Document ID: chunk:federal_register_of_legislation:F2022L00620:body:0:p14
Version: federal_register_of_legislation:F2022L00620
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gain access to the building.
As a consequence, it has not been possible to establish the extent to which the building interior has the ability to demonstrate its World War II-era use for coding/decoding messages from key allies.
Commentary regarding the building's condition in this report is based on external visual inspection.

2.0                    UNDERSTANDING THE PLACE
The following presents a chronological history of key events in the conception, construction, use and development of West Block, with a particular emphasis on the built fabric and landscape setting.  Consistent with the Burra Charter, the aim is to gather information about the place sufficient to understand significance.[9]
Architectural drawings relating to the various phases of development are at Appendix B.

2.1                    Pre-European settlement
Canberra is located on underlying sedimentary and volcanic rock formed over the past 450 million years.  Considerable evidence exists in the region of Indigenous occupation, primarily dating to the mid-late Holocence.  The Australian Capital Territory is located within the traditional boundary of the Kamberri, a Walgalu-speaking group who occupied the Murrumbidgee west and south west of Lake George at the time of European arrival in the region in the 1820s.[10]
At the time of European settlement, the site of the national capital was native grassland with eucalypt forest on the surrounding hills.  With the introduction of pastoral activities in the early nineteenth century, the natural vegetation was largely destroyed by overstocking and clearing of the forests which caused extensive soil erosion.  By the time the site was selected for the new capital (discussed below) the land had become degraded and some of the surrounding hills had been largely denuded of tree cover.

2.2                    The Griffin plan for Canberra
Even before Australia became a federated nation, the need for a national capital for the colonies was apparent.  A direction to hold land for a capital was included within the Australian Constitution (1901), and in 1908 the area of Yass-Canberra was named as the site of the federal capital.  After an extensive survey, the current location of Canberra was selected.
In April 1911 the Minister for Home Affairs, on behalf of the Commonwealth Government, initiated an international competition for designs for the layout of the federal capital.  The 137 entries were judged by a three-man panel comprising James Alexander Smith (engineer), John Kirkpatrick (architect) and John Montgomery Coane (licensed surveyor).  On 14 May 1912, two of the panel members, (Smith and Kirkpatrick) selected Walter Burley Griffin's entry as the winner, and on 23 May 1912 the Minister for Home Affairs concurred with the majority decision and Griffin was awarded first prize.  Entries by Eliel Saarinen (Helsinki) and Alfred Agache (Paris) placed second and third respectively.
It was not the Government's intention to