Sydney
Under the reign of Queen Victoria federation of the six colonies occurred on 1 January 1901. Sydney, with a population of 481,000, then became the state capital of New South Wales. The Great Depression of the 1930s had a severe effect on Sydney's economy, as it did with most cities throughout the industrial world. For much of the 1930s up to one in three breadwinners was unemployed. Construction of the Sydney Harbour Bridge served to alleviate some of the effects of the economic downturn by employing 1,400 men between 1924 and 1932. The population continued to boom despite the Depression, having reached 1 million in 1925.
Cranbrook, Bellevue Hill
In the lead-up to the federation of Australia, there was intense rivalry between Sydney and Melbourne to be the national capital. Eventually a compromise was reached that the federal capital would be established somewhere in rural New South Wales (which would eventually become Canberra) and that, in the interim, federal parliament would meet in Melbourne and the Governor-General would have his residence in Melbourne. Many in Sydney were not convinced that the federal capital would ever be established and that Melbourne would become the national capital by default to the social and economic disadvantage of Sydney. It was seen as vital to give Sydney a greater role in the new federation by proposing that the Governor-General should have a residence in Sydney and Government House was seen as the most fitting residence to be offered to the Governor-General (noting that the Victorian Government was also offering their Government House in Melbourne). Eventually the compromise was reached that the Governor-General would have official residences in both Sydney and Melbourne with the intention that the Melbourne Government House would be used when parliament was sitting and that the Sydney Government House would be used when the parliament was not sitting.