CANBERRA 100 YEAR ANNIVERSARY
Canberra’s 100 year anniversary was done to remember 100 years since it became the capital city of Australia. It emerged to be the capital city in the midst of two other cities that is, Sydney and Melbourne, that had great potential of becoming the capital cities. This is because the cities were recognised to be so rich and the largest as compared to Canberra by that time. However, the rivalry that existed between the two cities starting from the days of the gold rush is what mainly prohibited either one of them from being chosen as the Australian capital city.
Its Competition
A decision was made to choose a city that lied in the midst of the two as the Australian capital city. Moreover, the capital city was not required to be from the coast. This was decided so because the area was observed to be likely to render the Australian capital city to be exposed by attacks from enemies by use of ships. Furthermore, in coming up with the correct national city, they considered the climatic conditions and the setting point of the place. The climate was not supposed to be warm and also not to be tropical. These climatic conditions were considered to be conducive since they are likely to cause torpor effects to the involved decision-makers of the Australian country. The setting was required to be elevated with a grand type of layout. This is vital in ensuring that the mountains surrounding the city are desirable.
How Canberra became the Capital
The territory to be selected was required to have an area exceeding 100 square miles. As a result, the portion was to consist of the crown lands. A number of places were given and then counterchecked by the federal parliamentarians. The chosen places were Lake George, Dalgety city, Albury city, Tumut, Orange, Yass, Delegate city, Goulburn city, Lyndhurst city, Bathurst, Queanbeyan, Bombala, Wagga Wagga city, and Armidale. Dalgety was forwarded as the best choice but it was discounted because it was observed to be at a close distance to Melbourne and also a long distance from Sydney. They made a decision that the place to be decided on should be at a 483km distance from Melbourne City and at a 248km distance from Sydney. As a result, they chose a farming land, Canberra, that can be easily accessed by the two cities.
Development of this city began in the year 1913 in the month of February. Lady Denman, the wife to Governor General, laid the stone of foundation for the city in the same year. This is the time when she announced Canberra as the Australian capital city. She believed that the city would make the perfect meeting point. Thus, the 100 year anniversary was done to remember the day when Lay Denman laid the stone of foundation.