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.
Geography of Western Australia
To prevent French claims, Governor Darling dispatched Major Edmund Lockyer, in 1827, in the brig Amity, to assume possession for the English crown of New Holland, at King George Sound, a natural strategic harbour. Two years later, Governor James Stirling, established Perth, as the capital of the Swan River Company settlement, beginning the human settlement geography of Western Australia. Stirling, as a naval man, chose three sites that were easily defensible as the major towns for the colony. Fremantle, situated beneath the Monument, was to be the port, Perth, surrounded by water on three sides, with the barracks defending its western entrance, was to be the capital, and Guildford, also surrounded by water to the west south and north (the loop of the Swan and Helena Rivers), was to be the agricultural centre. Similar easily defended sites were chosen in the case of Australind and Bunbury, and Augusta. No account was taken of the wishes or desires of the indigenous Aboriginal people, who were progressively excluded from traditional lands owned by them.