Australian Politics and Policy - Senior, 2019a

Australian Capital Territory
there constitutional provisions for its government? What level of autonomy does
the ACT possess for policy?
Historical context
The ACT is a creature of Australia’s adoption of federalism in 1901. At Federation
there was no officially proclaimed national capital. The first federal parliament met
in Melbourne while the government decided on where to locate the capital to
provide it with security and also not ‘favour’ either Sydney nor Melbourne. The
search for a suitable place was narrowed down to a spot mid-way between the two
rival cities, and the site for Canberra – on the land of the Ngunnawal people – was
chosen in 1908. The territory was formally ceded to the Commonwealth by NSW in
1909.Workonthecitywasinterruptedbetween1914and1918bytheFirstWorld
War,andparliamentfinallymovedintoits‘temporary’ParliamentHousein1927;it
wouldremainthereforafurther61yearsbeforethepermanentoneopenedin1988.
As a planned city that embraced modern concepts like private car ownership
and suburban living, Canberra was always intended to be a showpiece – the nexus
of national government in a garden city. It is the site of various national institutions
and monuments, as well as the instruments of government: government departments,
agencies and related bodies. During the construction of the city, most
of the public service departments remained in Melbourne, but as Canberra was
completed, stage by stage, the departments moved to the seat of government. This
process explains why, even today, many peak bodies and lobbying organisations
are still headquartered in Melbourne. 2 The postSecond World War years saw a
very rapid increase in population with the expansion of the departments and the
associated construction of housing and city amenities. Between 1955 and 1975, the
populationoftheACTincreasedby50percenteveryfiveyears.
During the 1970s, the population of the ACT increased to 224,000 3 and there
was a growing push for self-government. According to Halligan and Wettenhall,
there were largely two schools of thought regarding this proposal: self-government
advocates believed that Canberrans, with no state or territory level of government,
did not have the same democratic rights as other Australians; opponents to selfgovernment
‘preferred to trade these rights for the financial benefits that came from
being a federally protected and heavily subsidized enclave within the nation’. 4
In 1978, an advisory referendum was held for ACT residents on selfgovernment.
Voters were given three choices on the ballot form: retain the current
arrangements; self-government; or a local council arrangement with legislative
2 Fitzgerald 2006.
3 ABS 2012.
4 Halligan and Wettenhall 2000.
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