History of Sydney
From 1788 to 1900 Sydney was the capital of the British colony of New South Wales. An elected city council was established in 1840. In 1900, Sydney became a state capital, when New South Wales voted to join the Australian Federation. Sydney today is Australia's largest city and a major international capital of culture and finance. The city has played host to many international events, including the 2000 Summer Olympics.
John Gale (journalist)
The Australian colonies became a federated nation at the beginning of 1901. Gale strongly advocated making the Canberra-Queanbeyan district the site of Australia's future capital city. Gale later recorded in his newspapers and on page 5 of his valuable book "Canberra History & Legends" that on Christmas Day 1855, he was riding his horse across the Limestone Plains to Kurrajong Hill (now called Capital Hill where the new Parliament House is built) when he had a "prophetic inspiration":
"... with the mountains to the south and to the east and the shimmer from the river, the scene invoked a mental, if not a vocal, exclamation: "What a magnificent site for one of Australia's future cities!"
On 11 June 1900, Gale (with 11 other local men) gave evidence to a NSW Royal Commissioner, Mr Alexander Oliver, proposing that Queanbeyan-Canberra be the site for the Federal Capital City. Commissioner Oliver had been appointed to examine and report to the NSW Parliament on the suitability of all the proposed locations for a National Capital. Oliver, however, favored Dalgety in his report and rejected Canberra.