The
Australian Capital Territory (ACT) is the capital
territory of the Commonwealth of Australia and its
smallest self-governing internal territory. It is an
inland enclave in New South Wales, situated in
bushland.
The
ACT was conceived during the Federation conventions
of the late 19th century as a neutral location for a
new national capital. Section 125 of the Australian
Constitution provided that following Federation in
1901, land would be ceded freely to the new Federal
Government. The territory was transferred to the
Commonwealth by the state of New South Wales in
1911, and construction of the capital, Canberra,
began in 1913.
The
floral emblem of the ACT is the Royal Bluebell and
the faunal emblem is the Gang-gang Cockatoo.
Parliament House:
Parliament House is the meeting place of the
Parliament of Australia. It is located in Canberra,
the capital of Australia. It was opened on 9 May
1988 by Queen Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia. Its
construction cost was over $1.1 billion. At the time
of its construction it was the most expensive
building in the Southern Hemisphere. Prior to 1988,
the Parliament of Australia met in the Provisional
Parliament House, which is now known as "Old
Parliament House".
Parliament House, formerly known as the Provisional
Parliament House, was the seat of the Parliament of
Australia from 1927 to 1988. The building was opened
in 9 May 1927 as a temporary base for the
Commonwealth Parliament following its relocation
from Melbourne to the new capital, Canberra, until a
grander building could be constructed.
In
1988, the Commonwealth Parliament transferred to the
new Parliament House on Capital Hill. It also serves
as a venue for temporary exhibitions, lectures and
concerts. On 1 May 2008 it was made an Executive
Agency of the Department of the Prime Minister and
Cabinet reporting to the Cabinet Secretary, Senator
John Faulkner.
Old
Parliament House:
Designed by John Smith Murdoch and a team of
assistants, the building was intended to be neither
temporary nor permanent - only to be a provisional
building that would serve as a parliament for fifty
years. The design brief extended from the building
to include its gardens, decor and furnishings.
The
building is in the stripped Classical style, common
in Australian government buildings constructed in
Canberra during the 1920s and 1930s. It does not
include classical architectural elements such as
columns, entablatures or pediments, but does have
the orderliness and symmetry associated with
neoclassical architecture. The building's design
was, and is, considered a success because of the
clarity of shape, regular composition, dazzling
whiteness and pleasantly human scale.
Black
Mountain Tower :
Black
Mountain Tower (previously known as Telstra Tower
and Telecom Tower) is a telecommunication tower that
is situated above the summit of Black Mountain in
Australia's capital city of Canberra. Rising 195.2
metres above the mountain summit, it is not only a
landmark in Canberra but also offers panoramic views
of the city and its surrounding countryside from an
indoor observation deck, two outdoor viewing
platforms and the tower's revolving restaurant.
In
April 1970, the then Postmaster General (PMG)
commissioned the Commonwealth Department of Housing
and Construction to carry out a feasibility study in
relation to a tower on Black Mountain accommodating
both communication services and facilities for
visitors. The tower was to replace the microwave
relay station on Red Hill and the television
broadcast masts already on Black Mountain.
Design of the tower was the responsibility of the
Department of Housing and Construction, however a
conflict arose with the National Capital Development
Commission (NCDC) which, at the time, had complete
control over planning within the Australian Capital
Territory.
During the approval process of the tower, protests
arose on aesthetic and ecological grounds. Some
people felt that the tower would dominate other
aesthetic Canberra structures due to its location
above Black Mountain and within a nature reserve. A
case was brought before the High Court of Australia
arguing that the Federal Government did not have the
constitutional power to construct the tower (Johnson
v Kent (1975) 132 CLR 164). The decision was made in
favour of the government and construction was able
to commence.
Prior to the construction of the tower, CTC-TV (now
called Southern Cross Ten Canberra) had its studios
located at the top of Black Mountain. Also located
on the top were two guy-wired masts, one for CTC7
and the other one for the local ABC TV station.
These were demolished in 1980 after the tower
opened.
This
article is licensed under the
GNU Free Documentation License.
It uses material from the Wikipedia articles:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parliament_House,_Canberra
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Parliament_House,_Canberra
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telstra_Tower
