Why did Canberra become the capital of Australia?
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Why did Canberra become the capital of Australia?

by Kohei Watanabe
(Tokyo)

Where is the capital of Australia? Someone may answer the question Sydney or Melbourne. But it is wrong. The capital of Australia is Canberra.

Canberra is far from a huge city like Sydney or Melbourne. Generally, the biggest city becomes the capital of a country. Why did Canberra become the capital of Australia, not other big cities?

Australia was a colony of UK. As with many countries that had been the colony of UK, Australia was separated in many states. So many cities wanted to become the capital. Especially, a competition between Sydney and Melbourne was heated.

Accordingly, Australians made Canberra the capital of their country, because Canberra was situated at the middle point between Sydney and Melbourne.

In Australia, the center of politics is Canberra, but the center of the economy is Sydney because Sydney has a larger population than Canberra. There is a bipolarization.

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Dec 22, 2023
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No bipolarisation
by: Anonymous

I would argue there is no bipolarisation as the two cities maintain different functions and roles within the country and are in no way in competition with each other.

Apr 19, 2023
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It's not "misinformation"!
by: Gary Wolff

Dear Canberra Local,

In case you were not aware, the story above was written 10 years ago by a 20-year-old Japanese university student as a homework assignment that was part of a class project called "What Japanese University Students Think About...".

In each unit of our course textbook, a young person from one of 16 different countries around the world were interviewed about cultural aspects of their own country, allowing my students to make cultural comparisons with Japan. This course helped the students expand their global horizons and develop a wider cross-cultural understanding of our world.

Therefore, I do not feel there is any virtue in interpreting quite so literally the text in any of these Japanese student compositions, whose English is not their native tongue.

When Watanabe-san said "middle point", I don’t believe we need to check flight distances to know that he didn't intend to say that Canberra lies at the exact halfway point between the 2 larger cities of Sydney & Melbourne, but rather somewhere in between.

I am not aware whether Watanabe-san still monitors this page for comments, but if you choose to comment or post on any of the other student stories on my site, I would kindly ask you to be more sensitive to the feelings and hard work of these very conscientious students who are not communicating in their native language.

Accordingly, there is no need to use such critical language like labeling the story as "misinformation" when in fact the story reflects a very valiant & heartfelt effort by a hard-working Japanese university student.

Thanks for your kind understanding, thanks for visiting my site, and all the best to you in the future...


Apr 19, 2023
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Misinformation
by: À Canberra Local

Far from being the midpoint between Sydney and Melbourne, Canberra is twice as far from Melbourne as it is from Sydney. This can be confirmed on any map of Australia, or by checking the flight distances between Canberra and the other two cities.

Jan 29, 2022
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Learning about the fact
by: Marta

Hi, I'm writing a book of Johan Silas, the urban planner of Indonesia. He said about the long dispute between Sidney and Melbourne, but then Australia chose Canberra as the capital of the country. So I need to dig more about it, and voila I found this page. Thank you for sharing such information.

Jan 03, 2022
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Sydney does not have an "inferiority complex."
by: Anonymous

"Canberra came about because of Sydney's inferiority complex with Melbourne" - this is a load of rubbish. Sydney does not have an inferiority complex. Both Sydney and Melbourne are fantastic cities, with Sydney being more well known globally due to the large harbour, Opera House and Harbour Bridge.

Nov 23, 2021
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Thank You!
by: Anonymous

I can see that many others are thanking this page for helping them with their project. Same goes here. This information is extremely helpful. Thank you!

Oct 24, 2021
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A.C.T.
by: Anonymous

Canberra came about because of Sydney's inferiority complex with Melbourne which still exists today. Just before Federation, Melbourne was the richest capital city in the world because of the gold rush. The city was designed and laid out to be the Paris of the southern hemisphere. Sydney has been trying to catch up ever since, hence the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Opera House.

Sep 10, 2015
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awesome
by: abigail taylor

you saved me from failing my project. keep it up

Jun 30, 2015
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thanks
by: Anonymous

thank for the info

Jun 17, 2015
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canberra
by: kacy

thanks. it'll help me with my project

May 27, 2013
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Thank you for your story!
by: Yui Fujisawa

Canberra is a less famous city than Sydney and Melbourne,but there are a lot of good places to go,like National Museum of Australia,Canberra Stadium,Telstra Tower,and so on.

I think Canberra is a good city. I want to go there someday!

Thank you for sharing your story:D

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