History of Sydney
With the inauguration of the Commonwealth of Australia on 1 January 1901, Sydney ceased to be a colonial capital and became the capital of the Australian state of New South Wales. With industrialisation, Sydney expanded rapidly, and by the early 20th century it had a population well in excess of one million.
Bob Heffron
This institution, now named the "New South Wales University of Technology", gained its statutory status through the enactment of 'New South Wales University of Technology Act 1949', which was carried by Heffron's firm support of its cause: "the Government ... is fully alive to the need in a democratic country to extend facilities to students who, for financial reasons, cannot attend present full-time university courses". This was the first time that a second university was to be established in any Australian state. With the establishment of this institution receiving opposition by some areas in the media and conservatives, Heffron came to its defence in an article published in the Sydney Morning Herald on 4 May 1949, noting: "I feel that this new institution should be given time to prove its worth through the quality and work of its graduates". In September 1958 Heffron moved the bill to change the name of the New South Wales University of Technology to the University of New South Wales following the recommendations of the Murray Report that had proposed the expansion of its focus from technology into such fields as medicine and arts. When several opposition MPs objected during debate on the basis of it posing a threat to the status of the University of Sydney, with one joking that it could be called "Heffron University", Heffron came to the defence of the university and dismissed the objections as "absurd". In 1950 Heffron's seat of Botany was abolished and largely replaced by Maroubra, which he was subsequently elected to and would hold until his retirement in 1968.
Meanwhile, Heffron, who supported a general policy of decentralising tertiary education across the state, directed his Department to begin the establishment of various Teachers' Colleges in New South Wales, to provide sufficient tertiary training to the expanding numbers of teachers filling the new schools and colleges across the state. Among them was the Newcastle Teachers' College, established in 1949 and opened in 1950, which facilitated growing calls from the city of Newcastle for a more permanent University in the city. In May 1951, Heffron indicated his support for the establishment of a satellite college of Sydney University in Newcastle as an initial step towards the establishment of a full university. By July Heffron sought to approach Sydney University officials to facilitate efforts "to have a university established in Newcastle as soon as possible", and noted that his moves to purchase land in the city as the site of this college was an indication of the government's intentions: "I didn't buy that site in Newcastle just for fun. I want to provide a university in Newcastle and I want that to be only the first step in providing universities all over the state". However, by the time Heffron opened the Newcastle University College (NUC) on 3 December 1951, no affiliation had been finalised. By May 1952, a University Establishment Group had gained much momentum but Heffron had been notified by Premier Joseph Cahill that there were insufficient funds available for the establishment of another full university. Nevertheless, in early 1954 this college had become a college of the New South Wales University of Technology. As premier, in late 1961 Heffron moved with his Minister for Education, Ernest Wetherell, that the Newcastle University College would become a full university "come what may". This was achieved when on 12 March 1962, the University of Technology Vice-Chancellor Philip Baxter notified the NUC Warden, Professor James Auchmuty, that it would be allowed to take on full autonomy to become the University of Newcastle from 1 January 1965.