perpendicular axes, a
water axis that stretches along Lake Burley Griffin, and a ceremonial land
axis stretching from Parliament House northeastward to the Australian War
Memorial at the foot of Mt. Ainslie. These two axes were in Griffin's plans
for Canberra. In addition, there is an infrastructural axis stretching from
the Federal Parliament House on Capital Hill to the seat of territorial
government on City Hill, and a second one that stretches from Parliament
House to Russell Offices and Duntroon. These two axes and the water axis
constitute the Parliamentary Triangle.
Canberra is divided into seven districts. In order of development, they are:
North Canberra, South Canberra, Woden, Belconnen, Weston Creek, Tuggeranong,
and Gungahlin. The first two are based on Walter Burley Griffin's designs.
The others all have a land contour design and a central shopping area known
as a Town Centre. The districts are generally separated from each other by
nature parklands, many of which have wildlife such as kangaroos and
kookaburras.
The suburbs contained in these districts are generally named after famous
Australians. Some are named after early settlers or Aboriginal terms. Street
names within each suburb generally follow a particular theme. For instance,
the streets of Duffy are named after Australian dams and weirs, Page streets
are named after biologists and naturalists, and the streets of Gowrie are
named after Australian Victoria Cross recipients.
There are also three suburbs that are considered to be industrial districts:
Fyshwick, Mitchell and Hume. Streets in these areas also follow a theme -
for instance, the streets of Fyshwick are named after Australian industrial
towns.
In addition, there is Oaks Estate, a small suburb located near the ACT/NSW
border which is not part of any of the above districts and which has close
ties with the neighbouring NSW town of Queanbeyan. Many of its residents
feel a greater affinity with Queanbeyan than with the ACT. On the other hand,
Jerrabomberra is officially part of Queanbeyan but many of its residents
work in the ACT and consider themselves essentially part of Canberra.
As well as the unusual road system featuring many circular streets and
roundabouts, Canberra's highly planned nature has led to a striking absence
of commerce on its major trafficked streets. There is also quick access and
minimal traffic congestion along Canberra's roadways. Unlike most other
capital cities in Australia, they have all been designed with motor vehicle
traffic in mind.
Access
Canberra is approximately 3 hours by road from Sydney on the Hume Highway
and Federal Highway, seven hours by road from Melbourne on the Hume Highway
and Barton Highway, and two hours on the Monaro Highway to Jindabyne and the
snow ski fields of the Snowy Mountains and the (Mount) Kosciuszko National
Park.
Canberra International Airport has a full schedule of domestic services to
several state capitals. There are long-term plans to introduce regular
scheduled international flights, but up to July 2004 the only international
flights have been those carrying heads of state such as the US President,
and charter flights. In July 2004 international flights will commence to
Fiji.
There is a rail service between Canberra and Sydney that takes about four
hours. This service is operated by the NSW Government. Plans to have a very
fast train, with a travel time of about 81 minutes, operate between Canberra
and Sydney have been contemplated, but not implemented.
A large number of interstate bus companies provide services that run to and
from Canberra.
Aspects of Canberra
Government
Canberra is unique in Australia in that it is governed not by a City Council,
but a 17-member Legislative Assembly that performs all the functions
normally done by both state governments and local governments. The Assembly
governs the entire ACT, however, since virtually the entire ACT's population
is based in Canberra, the terms 'ACT Government' and 'Canberra Government'
are largely interchangeable.
The ACT Legislative Assembly building is located at Civic Square. Outside is
a statue Ethos (Tom Bass, 1961, and erected there in 1962) representing "the
spirit of the community".
Assembly members are elected once every three years by the ACT's population
using a proportional voting system. The 17 members represent three different
multi-member electorates. Voters only vote for the candidates running for
their electorate. Seven of these represent the seat of Molonglo, and there
are five each from Gininderra and Brindabella. The political party that wins
the most seats wins government, and governs the ACT through the use of
ministries.
To date, ACT governments have always been minority ones - ie. they have
never won more than half of the assembly's 17 seats. This has led to some
unusual alliances to bring about political stability. In one instance, two
parties with conflicting political views formed an alliance and governed the
ACT through the combined number of seats that this produced. More recently,
an ACT Liberal Party government ruled the ACT with the help of an
independent member who was given an ACT ministry in return for his support.
The Federal Government retains some influence in the ACT's and Canberra's
government. It is free to veto any law passed in the Assembly of which it
disapproves. Also, no ACT election can be called except with the Federal
Government's approval.
A Commonwealth organisation, the National Capital Authority, can also veto
and influence decisions involving Canberra's urban development and growth.
Law and order
The Australian Federal Police carry out all police services normally
provided by a state police force. Persons arrested on an offence are tried
in normal magistrate's and/or district courts based in the ACT. However,
persons sentenced to imprisonment are sent to a NSW jail as there are no
prisons in Canberra. Various proposals to establish a prison within Canberra
have been mooted over the years, but while these have led to heated public
debate, none has so far been implemented.
Courts such as a small claims tribunal and a Family Court exist for civil
law actions and other non-criminal legal matters.
Industry
Although a minority of the Canberra workforce is now directly employed by
government, the city's main industry is still government and public service.
It contains the Federal Parliament and the headquarters of most government
departments (for instance, Defence, Foreign Affairs and Trade, and the
Treasury).
A number of military establishments of the Australian Defence Force exist in
or near Canberra, most notably RAAF Fairbairn (now effectively closed as a
base for the Royal Australian Air Force, except for housing the VIP Flight
that uses Boeing Business Jet) and HMAS Harman (becoming a tri-service
multiuser depot). Military colleges also exist - see Universities.
Canberra's second largest (and most noticeable) industry is tourism, with a
large number of Australian and international visitors visiting the city each
year. The most popular times are spring and autumn (fall), with the annual
Floriade spring flower display (held each year in September/October) being
the biggest. Other popular and noteworthy tourist spots in Canberra include
the Parliamentary triangle (and in particular both the New Parliament House
and the Old Parliament House, monuments such as the Australian War Memorial,
and working national institutions like the Royal Australian Mint.
Canberra also has the High Court of Australia, which is the final court of
appeal for lawsuits within Australia and which can make rulings on the
Australian Constitution.
Unlike most other parts of Australia, there is no legal barrier to the
production and mail-order sale of explicit pornographic videos in Canberra,
and this has led to a thriving export industry.
Embassies
Canberra is also home to foreign embassies and high commissions, the
majority of which are located in the suburbs of Yarralumla, Deakin and
O'Malley. The Yarralumla embassy area is another tourist attraction, as the
embassies in that suburb are generally built in the style of their home
country.
Embassies are sometimes open to public inspection or for public functions.
They have also been the focal points of public demonstrations and protests.
For instance, the French Embassy received attention from demonstrators
during the French nuclear tests in the Pacific, whilst the Indonesian
Embassy was the subject of demonstrations in relation to East Timor. Some
protests have been violent - for instance, the embassy of the then Soviet
Union came under attack in 1969 and 1971. In 2004, a man was convicted for
his involvement in an al-Qaeda plot to bomb the Israeli Embassy.
There is also the Aboriginal Tent Embassy, located outside Old Parliament
House. This consists of a portable building and a series of spears and
ceremonial fires. In spite of its name, it is not a diplomatic mission, but
rather exists to draw attention to indigenous rights and land issues. Its
existence and some of the actions of its occupants have been the subject of
some controversy, but its presence is tolerated by the Canberra authorities.
In September 2004, it was subject to an arson attack and its future is in
some doubt.
Media
As Australia's political centre, Canberra is naturally the home of much of
Australia's political reportage and thus all the major media organizations,
including the commercial television networks, the Australian Broadcasting
Corporation, and the metropolitan newspapers maintain bureaux there. Many
are represented in the "press gallery", the group of media people that
follows the national parliament.
The National Press Club is on National Circuit, in the South Canberra suburb
of Barton, and it regularly broadcasts its weekly lunches, in which a guest
gives a half-hour speech and then goes through a half-hour question session
afterwards. This has been a popular means by politicians to give speeches,
but other guests have included movie and TV celebrities.
Canberra has own its own daily newspaper, the Canberra Times. This newspaper
was first established in 1926.
Canberra has five television stations, two government (ABC and SBS) and
three commercial (Prime, WIN and Southern Cross Ten).
Community Radio 2XX FM is Canberra's primary source of multicultural radio
broadcast, featuring weekly programmes in twenty languages, in addition to
community service and specialty music programmes.
Universities
Canberra is the home of the Australian National University, based in Acton,
and the University of Canberra, based near Belconnen.
The Australian Defence Force Academy (or ADFA) and the Royal Military
College, Duntroon (or RMC-D) operate near the surburb of Campbell, in
Canberra's inner northeast. Duntroon provides Army Officer training and AFDA
teaches military undergraduates. ADFA is a faculty of the University of New
South Wales.
Two religious campuses are sited in Canberra: Signadou in the North Canberra
suburb of Watson is a campus of the Australian Catholic University; St
Mark's Theological College adjacent to the Parliament House is a campus of
Charles Sturt University.
The multicampus Canberra Institute of Technology [1]
(http://www.cit.act.edu.au/) also operates in Canberra.
Sporting and recreation
Canberra has a full range of sporting facilities. Perhaps the two most
significant are Canberra Stadium (formerly known as Bruce Stadium) and the
Australian Institute of Sport, a quasi-educational body that trains many of
Australia's Olympic athletes.
Canberra also possesses numerous sporting ovals, golf courses, tennis courts
and swimming pools that are available for use by the public. A Canberra-wide
series of bicycle paths are available to cyclists for recreational and
sporting purposes. The nature reserves around Canberra have a large range of
walking paths.
It has several national sporting teams, the Canberra Raiders (Rugby League)
and the ACT Brumbies (Rugby Union), the most prominent.
An annual sporting event of historical interest is the "Prime Ministers XI"
cricket match, normally played at Manuka Oval in South Canberra.
Public transport
Canberra is serviced in its entirety by a bus-based public transport system,
called Action Buses, as the city has no railway system other than an
interstate railway that terminates in the Canberra suburb of Kingston.
There have been government proposals that tramways be added to Canberra,
either a tourist-based one that would link many of Canberra's tourist
attractions, or one that links the new and developing district of Gungahlin
with the City Centre. As of 2004, nothing has come of these plans. A private
bus service also operates between Queanbeyan and Canberra.
History
Aboriginal presence
Prior to white settlement, the Canberra area was inhabited by the Ngunnawal
and Walgalu tribes. A third tribe, the Ngarigo, lived south-east of the
Canberra area. The Aboriginal numbers appeared to have been relatively small
- as few as 500. This was in part to a strong pro-marital culture that
existed in the tribes in this area. These tribes appear to have been present
in the Canberra area since the 11th century.
They seem to have lived well on local wildlife and fish, with Bogong moths
being a particular speciality. Corroborrees and dancing were also a part of
their culture.
European exploration and settlement
European exploration and settlement began in the Canberra area as early as
the 1820s. Four expeditions took place betwen 1820 and 1824. White
settlement in the area can be said to have begun in 1824, when a homestead
or station was built in what is now the Acton peninsula by stockmen employed
by Joshua John Moore. He formally purchased the site in 1826, and named the
property Canberry, or Canberra. Other stations were built in turn by other
settlers who brought families.
The European population in the Canberra area continued to slowly grow
throughout the rest of the 19th century. Some convict labour was also used
in this area in the 1830s and 1840s.
As the European presence increased, the Aboriginal population dwindled,
mainly from diseases such as smallpox and measles. By 1878, the Aboriginal
culture and population had largely ceased to exist, with its members largely
absorbed into European culture through half-caste marriages. The last
full-blood Aboriginal, Nellie "Queen Nelly" Hamilton, died in Queanbeyan
Hospital on January 1, 1897.
Choice for capital city location
The district's change from a New South Wales rural area to the national
capital began during debates over Federation in the late 19th century.
Following a long dispute over whether Sydney or Melbourne should be the
national capital, a compromise was reached: Melbourne would be the capital
on a temporary basis while a new capital was built somewhere between Sydney
and Melbourne.
After an extensive search, the present site, about 300 kilometres south-west
of Sydney in the foothills of the Australian Alps, was chosen in 1908 as a
result of survey work done by Government Surveyor Charles Scrivener in that
year. The NSW Government ceded the Federal Capital Territory (as it was then
known) to the Commonwealth Government on January 1, 1910.
An international competition was held in 1911 by the Federal Government
through the Minister for Home Affairs, King O'Malley, to select a plan for
the new city, and the local name of Canberra was eventually settled upon. On
March 12, 1913 the city was officially given this name by Lady Denman the
wife of the then Governor-General Lord Denman at a ceremony at Kurrajong
Hill (now Capital Hill and the site of the present Parliament House), and
building officially commenced.
Development and growth
Canberra's growth over the first few decades was slow, and it was far more a
small country town than a capital. This was especially the case before World
War II, when Canberra was noted for being more trees, fields and sheep, than
houses.
Building of the capital began in what is now North and South Canberra began
in 1913. They were built in accordance with Walter Burley Griffin's designs
for Canberra.
Melbourne ceded control of the Federal government to Canberra on May 9,
1927, with the opening of Parliament House (now known as the Old Parliament
House) in Canberra. The Prime Minister Stanley Bruce had officially taken up
residence in The Lodge a few days earlier.
During and after World War II it began to grow more rapidly. For instance,
embassies and high commissions began to establish themselves in Canberra
during the 1940s. New districts, such as Tuggeranong, were established and
slowly built throughout the 1960s and 1970s to accommodate a growing
population.
On 9 May 1988, a new larger and permanent Parliament House was opened on
Capital Hill (formerly Kurrajong Hill) in State Circle, Parkes as part of
Australia's bicentenary celebrations, and the Federal Parliament moved there
from Old Parliament House. The opening ceremony had originally been
scheduled for 26 January 1988, the actual bicentenary of European settlement
of Australia, but progress on construction did not permit the opening on
this date. 9th May was chosen instead, because the first Australian Federal
Parliament had met in Melbourne on that date in 1901, and the original (Old)
Parliament House was opened in Canberra on this date in 1927.
In December 1988, the ACT was granted full self-government through an Act of
the Federal Parliament that made the ACT a body politic under the crown.
Following the first elections in February 1989, a 17-member Legislative
Assembly sat for the first time at its offices in London Circuit, Civic, on
11 May 1989. The ACT's first government was led by the Chief Minister
Rosemary Follett, who lead the ACT Labor Party and holds the record as the
first female head of government at state or territory level in Australia's
history.
On January 18, 2003, parts of Canberra were engulfed by a bushfire that
destroyed 491 homes. The suburb of Duffy was especially affected, with some
200 homes burnt down there. The major research telescopes and the workshop
at Mount Stromlo Observatory (run by the Australian National University)
were destroyed in the fire. Four people died in the flames.
On June 7, 2004, Chief Minister Jon Stanhope and Dili (East Timor) District
Administrator Ruben De Carvalho formalised the "City of Canberra and
District of Dili Friendship Agreement", signed at a ceremony in Dili,
attended by East Timorese President Xanana Gusmão and Prime Minister Marí
Alkatiri.
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