Australia's two largest cities, Sydney and Melbourne, had been rivals since before the goldrush days. It was therefore decided that the nation's capital should be situated between the two cities. A location was chosen which was 248km from Sydney and 483km from Melbourne, and the name selected was a derivation of the Aboriginal word for 'meeting place'. It was then necessary to select someone who could design a truly unique capital city. The competition to design Australia's new capital city, Canberra, was won in 1911 by Walter Burley Griffin.
The first survey peg marking the beginning of the development of the city of Canberra was driven in on 20 February 1913. The man who drove in the peg was King O'Malley, Minister for Home Affairs and who played a prominent role in selecting the site of the future capital of Australia. O'Malley was a controversial figure and prominent in Australian politics. A teetotaller, he was responsible for the highly unpopular ban on alcohol in the Australian Capital Territory. He was instrumental in beginning the building of the Transcontinental Railway from Melbourne to Perth, and pushed for the establishment of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, a state-owned savings and investment bank. He was also the one who advocated the spelling of "Labor" in the Australian Labor Party as being more modern than "Labour".
The first survey peg marking the beginning of the development of the city of Canberra was driven in on 20 February 1913. The man who drove in the peg was King O'Malley, Minister for Home Affairs and who played a prominent role in selecting the site of the future capital of Australia. O'Malley was a controversial figure and prominent in Australian politics. A teetotaller, he was responsible for the highly unpopular ban on alcohol in the Australian Capital Territory. He was instrumental in beginning the building of the Transcontinental Railway from Melbourne to Perth, and pushed for the establishment of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, a state-owned savings and investment bank. He was also the one who advocated the spelling of "Labor" in the Australian Labor Party as being more modern than "Labour".
"I visited Canberra back in 2002 with a friend. We were on a mission to spread the word about Permaculture, and I suppose some would have described us as hippies. Our first evening there we decided to visit the casino as neither of us had been to one before and they were not common in Australia. We each had 10 bucks in our pocket and entered with much excitement, only to be greeted by a steely faced female who informed me I did not have the correct shoes on and could not enter. Okay, no problem. The next day was Saturday and we were going to the markets so I figured I could pick up an appropriate pair , which I did. They were pink and hideous but, for $2.00 who cared.
The next night, after increasing our pocket funds to a bold $15.00, we once again entered the huge front doors with anticipation. The same steely faced female greeted us with another rejection because my friend, who was male, did not have on a coat and tie! As we were leaving, I was loudly complaining that she could have told us that the night before, and the coat and tie could have been purchased the same as the shoes. A very nice gentleman near the door, obviously heard my complaints, and politely asked us what the problem was. After our story, he was most apologetic and pointed us to a small booth near the door where we could hire a coat and tie for a small deposit of $5.00, redeemable when the coat and tie were returned. As my friend began looking for one that fit, I noticed the first gentleman on his two way radio. Then I notice two large fellows approach the steely faced female, and whisk her away while another, much friendlier looking female took her place. When my friend was suitably attired, we were greeted by this female,with much apology, a free $2.00 chip and a complimentary glass of wine! Alas, we left minus our $17.00, but able to say we had been to a casino and had a good time!" (written by Donuts)
Cheers!
Cheers!
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