Document ID: chunk:federal_register_of_legislation:F2024L00408:front:0:p404
Version: federal_register_of_legislation:F2024L00408
Segment Type: other
Provision Reference: 
Character Range: 1249564–1258576

The central national area has a special association with its designer, Walter Burley Griffin. Griffin is an important figure in Australia's cultural history for his overall design of Canberra as the Nation's Capital. The special association between the central national area and Griffin results from the area being the centrepiece of the planning geometry for Canberra and perhaps the only part of his Canberra plan to survive relatively intact. The area has a strong association with Marion Mahoney Griffin who prepared the perspective drawings of the Vista. The Vista area has a strong association with numerous architects and planners, in particular John Smith Murdoch, Chief architect of the Commonwealth Government, and Thomas Charles Weston, Superintendent of Parks, Gardens and Afforestation in Canberra, and notable planners of the National Capital Development Commission such as Sir John Overall, Peter Harrison and Paul Reid (Criterion H.1).

Official Values:
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      Criteria                     Values
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      A Processes                  The central national area of Canberra is strongly associated with the history of politics and government in Australia and the development of Canberra as the Australian National Capital. It is significant as the home of the Commonwealth Parliament, the focus of the Federal Government since 1927, initially in the Old Parliament House and from 1988 in the new Parliament House. The various government buildings in the area reinforce the association with Australian government and political history, including East and West Blocks, the Administrative Building, the Treasury Building and the High Court. The latter, being set apart from Parliament House but facing it is symbolic of the judicial role of the High Court as a physical representation of the separation of powers.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   The central national area has strong links with the planning and development of Canberra as the Australian Capital. The relocation of Parliament to Canberra and the central national area in 1927 was the focus of an intense period of development of the new city and gave purpose to Canberra as the Nation's Capital. Over time this association has been reinforced by the construction of major government buildings in the area, such as the Treasury Building, the Administration Building (now John Gorton Building), the Portal Buildings and latterly the new Parliament House, as well as the construction of major cultural institutions. The area as intended has become the focus of Commonwealth parliamentary and governmental activity as well as, to some extent, national cultural life.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   The area has been associated since 1941 with the development of Australian cultural life and national identity through the presence of such institutions as the Australian War Memorial, the National Gallery of Australia, the National Science and Technology Centre and the National Library of Australia. The national cultural institutions reinforce the national character of the area and