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Lake Burley Griffin is an artificial lake in the centre of Canberra, Australia's federal capital city. It was created in 1963 after the Molonglo River, which ran between the city centre and Parliamentry Triangle, was dammed. It is named after Walter Burley Griffin, the architect who won the design competition for the city of Canberra.
The lake is located in the approximate geographic centre of the city, according to Griffin's original designs. Numerous important institutions, such as the National Gallery of Australia, National Museum of Australia, National Library of Australia and the High Court of Australia lie on its shores, and Parliament House is a short distance away. Its surrounds are also quite popular with recreational users, particularly in the warmer months. Though swimming in the lake is uncommon, it is used for a wide variety of other activities, such as rowing, fishing, and sailing.
The lake's flow is regulated by the 33 metre tall Scrivener Dam, which is designed to handle a once in 5000 year flood event. If required in times of drought, water levels can be maintained through the release of water from Googong Dam, located on an upstream tributary of the Molonglo River.
Yarralumla is a large inner south suburb of Canberra, the capital city of Australia. Located approximately 3.5 (2 miles) south-west of the city centre, Yarralumla extends along the south-west bank of Lake Burley Griffin. (The lake was created after the Second World War though the blocking, with a dam, of the Molonglo River.)
Europeans first settled the area in 1828, and it was named Yarralumla in 1834 from the indigenous Ngunnawal people's name for the area. Frederick Campbell, grandson of Robert Campbell who built nearby "Duntroon", completed the construction of a large, gabled, brick house on his property in 1891 that now serves as the site of Government House, the official residence of the Governor-General of Australia. Campbell's house replaced an elegant, Georgian-style, stone homestead. Among the old Yarralumla homestead's most notable occupants were Sir Terence Aubrey Murray, who owned Yarralumla sheep station from 1837 to 1859, and Augustus Onslow Manby Gibbes, who owned the property from 1859 to 1881.
The modern suburb of Yarralumla was officially gazetted in 1928 and today is home to approximately 3000 people and many diplomatic missions. In recent years, it has become one of Canberra's most desirable and expensive suburbs because of its wide leafy streets, attractive lakeside setting and central location.
Namadgi National Park is located in the southwestern part of the Australian Capital Territory, bordering Kosciuszko National Park in New South Wales. It lies approximately 40 km southwest of Canberra, and makes up approximately 46% of the ACT's land area.
The park protects part of the northern end of the Australian Alps with its spectacular granite mountains. Its habitat ranges from grassy plains over snow gum forests to alpine meadows. The fauna is also varied: Eastern Grey Kangaroos, wallabies, wombats, magpies, rosellas and ravens are commonly seen. The water catchment area of the park supplies approximately 85 per cent of Canberra's water.
In this sub-alpine region the weather ranges from cold winter nights to warm summer days, and it can change very quickly. Snow normally falls on the Bimberi and Brindabella Ranges during winter, and is not uncommon throughout most of the park. The highest mountain is Bimberi Peak (1911 m) which is the highest peak in the Australian Capital Territory. There are numerous Aboriginal sites in the park including paintings at Yankee Hat dating from at least 800 years ago. The area is one of cultural significance to indigenous Australian people of the Australian Alps region, and in particular the Ngunnawal, and the park's management plan is exercised with their consultation.
The Australian Defence Force Academy (ADFA) is a tri-service military Academy that provides military and tertiary academic education for junior officers of the Australian Defence Force in the Royal Australian Navy (RAN), Australian Regular Army (ARA) and Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). It also provides post-graduate study for civilians, more senior ADF personnel and public servants. It is associated with the University of New South Wales, which is the awarding body for ADFA qualifications.
The stated purpose of ADFA is "to serve Australia by providing the Australian Defence Force (ADF) with tertiary graduates who have the foundational attributes, intellect and skills required of an officer."
ADFA is located in the Australian capital city of Canberra, in the suburb of Campbell near the Australian Government district of Russell. It is situated next to Mount Pleasant which gives some parts of ADFA a view over the rest of Canberra. The ADFA is also adjacent to the Australian Army military academy, the Royal Military College, Duntroon. The junior officers that attend the Australian Defence Force Academy hold the rank of Officer Cadet in the Australian Army (OCDT) and the Royal Australian Air Force (OFFCDT), and the rank Midshipman (MIDN) in the Royal Australian Navy. The Academy is currently commanded by Acting Commandant Captain Pete Murray, RAN.
Old 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. Old Parliament House currently houses exhibitions of the National Portrait Gallery and the National Archives and serves as a venue for temporary exhibitions, lectures and concerts.
Designed by John Smith Murdoch and a team of assistants, the building was intended to be neither temporary nor permanent – only to be ‘provisional’ building that would serve as a parliament for fifty years. The design brief extended from the building to include its gardens, décor 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 ordiliness 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.
The Australian War Memorial is Australia's national memorial to the members of all its armed forces and supporting organisations who have died or participated in the wars of the Commonwealth of Australia. The memorial includes an extensive national military museum.
The Memorial is located in Australia's capital, Canberra. It is the northern terminus of the city's ceremonial land axis, which stretches from Parliament House on Capital Hill along a line passing through the summit of the cone-shaped Mt Ainslie to the northeast. No continuous roadway links the two points, but there is a clear line of sight from the front balcony of Parliament House to the War Memorial, and from the front steps of the War Memorial back to Parliament House.
The Australian War Memorial consists of four major elements: Anzac Parade, a commemorative area, a memorial building, and a sculpture garden. The commemorative area and building are currently open daily until 5pm, except on Christmas Day. The Parade and sculpture garden are open continuously.
The Australian National University, commonly abbreviated to ANU, is a public research university situated in Canberra, Australia. It was established by an act of the Parliament of Australia on 1 August 1946, with the legislated purpose of conducting and promoting research in Australia.
The university is a member of several university alliances and cooperative networks, including the Group of Eight (Australian Universities), the Association of Pacific Rim Universities, the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy and the International Alliance of Research Universities. The University consistently ranks highly on several international surveys, including the Newsweek Top 100 and the annual Times Higher Education Supplement rankings. Its notable staff and alumni include five Nobel laureates. The University is governed by a 15-member council.
Canberra is the capital city of the Commonwealth of Australia. With a population of over 320,000, it is Australia's largest inland city. The city is located at the northern end of the Australian Capital Territory, 280 km (174 mi) south-west of Sydney, and 650 km (404 mi) north-east of Melbourne.
The site of Canberra was selected for the location of the nation's capital in 1908 as a compromise between age-old rivals Sydney and Melbourne, Australia's two largest cities. It is unusual among Australian cities, being an entirely purpose-built, planned city. Following an international contest for the city's design, a design by the Chicago architects Walter Burley Griffin and Marion Mahony Griffin was selected and construction commenced in 1913. The city's design was heavily influenced by the garden city movement and incorporates significant areas of natural vegetation that have earned Canberra the title "bush capital". Although the growth and development of Canberra were hindered by the World Wars and the Great Depression, it emerged as a thriving city after World War II.
As the seat of the government of Australia, Canberra is the site of Parliament House, the High Court of Australia and numerous government departments and agencies. It is also the location of many social and cultural institutions of national significance, such as the National Gallery of Australia and the National Museum of Australia. The federal government contributes the largest percentage of Gross State Product and is the largest single employer in Canberra.
The History of the Australian Capital Territory as a Territory of Australia began after the Federation of Australia in 1901, when it was created in law as the site for Australia's capital city Canberra. The region has a long prior history of human habitation before the Territory's creation, however, with evidence of Indigenous Australian settlement dating back at least 21,000 years. The region formed the traditional lands associated with the Ngunnawal people and several other linguistic groups, an association known through both early European settler accounts and the oral histories of the peoples themselves. Following the colonisation of Australia by the British, the 19th century saw the initial European exploration and settlement of the area and their encounters with the local indigenous peoples, beginning with the first explorations in 1820 and shortly followed by the first European settlements in 1824. At the outset the region was dominated by large properties used for sheep and cattle grazing, which had been granted to free settlers that had arrived in Australia from the United Kingdom and other European countries. These large properties would later be broken up and subdivided in accordance with changes to land tenure arrangements, smaller farms and urban developments becoming more common.
In the early 20th century, the development of the region took an unusual turn when it was chosen as the site for the creation of Australia's capital city in 1908. The Territory was formally ceded to the Government of Australia by the Government of New South Wales in 1909 and additional land at Jervis Bay was also surrendered to the Commonwealth for the establishment of a sea port for the capital. It officially came under government control as the Federal Capital Territory on January 1, 1911. The planning and construction of Canberra followed, with the Parliament of Australia finally moving there in 1927. The Territory officially became the Australian Capital Territory in 1938. The city of Canberra developed and expanded to accommodate the Australian federal government, while the surrounding area has been developed to support the city, including the construction of dams, the establishment of plantation forests and the creation of protected areas. The political development of the Territory began in 1949, when it was given its first representative in the Parliament of Australia, and was completed when it became an autonomous territory when self-government was granted in 1988.
Government House, Canberra, commonly known as Yarralumla, is the official residence of the Governor-General of Australia, located in the suburb of Yarralumla, Canberra. Australia's head of state, Queen Elizabeth II, stays at Government House when she visits Canberra, as do visiting heads of state.
The house is set in 54 hectares of parkland. The suburb of Yarralumla, which has grown up around Government House, is one of Canberra's most expensive and exclusive areas, and is the site of many foreign embassies.
At Government House, the Governor-General presides over meetings of the Federal Executive Council, holds ceremonies to present honours such as the Order of Australia, receives visiting heads of state and other dignitaries and the credentials of ambassadors to Australia, and entertains people from all walks of life. It was in his study at Yarralumla that Sir John Kerr dismissed Gough Whitlam as Prime Minister of Australia on November 11, 1975 - the culmination of the 1975 Australian constitutional crisis.
The Parliamentary Triangle is the ceremonial precinct of Canberra, containing some of Australia's most significant buildings. The triangle is formed by Commonwealth, Kings and Constitution avenues. Buildings within the triangle have been located and designed intentionally for visual effect, and those of national significance are popular tourist attractions.
The Parliamentary Triangle was a significant feature of Walter Burley Griffin’s plan for Canberra. The apices of the triangle are Parliament House, the seat of government; the Defence Head Quarters at Russell; and City Hill, representing the civilian part of Canberra. Griffin planned the city around two axes which converge in the center of the Parliamentary Triangle. The land axis connects Mount Ainslie, Capital Hill and Red Hill and extends off towards Mount Bimberi the Australian Capital Territory's highest mountain. The water axis runs at right angles to the land axis along the length of Lake Burley Griffin.
Consistent with Walter Burley Griffin's Garden City design, the Parliamentary Triangle is characterised by streets lined with large deciduous trees, and buildings set in expanses of grassed parkland. Consequently it has a very open feel and buildings are located several minutes walk away from one another. It was Griffin's original intention for more grand government buildings to be located within the precinct, however these have not eventuated as yet.
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