Why is Canberra the capital of Australia and not Sydney?

Canberra is far from a huge city like Sydney or Melbourne. So many cities wanted to become the capital. Especially, a competition between Sydney and Melbourne was heated. Accordingly, Australians made Canberra the capital of their country, because Canberra was situated at the middle point between Sydney and Melbourne.

Why is Sydney or Melbourne not the capital of Australia?

Why is Canberra the Capital of Australia? It was decreed in The Constitution that the Parliament were to choose a site at least one hundred miles (160km) from Sydney, with Parliament to sit in Melbourne until the new capital was built.

How did Canberra became the capital of Australia?

The New South Wales government refused to support ‘remote Dalgety’. It continued to press for a site closer to Sydney and pushed strongly for towns near Orange and Bathurst. In October 1908, the Seat of Government Bill, confirming Yass-Canberra as the nation’s capital, was passed by the Parliament.

Is Canberra in the middle of Melbourne and Sydney?

The 100 mile rule Canberra’s location was determined, in part, by section 125 of the Constitution: “The seat of Government of the Commonwealth … shall be in the State of New South Wales, and be distant not less than one hundred miles from Sydney.”

What is the capital of Canberra?

Canberra, federal capital of the Commonwealth of Australia. It occupies part of the Australian Capital Territory (ACT), in southeastern Australia, and is about 150 miles (240 km) southwest of Sydney. Canberra lies astride the Molonglo River, which is a tributary of the Murrumbidgee River.

Why is Canberra called the Bush capital?

Canberra is known as Australia’s capital city and sometimes affectionately called The Bush capital for its sweeping nature reserves and surrounding mountain ranges.

What was Australia’s capital before Canberra?

Melbourne
The Constitution specified that until this national capital was ready, the Parliament would sit in Melbourne. In 1927, the national capital was finally ready and the national government relocated from its former seat in Melbourne to Canberra within the Australian Capital Territory.

Why was Canberra built?

In 1901 the different Australian colonies formed the Commonwealth of Australia. The new country needed a capital and both Sydney and Melbourne wanted the honor. However, in 1908 it was decided to build a new capital in Canberra. Meanwhile, Government House was built in Canberra in 1927.

How was Canberra planned?

Walter Burley Griffin’s plan for Canberra was based on the natural topography of the site. He proposed a city located centrally between 3 hills (Black Mountain, Mount Ainslie and Mugga Mugga) and north and south of an ornamental lake made up of a series of linked basins.

Why was Melbourne the capital of Australia?

It was incorporated as a Crown settlement in 1837, and named after the then British Prime Minister, William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne. In 1851, four years after Queen Victoria declared it a city, Melbourne became the capital of the new colony of Victoria.

Why was Canberra chosen as the federal capital in 1910?

In 1908 the site of the nation’s capital was chosen as a compromise between rival cities, Sydney (NSW) and Melbourne (Vic). It was decided that Canberra was to be a wholly planned city. The national anthem was played and Lady Gertrude Denman announced the chosen name for the new-born federal capital.