page_title: History of Melbourne
section_title: "Australia's capital": 1901-1927
hierarchical_section_title: History of Melbourne / "Australia's capital": 1901-1927
caption_attribution_description: The opening of the Parliament of Australia on 9 May 1901, Melbourne, Australia.
context_page_description: The history of Melbourne details the city's growth from a fledgling settlement into a modern commercial and financial centre as Australia's second largest city.
context_section_description: Melbourne's status as Australia's largest city lasted long enough, however, for it to become the seat of government of the new Commonwealth of Australia when the six colonies federated in 1901. Parliament House in Spring St was lent to the Parliament of Australia, while Victoria's Parliament found temporary accommodation in the Royal Exhibition Building.
  The city's growth stalled, and by 1905 Sydney had resumed its place as Australia's largest city.
  Economic growth slowly resumed from 1900, and Melbourne's population reached 670,000 by 1914. But the boom years did not return, and the level of wages remained far lower than it had been in the 1880s. As a result, urban poverty became a feature of city life, and the slum areas of the inner suburbs spread.
  Due to long delays in establishing a permanent capital at Canberra, Melbourne remained Australia's capital until 1927, when the parliament finally moved to the 'country capital'. Melbourne nevertheless remained the centre of the Commonwealth Public Service, the Australian Defence Forces, and as the location of the High Court of Australia for some time afterwards.
caption: The opening of the first Parliament of Australia on 9 May 1901, painted by Tom Roberts
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