TRAVEL IDEAS
CITY MAPS
CLASSIC ITINERARIES
Which include Canberra
- Three Capitals Classic, 7 days
- Classic Australia, 14-17 days
COACH TOURS
Which include Canberra
First Class Coach Tours
- Grand Tour Sydney to Sydney, 28 days
SELF-DRIVE
Australian Capital Territory
Canberra - The Nation's Capital
In Australia's capital you can tour Parliament House, wander through national galleries, libraries and museums, or just simply shop, dine and relax. The area is renowned for its beautiful parklands and gardens and is also on the doorstep of some of the most spectacular scenery in the country.
LOCATION:
The Australian Capital Territory was carved out of southeastern New South Wales in two steps (1911 and 1915).
AREA:
It covers 2,400 km2 (927 mi2).
LANDFORM:
The terrain consists of rolling grasslands called the Canberra Basin (elevation: 580 m or 1,900 ft) and is ringed by the Australian Alps.
POPULATION:
1995 est. pop., 303,900 nearly all residents live in Canberra.
CANBERRA:
Unlike many older cities, which grew out of early settlements and spread haphazardly across the landscape, Canberra was carefully planned before a single brick was laid.
The proposal for a new, national capital was agreed when it became obvious that parliamentarians of the two major State capitals, Sydney and Melbourne, who were both vying for Federal status, would not yield their claims.
In 1908 a site was chosen southwest of Sydney and on March 12, 1913 the new Federal capital was named Canberra - an Aboriginal term for "meeting place". The city was designed by a brilliant young Chicago architect, Walter Burley Griffin. Today Canberra stands much as he planned it.
SHOPPING:
The largest shopping complexes are Monaro Mall, Woden Shopping Square and Belconnen Mall. There are other extensive centres in the City and each suburb has its own smaller shopping centre. Overseas visitors discover good buys for opals and pure wood goods in Canberra. Retail fruit and vegetable markets open from Thursday to Sunday. Other "mixed" weekend markets operate at Jamison, Woden and the National Exhibition Centre and the Old Canberra Brickworks.
DINING:
More than 200 restaurants offering a remarkable variety of cuisines are scattered through Canberra and it's suburbs. You can eat perched in the sky or cruising the lake, among the national art treasures or the National Botanic Gardens, in an old pub or an old farmhouse; French, Italian, German, Russian, Greek, Turkish, Lebanese, Indian, Vietnamese, Chinese, Japanese, and even Australian! Snack bars and take-away abound; and for a pleasant outdoor lunch there are more than 60 picnic areas to choose from, many equipped with gas or electric barbecues. Canberra has nearly two hundred bars - in hotels, clubs, restaurants and "unattached".
GOVERNMENT:
The Commonwealth of Australia is a fully independent member of the Commonwealth of Nations. The Australian constitution (1901) resembles that of the United States in that it establishes a federal form of government; the powers of the Commonwealth are specified, leaving residual powers to the states.
Supreme executive powers (although more ceremonial than actual) rest in the British monarch, represented in Australia by the governor-general and in each of the six states by a governor. These officials are appointed by the British monarch on the advice of the Australian government. In 1993, however, the Labor government proposed making Australia a republic, severing its ties to the British crown by the year 2001. In 1997 the legislature approved convening a constitutional convention to consider ending the British ties.
Legislative power rests with the Parliament of Australia, which consists of an upper house, the Senate, and a Lower House, the House of Representatives. The leader of the majority party in the House is named Prime Minister and appoints a cabinet from members of the Senate and House.
The Senate consists of ten senators from each state and two from each territory. State senators are elected for 6-year terms; territorial senators serve for 3 years. The number of representatives is proportional to the populations of the states and territories, and House elections are held at least once every three years. Members of Parliament are elected by universal adult suffrage, and voting is compulsory.
The principal political parties are the Australian Labor party, the Liberal party, and the National Country party. The latter two, in coalition, were the dominant parties from the mid-1940s to the early 1970s. Labor, however, was in power in 1972-75 and returned to power under Robert Hawke in 1983. In 1991, Hawke lost a struggle for party leadership and was replaced by Paul Keating. Thirteen years of Labor leadership ended with the March 1996 elections. Liberal party leader John Howard then came Prime Minister as head of a Liberal and National Country party coalition.
The organization of the state governments is similar to that of the Commonwealth. Each state has an appointed governor, an elected premier, and a legislature. State governments are responsible for education, health, public utilities, justice, and transportation. The Northern Territory has been internally self-governing since 1978 and the Australian Capital Territory since 1988. Jervis Bay Territory, formerly part of the Australian Capital Territory, is administered by the federal government.
