Document ID: chunk:federal_register_of_legislation:F2022L00620:body:0:p19
Version: federal_register_of_legislation:F2022L00620
Segment Type: other
Provision Reference: 
Character Range: 51371–54275

agency which oversaw the first concerted wave of development at Canberra.  By the time it was wound up in 1930 development delivered by the FCC south of the Molonglo River valley included, but was not limited to:
      * The 'Initial City', including the present suburbs of Kingston, Griffith, Barton and Forrest
      * The Provisional Parliament House and two Secretariat buildings (East and West blocks), collectively the Parliament House Secretariat group (see Section 2.4)
      * Albert Hall
      * Hotel Canberra

2.4                    The Parliament House Secretariat group (1922-28)
The 1923 decision to relocate Parliament from Melbourne to Canberra was the catalyst for an enormous logistical exercise of bureaucracy and construction.  Within the space of only four years Canberra was transformed from two nascent communities (or villages) either side of the Molonglo River valley into the seat of national government with facilities and amenities to support the population influx.
The provision of office space to accommodate Government departments was considered from early 1923.  An early option, put forward by the FCAC, was for the construction of 18 temporary buildings connected by walk-ways and with a central refectory on a site to the north-west of the provisional Parliament House.[25]  The proposal was not supported by the Public Works Committee (PWC) which in July 1923 recommended to Parliament the construction of two two-storey buildings to the south of the provisional Parliament House.  The PWC's advice was for:
… two units of two-storied brick or concrete buildings on the east and west of the two blocks to the north of the proposed Parliament House … If this is to be done [the Committee considered that] two units of permanent buildings [would] be available approximately 1,000 feet [c. 350 metres] apart, and a similar distance from the permanent Parliament House site on Camp Hill, and in positions allocated for office purposes on the accepted plan.[26]
The FCAC did not support the PWC's recommendation, and instead drafted competition terms for one permanent administration building, on a site to the north-east of the provisional Parliament House.  A design competition for this building was held in 1924 and was won by Sydney architect George Sydney Jones.[27]  His design was modified extensively after his sudden death in 1927.[28]  The Administrative Building, now known as the John Gorton Building, was not completed until after World War II and was the largest office building in Australia at the time.[29]
Figure 8 Aerial view of south Canberra, 1928: the National Triangle (part) is visible to the left
Source: National Library of Australia, nla.obj-232839573
As the new permanent Administration Building could not be completed before the first session of Parliament a 'Secretariat Scheme' was put forward as an alternative.  This would see a nucleus of