Seat of Government Act 1904 explained

Short Title:	Seat of Government Act 1904
Long Title:	An Act to determine the Seat of Government of the Commonwealth.
Legislature:	Parliament of Australia
Introduced By:	Watson government
Date Assented:	15 August 1904
Date Repealed:	14 December 1908
Related:	Seat of Government Act 1908
Status:	Repealed

The Seat of Government Act 1904 was an Act of the Parliament of Australia that provided that the "seat of government of the Commonwealth" (i.e., the national capital) should be within 17miles of Dalgety, New South Wales.^[1]

The site turned out to be unacceptable to the Government of New South Wales, due partly to its distance from Sydney and proximity to Victoria.^[2] A more practical objection was the distance to the main Sydney-Melbourne railway line and the expense involved in constructing a spur to the proposed capital.^[3]

The Act was repealed in 1908 by the Seat of Government Act 1908, which selected Canberra as the new site for the territory.^{[4] [5]}

References

• Seat of Government Act 1904 (Cth)
• State Records of New South Wales A Guide to NSW State Archives relating to Federation

Notes and References

1. Web site: 15 August 1904 . SEAT OF GOVERNMENT, No. 7 of 1904. . Australian Government, Federal Register of Legislation.
2. Book: Pegrum, Roger . The Bush Capital: How Australia Chose Canberra as Its Federal City . Hale & Iremonger . 1983 . 0-86806-066-6.
3. Book: Welsh, Frank . Great Southern Land: A New History of Australia . Penguin Books . 2005 . 0-7139-9450-9.
4. Web site: 8 November 2000 . Seat of Government Act 1908, Act No. 24 of 1908 as amended . Australian Government, Federal Register of Legislation.
5. News: 1908-10-09 . FEDERAL CAPITAL. . 7 . Register . 2023-09-14.