Timeline: 1902

Parliamentarians visit national capital sites

Parliamentarians visit national capital sites

As the 'Battle of the Sites' raged, the federal parliamentarians visited many potential national capital locations. Minister for Home Affairs, William Lyne, hosted a number of these early excursions—dubbed by (former) Prime Minister George Reid as 'Lyne's picnics'. Here, Lyne sits on an Albury fence (perhaps symbolically, for Lyne was a strong opponent of Federation and then abruptly switched), watched by three future prime ministers: Alfred Deakin (far left), Chris Watson and William Morris (Billy) Hughes (far right).