page_title: Australian regional rivalries
section_title: Sydney–Melbourne rivalry
hierarchical_section_title: Australian regional rivalries / Sydney–Melbourne rivalry
caption_attribution_description: English: A panoramic view of the Sydney Harbour Bridge at night, as seen from the North Shore suburb of Kirribilli. Français&#160;: Le Harbour Bridge vu depuis Kirribilli, une commune de la banlieue de Sidney sur la rive nord. 中文: 从克里比利北岸拍摄的悉尼港大桥。
context_page_description: Australian regional rivalries refers to the rivalries between Australian cities or regions.
context_section_description: There has been a long-standing rivalry between the cities of Sydney and Melbourne, the two largest cities in Australia. The rivalry between the cities was the reason that neither Sydney (the oldest and now largest city) nor Melbourne (the largest city at the time) was chosen as the capital of Australia when the nation was federated in 1901. Because of this disagreement, section 125 of the Australian Constitution specified that Melbourne would initially serve as the seat of government on a temporary basis, while the permanent capital of the new Commonwealth must be located within New South Wales but at least 100 miles from Sydney. This city became Canberra. Melbourne operated as the de facto capital city from 1901 until 1927, when Canberra's historic Parliament House was opened, remaining in use until it was replaced with the current Parliament House in 1988. Various Commonwealth governmental bodies continued to operate principally from Sydney or Melbourne after 1927. Most civil service departments were moved to Canberra in the 1950s, and the High Court of Australia was finally moved from Melbourne to Canberra in 1980.
  Rivalry and differences between the colonies was a feature of life in Pre-Federation Australia. There was a real rivalry between the most powerful colonies, New South Wales and Victoria, on trade matters. Each believed that the new nation should follow their trade model. New South Wales had a policy of free trade where all goods coming that came into the state were not subject to tariffs. Victoria had an opposite policy of protectionism with tariffs imposed on goods coming into the state from other colonies. This rivalry delayed the process of federation; eventually the two colonies agreed that trade between the colonies would be tariff free, but tariffs would be placed on goods from overseas (excluding the British Empire).
  Rugby league (NRL) in Australia is traditionally based in Sydney, while Australian rules football (AFL) was invented and traditionally based in Melbourne. While both sports have extended their popularity beyond their own state, the historic and spiritual centre of both sports has remained in Sydney and Melbourne respectively, and neither city has been quick to embrace the other city's dominant football code. However, there is a strong rivalry between each city's biggest A-League teams, Sydney FC and Melbourne Victory FC, with matches between the two sides known as "The Big Blue". Finally, there is also a growing rivalry between the ANZ Championship netball teams the New South Wales Swifts (previously Sydney Swifts) and Melbourne Vixens (previously Melbourne Phoenix). Also, there is a rivalry between the Sydney Kings and Melbourne United in Basketball (NBL).
  Sydney, with a population of 5.23 million, is the largest city in Australia, and has been named the world's best city eight consecutive times by Condé Nast Traveler. Melbourne is the second largest city in Australia with a population of 4.94 million, and has been named seven consecutive times world's most liveable city by The Economist. It has been called the fashion, arts, and sporting capital of Australia. On the other hand, Sydney may be called the historical finance and media capital. While Sydney has been recently overtaken by Melbourne in terms of domestic tourism income, Sydney still remains the leading tourism destination for international tourists.
  Founded 47 years after Sydney, Melbourne was established by free settlers, and the colony of Victoria never possessed any convict settlements; however, Sydney's original founding was based upon convicts and was the first settlement of the English in Australia. Today Sydney still maintains the most historic settlement site in Australia, called 'The Rocks'. Melbourne transformed rapidly thanks to the Victorian gold rush in the 1850s, and became Australia's largest and most important city by 1865. This golden age, referred to as 'Marvellous Melbourne', was crushed by the banking collapse and depression of the 1890s, and Sydney overtook Melbourne as the largest Australian city in the e
caption: Sydney, New South Wales
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