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31 unusual facts about Canberra


Aspen Island

The island lies within the Canberra ceremonial precinct, called the Parliamentary Triangle.

Australian Aboriginal Sovereignty

In 1972, the Aboriginal Tent Embassy was established on the steps of Old Parliament House in Canberra, the Australian capital, to demand sovereignty for the Aboriginal peoples.

Away in a Manger

An arrangement by Christopher Erskine combining both settings (harmony), first heard in 1996 in Canberra at the annual pair of joint Carol Services in Manuka, performed by the choirs of St Paul's Church (Anglican) and St Christopher's Cathedral (Roman Catholic).

Betty Kitchener

In 2001, she founded Mental Health First Aid training in Canberra, together with her husband Anthony Jorm, who is a mental health researcher.

Brindabella Ranges

The Brindabellas are visible to the west of Canberra and form an important part of the city's landscape.

Brindabella Valley

Access to Brindabella valley is via dirt roads from Canberra or Tumut.

Canberra Balloon Festival

The Canberra Balloon Spectacular, formerly known as Canberra Balloon Festival, is a hot air balloon festival that takes place at the lawns of the old Parliament House of Canberra, Australia.

Canberra Country Music Festival

In 2010 the Festival relocated to Exhibition Park in Canberra which allowed for onsite camping and attracted almost 3,000 people.

Canberra Marathon

This is followed by a double lap crossing Lake Burley Griffin (over the Kings Avenue and Commonwealth Avenue bridges) and along Parkes Way out towards the Glenloch interchange, which is within close proximity to the Telstra Tower landmark.

Canberra-class landing helicopter dock

Navantia is contracted to construct the hulls from 104 'blocks' or 'modules', which are fabricated individually at Navantia's facilities in Ferrol and Fene, then combined on the slipway at the Ferrol shipyard.

Cecil Hobbs

After his retirement, he served for one year as a consultant to the library of the Australian National University in Canberra.

David Caldicott

Dr. David Caldicott is an Irish Emergency Consultant at the Emergency Department of the Calvary Hospital in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory.

Edward Kendall Crace

Edward Kendall Crace (1844–1892) was an Australian pastoralist who owned extensive land holdings around Canberra.

Fair Work Ombudsman

The Office of the Fair Work Ombudsman has offices located in Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra, Brisbane, Adelaide, Darwin, Perth and many regional locations.

Heather Shakespeare

She was born Heather Gladys Cameron, at Weetangera, a sheep farm near what is now the Canberra suburb of Belconnen.

John Baird, 1st Viscount Stonehaven

In May 1927 he formally opened the first meeting of the Australian Parliament in the newly built Parliament House in Canberra, and the Governor-General was at last given a permanent residence, Government House, Canberra, commonly known by the previous name of the house, Yarralumla.

Karl Matzek

The Serbs built St George Serbian Orthodox Church in 1966, after the Government granted them a block of land at the National Circuit, Forrest, close to Parliament House.

Live and Sweaty

Keating made no comment, but Denton continued to up the ante over the course of the year, protesting outside Parliament House and organising petitions urging the Prime Minister to accept the challenge.

Marcus de Laune Faunce

Marcus de Laune "Marc" Faunce, CVO, AM, OBE, FRCP, FRACP (5 December 1922 – 14 June 2004) was a Canberra consultant physician, head of Royal Canberra Hospital, doctor to five Australian Prime Ministers and six Governors-General of Australia and former Senior Physician Consultant to the RAAF.

National Sport Information Centre

The NSIC is funded by the Australian Sports Commission and is housed in the Corporate Services Building of the Australian Sports Commission at the Australian Institute of Sport campus in Canberra.

Pialligo Avenue

It forms part of the corridor linking the city to Canberra International Airport at Pialligo, and Fairbairn.

Red-bellied black snake

It can be found in the urban forest, woodland, plains and bushland areas of the Blue Mountains, Canberra, Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, Cairns and Adelaide.

Reid, Australian Capital Territory

Separating the suburbs of Reid and Campbell is ANZAC Parade, a ceremonial boulevarde running along Canberra's primary design axis (the ceremonial axis) from Lake Burley Griffin to the Australian War Memorial.

Robert B. Pinter

Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada and visiting fellow of the center for visual sciences, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia.

Ross Cameron

Cameron ran regular prayer meetings for politicians in his office in Parliament House.

Samuel Shumack

For a year beginning Easter 1895, and again in 1904, Shumack was elected a churchwarden at St John's, Canberra.

Stenberg brothers

Some examples of their sculpture were spidery and spindly structures, such as the reconstruction (1973–74) of KPS 11: Construction of a spatial apparatus no. 11 (1919–20) in steel, glass, paint and plaster on wood in the National Gallery of Australia Canberra.

Stephen Marchant

In 1963 he migrated to Australia where he joined the Bureau of Mineral Resources in Canberra.

William Holford, Baron Holford

One unfortunate legacy is the NCDC's acceptance of his recommendation that the proposed new Parliament House be built on the banks of Lake Burley Griffin, rather than on Capital Hill.

William Ride

In 1975 he was appointed Director of the Australian Biological Resources Study, located within the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), in Canberra.

Yarralumla brickworks

Narrow gauge goods railway lines for the transportation of bricks linked Yarralumla to some of the major building sites in central Canberra such as Old Parliament House, and the Kingston Power House.


2012 Australian Baseball League postseason

The Perth Heat were the first team to clinch a postseason position when they defeated the Brisbane Bandits in Perth on 8 January, and then clinched a first place finish in their next game when they defeated the Canberra Cavalry in Canberra on 12 January.

Andrew Steele

Andrew spends a few months each spring training at the Australian Institute of Sport, in Canberra.

Architecture of Australia

Walter Burley Griffin was an American architect and landscape architect who played a key role in designing Canberra, Australia's capital city.

Australian Plague Locust Commission

With 19 staff members at its headquarters in Canberra and field offices in Narromine, Broken Hill and Longreach, the Commission is funded half by the Commonwealth government and half by the Australian states of New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and Queensland.

Australian Protective Service

Protection of sensitive defence establishments, including Defence Headquarters at Russell Offices in Canberra; the joint Australian/US communications facility at Pine Gap in the Northern Territory; the former atomic testing site at Maralinga in South Australia; the Australian Defence Signals facility at Geraldton and the naval communications station at Exmouth, both in Western Australia

Belanglo State Forest

The Belanglo State Forest is located south of Berrima in the Southern Highlands, three kilometres west of the Hume Highway between Sydney and Canberra.

Berridale, New South Wales

On 28 March 1942, a USAAF P-40E fighter made an emergency landing at "Wheat Hill" station, after becoming lost in fog during a flight from Canberra.

Bettina Gorton

Gorton had attended a dinner at the American Embassy in Canberra, accompanied not by his wife, but by Geraldine Willesee, the daughter of a Labor senator, Don Willesee.

Bodybuilding in Australia

In 1974, Arnold Schwarzenegger visited Australia as guest poser at an amateur competition that Austrian born Canberra based Harry Haureliuk participated in, his first bodybuilding competition.

Brindabella Ranges

Brindabella Valley (in the middle of the range, is 40 km south-west of Canberra and 350 km from Sydney.

Brindabella Road

Brindabella Road, also known as Tumut Road, links Canberra and Tumut, New South Wales via the Brindabella Ranges.

Campbell, Australian Capital Territory

Many buildings built by Robert Campbell and his family are still standing around Canberra, including Blundell's Cottage, St John the Baptist Church, Reid, Duntroon House (now part of RMC Duntroon) and Yarralumla House (now Government House).

Canberra Bushrangers

The Bushrangers were based in Melbourne at the Melbourne Ballpark as well as playing a few games in Ballarat until they relocated to Canberra for the 1993-94 championship, the season after the Monarchs had been reformed.

Canberra Cavalry

The Canberra Cavalry team mascot is a Yosemite Sam-type character named 'Sarge', with an Australian slouch hat, Cavalry-orange shirt, Auscam pants and brown Army boots.

Craigmore Christian School

All students in years 3-12 attend camps in various Australian locations such as Wellington, Wirraway Homestead, Port Hughes, Flinders Ranges, Kangaroo Island, Canberra, Victor Harbor and Aldinga Beach.

Fritz Arndt

Arndt's son Heinz Wolfgang Arndt (1915–2002) was a noted Australian economist based in Canberra while his granddaughter Bettina (1949- ) is a noted Australian journalist, clinical psychologist and sex therapist.

Gibson Motorsport

In 2000 the cars were sponsored by K-Mart with Richards winning in Canberra and the pair finishing 3rd at Bathurst.

GTS/BKN

Based in Port Pirie with studio and playout facilities based in Canberra, the station's name originates from the original Port Pirie & Broken Hill stations callsigns, GTS-4 Port Pirie and BKN-7 Broken Hill.

H. B. Higgins

Further, Higgins is commemorated by the federal electorate of Higgins in Melbourne, and by the Canberra suburb of Higgins, Australian Capital Territory.

HMAS Heros

In late November and early December 1941 she took part in the search for survivors from HMAS Sydney and found one of the ship's carley floats: one of only two items found from the cruiser, and currently on display at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra.

James Gay Sawkins

The Honolulu Museum of Art, Mission House Museum (Honolulu, Hawaii) and the National Library of Australia (Canberra) are among the public collections holding works by James Gay Sawkins.

Jonno Zilber

He has been described as "Tom Waits meets Brownie McGhee" and his stage presence has led him to be a two time winner of the Canberra Roots Music 'Young Performer of the Year' award and one of the five finalists in the 2006 National Youth Week 'RockIt' music competition.

Karabar High School

"Over the years the band has performed in Queanbeyan and Canberra. The first performances were at Anzac Day and the Highland Gathering in 1991. Since then they have performed in Queanbeyan and Canberra Festivals, numerous sporting events such as Canberra Raiders, Queanbeyan Tigers and North Melbourne matches, local netball march pasts, Masters Games, polo cross and many school and community events such as Floriade, the Uniting Church Fete, the Burra Fair and the Canberra Show."

Kevin Buzzacott

In 2002 Buzzacott reclaimed his tribes' Emu and Kangaroo totems used in the Australian Coat of Arms from outside Parliament House, Canberra.

Lennox Gardens

It has a number of memorials and monuments such as Kasuga stones presented to Canberra by Japan in April 1997, a monument to Australians in the Spanish civil war, and a stone monument commemorating the centenary of Federation and the Jewish National fund.

Linda Kitson

She drew continuously, recording training and preparation; the transfer at South Georgia to SS Canberra, the landings at San Carlos Bay, the deployment of the forces to Goose Green, Fitzroy, Darwin, and Port Stanley.

Maggie Ferguson

A second collaboration with Canberra Youth Music occurred in 2010 for Resonate Festival, including William Barton, Ignacio Varchausky and Santiago Polimeni.

Mal Washer

The group was set up in 1993 after a meeting in Canberra convened by Michael Moore (ACT Assembly) and Ann Symonds (MLC, NSW).

Margaret McJannett

- Endangered plants and animals in the ACT, Ian Fraser and Margaret McJannett, Conservation Council of the South-East Region and Canberra, Canberra, 1996.

Mount Wanniassa

Mount Wanniassa is a mountain peak located in Canberra, Australia, nestled between the suburbs of Wanniassa, Farrer, Isaacs and Fadden.

Ngarigo people

The Wiradjuri considered the Ngarigo and Walgalu as one people using the name Guramal which has the basic meaning of 'gurai or 'hostile people.' Canberra, the capital city of the federal capital territory is very close to the boundary line between this and the Ngunawal tribe.

Nicholls

Nicholls, Australian Capital Territory, a suburb in the Canberra, Australia district of Gungahlin

No. 213 Squadron RAF

It was the only squadron to fly the Canberra B(I).6 variant, still with the "Crabro" insignia adorning the tail fin, first from RAF Ahlhorn and later form RAF Bruggen, while a detachment was for a short time in 1956 stationed at Valkenburg Naval Air Base in the Netherlands.

Pierces Creek

Pierces Creek, Australian Capital Territory, a former forestry settlement on the outskirts of Canberra

Radburn, New Jersey

In Australia, the Radburn model was used in the planning of some Canberra, Australia suburbs developed in the 1960s, in particular Charnwood, Curtin and Garran.

Seiichi Sugano

Three of Sugano's students were promoted to 7th dan on his recommendation: Tony Smibert (Tasmania), Robert Botterill (Melbourne) and Hanan Janiv (Canberra).

Symonston, Australian Capital Territory

Located in Symonston are the Alexander Maconochie Centre (gaol), Periodic Detention Centre and Symonston Temporary Remand Centre and three caravan parks: Canberra South Motor Park, Sundown Village and Narrabundah Longstay Caravan Park.

Todd Payten

A student at Erindale College, Payten had played just 2 reserve grade games when made his first grade debut with Canberra in the 1996 ARL season.

Wayne Sievers

Born in Sydney to parents of Irish and German descent, he was the youngest member a large farming family in the Canberra district of Fyshwick.

Wilfrid Holland

Between 1960-1970 he lectured in music for the Canberra Adult Education Authority, and he also worked as an examiner for both the Australian Music Examinations Board and the Australian Guild of Music and Speech.

William Dobell

Among private and other public holdings, examples of Dobell's work are exhibited in the Newcastle Region Art Gallery, the Art Gallery of New South Wales, the Queensland Art Gallery in Brisbane and the National Gallery of Australia in Canberra.

Zhang Hongjie

The Federal Government of Australia wants the Australian Capital Territory (ACT includes Canberra) to cooperate with the Chinese investigation into the murder, as written by a letter from John Howard to Chief Minister Stanhope in May 2005, and another request from Justice Minister Chris Ellison in June.