What most Australians probably don't know is that Canberra was a design disaster from the start.
First the government had to choose a site:
"In 1902 and 1903, members of the federal parliament toured a number of New South Wales sites – Albury, Armidale, Bathurst, Bombala, Dalgety, Delegate, Goulburn, Lake George, Lyndhurst, Orange, Queanbeyan, Tumut, Wagga Wagga and Yass.
Their first choice, Dalgety, was confirmed by parliament in 1904. But many believed the site was too far from Sydney. Over the next few years the choice was debated and rival sites put forward. In 1908, the Yass–Canberra area officially replaced Dalgety as the federal capital site."
Then, in 1911-12 a design competition for the new city was held, with 137 entries from around the world.
The winners - Walter and Marion Griffin from the USA - were chosen, but then the bureaucrats decided to pick and choose the bits they wanted from various designs. Then they pushed Griffin out of the project! So as a result Canberra is a mess:
[I] A report on the announcement in the Melbourne Argus (24 May 1912) confirmed the worst fears of the architects and town planners. The journalist quotes O’Malley as follows:
as Minister for Home Affairs, would be justified in using all the designs if necessary in order to produce the working design on which the capital would be built. A park might be taken from one, a boulevard from another, and a public square from a third.
The Sydney Morning Herald (27 May 1912) condemned this approach. A plan derived in this fashion would be ‘in truth a hotchpotch plan, a source of derision for all the ages’.
Capitol Hill, where the Parliament House is now today, in the original design was meant to have a "ceremonial building" which "would commemorate the achievements of the Australian people."
So instead of course the arrogant politicians built a $1 billion building for themselves.
You can read about the origins of Canberra on this excellent website called "The Ideal City". For example, here are the top 46 entries that 'could have been' Canberra!:
[COLOR=blue]http://www.idealcity.org.au/competition-3-shortlist-46.html[/COLOR]