Australia: Thoughtful in Canberra

To avoid any confusion, Canberra is the capital city of Australia, but it is very different from most major nations’ capitals. While in some ways it was modeled after Washington D.C., due to its size, geographic location and design, it is very unique.

The first thing that you realize is that this planned city is the city of compromises. When Australians were picking their capital there were two competing camps. Folks from New South Wales (which had largest population at the time) wanted Sydney to be the capital. Folks in Victoria wanted Melbourne as the capital. So a compromise was reached. The new capital territory would be in between the two cities, carved out of the NSW land but at least 250 kilometers away from Sydney. The land was found in just a few years, but it took over 20 years of building and preparation before capital was moved from Melbourne (temporary capital) to Canberra.

The natural river through Canberra was expanded into a man-made lake and a main street was added which is now called Anzac Parade. Anzac is a term used by the British military for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps which became famous in the WWI battle of Gallipoli despite suffering defeat to Turkish forces. Most historian believe that the Gallipoli experience led to Australia gaining first bit of national identity and also for the first time having a possible grievance against the British for essentially using Anzac troops as cannon fodder.

One of the unique things that I got to do was not only take part in the public tour of the new parliament building, but also got to be shown a behind-the-scenes view by one of the guys who hosted me through CouchSurfing who works for the health minister. The current parliament building opened in 1988. The initial building held its first session in 1927 and was always designed to be a temporary building.

Paul, my guide to the parliament helped me understand the government structure which is very different from US government in several ways. The two houses are similar, but unlike in US the numbers are not prescribed, but the ratio (house should have ~ 2x the number of members compared to senate) is observed. There is a special role of Governor General, a post appointed by the Queen of England, is the person who actually has the final sign-off on any bill before it becomes law. Usually that task is largely ceremonial, but in the 1970s the person in that role did sack the entire cabinet and forced a national re-election.

The major difference is in how the executive branch is constructed. Prime minister and the entire candidate are actually elected members of the lower house. They are elected by the party or coalition who controls the house. Actually there are 5 parties currently represented in the house. The numbers between the two major parties are very close. The Labour party was able to form the coalition with the Green Party and a couple members of the National party and have a narrow majority. The ministers are appointed from the MPs and represent the ruling coalition. What is also unique is that the opposition group or party also selects people for each ministry called the “shadow ministers” whose job is to monitor the actions of the ministers and prepare arguments for the floor to oppose their measures. Now, for the absolutely confusing part. A person who is a minister of education could be shifted to a minister of transportation role. The knowledge of the area is not a prerequisite. Australians believe that those who work for the ministers need to know the specifics and the minister needs to lead.

On a less serious note, during my tour of the Parliament an explanation was provided for why Emu and Kangaroo were chosen as the State symbols. Supposedly they were chosen because they are native species, about the size of humans, and have no ability to move backwards. The Australian early leaders wanted their nation to be progress onward and not get stuck in the past.

While the government structure is designed largely using the British model, the city planners wanted to stay away from designing a town that mirrored the “parent country” and actually used some of the plans of Washington D.C. However, with the river running through the middle of the city it has not been made a city of easy transportation/navigation. They tried to build in “green” spaces and as a result a city that is very spread out. The public transportation is provided by buses, but to get to any part of the city you pretty much have to go through the center district.

At the same time the parliament building was being constructed a decision was made to build an Australian war memorial which was designed to commemorate those who have died in various wars, but especially at that time was meant to focus on honoring those lost in WWI. The land for the memorial was selected on the other end of Anzac Parade from the Parliament building. Architect wanted those who had offices in the Parliament to see the memorial from their windows and be reminded of the weight of their decisions. Of course the irony is that the new Parliament building, which is built on the hill just above the old building, has the office windows facing the opposite direction. Another irony of the memorial was that it opened its doors in November of 1941 as the next great war was about shake Australia.

As far as comprehensive national war memorials/museums, I have never seen one as well put together as the Australian War Memorial. As far as comprehensive national war memorials/museums, I have never seen one as well put together as the Australian War Memorial. The upper outdoor area house a remembrance wall with the name of EVERY Australian soldier who is known to have died in military action. In one of my photos you see a mass of poppies on the wall. Traditionally people place a poppy flower by the name of relative and sometime students who visit the memorial pick a name to place a poppy by. Inside the museum there exhibits and audio-visual presentations on various historical periods. Peter Jackson, director of Lord of the Rings and an renowned military aircraft buff, helped create a movie/audio presentation recreating and Australian bomber crew’s experience in a raid on Berlin. There is also a great re-enactment of the Japanese mini-sub attack on Sydney harbor.

Outside of the main building of the memorial there are a few satellite monuments. One that initially confused me is a monument honoring Turkish soldiers who fought in Gallipoli and their general, Kemal Ataturk who later became the first president of Turkey. Apparently in addition to being a brilliant military mind and a strong leader, Ataturk was a master of Public Relations. In 1930, 14 years after the bloody battle Ataturk wrote a letter to the Australian mothers promising to take care of the graves of their lost sons. He summed it up by saying ” After having lost their lives on this land they have become our sons as well” (read full letter here). Since then Australia and Turkey have had a very strong relationship.

After spending 6 hours in the war memorial I have gained much appreciation and some knew knowledge. It was very much impressed upon me that Australians are proud of their military history and contributions and while the losses of Australia lives are smaller than those of many other nations, with the population of only 20 million most families were impacted. I do hope those on the other side of Anzac Parade remember the cost of their decisions, as the architects and city planers envisioned.

I was also reminded after mi 3 days in Canberra and multiple conversations with Australians, there is no perfect system of government implemented on earth. Here is a way one Australian put it to me (paraphrased) – “We have a a prime minister no one in the country voted for, a new tax no one was given the option to vote for. Is that really democracy?”