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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2000 Week 12 Hansard (6 December) . . Page.. 3791 ..

MR CORBELL (continuing):

The idea of Canberra as a city in the landscape continued in the post Second World War era during the period of the NCDC. Some of Griffin's early ideas were altered or not achieved, but the framework of his plan stayed in place. His national triangle as the symbolic heart of the centre of the nation remains mainly as a vast serene landscape space housing fewer buildings than Griffin envisaged.

Parliament House is on the site preferred by Griffin for his own people's capital building, but its design allows people to walk up to it and over it, thereby symbolising an ideal relationship between citizens and politicians. The panoramic prospect of surrounding landscape visually and physically interpenetrating the city envisaged in the Griffin plan survives. The legacy of Charles Weston's innovative landscape planning also endures.

Canberra is a superb example of a 20th century city. When you think about it, it is a remarkable achievement to have built a city of this size and grandeur inland on one of the driest continents on the planet; but it has been achieved, and it has been achieved in a way that melds landscape with built form. It is recognised internationally for being able to successfully achieve this. More than that, it represents the culmination of a range of philosophies that were only just beginning to become apparent in the early years of the 20th century.

In the lead - up to the announcement of an international competition for the design of the capital in 1911 and coincidental with idealism of landscape images and nationalism was the growing interest in town planning as an art and as a science. Central to this interest was the notion that building better cities would, in turn, assist in building a healthier society.

The key to healthier societies and cities was cleanliness and fresh air. Healthy town dwellers meant economic efficiency and higher moral and social standards. Progressive thinkers saw the city as the microcosm of the nation where all the evils they decried were found. The plan of Canberra was a direct response to these philosophies and our federal capital was meant to remedy these evils.

Perhaps we have not remedied the evils through our town planning in Canberra, but we have achieved a superb example of these philosophies as they existed at the time. They exist in the creation of the lake and in the background setting of the national triangle with the hills of Mount Ainslie, Red Hill and Mount Bimeri on the very far end of Griffin's land access. All of those add up to a superb example of town planning.

What are the qualities that Canberra would need to meet to be included in the World Heritage List? What are the criteria of the World Heritage Convention? First of all, it would need to represent a masterpiece of human creative genius. There is no doubt that Burley Griffin's plan does meet that. Griffin is recognised internationally as one of the leading proponents of landscape architecture and town planning combined.

Secondly, we would have to make sure that our city exhibits an important interchange of human values, over a span of time, on developments in town planning and landscape design. There is no doubt again that the central area of Canberra does reflect these philosophies. Finally, we would need to make sure that Canberra is an outstanding example of a type of architectural ensemble and landscape which illustrates a significant stage in human history and meets the test of authenticity in design and setting.

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