'Discussing the site at Tumut', 1902

Educational value

• This asset depicts some of the federal senators on a tour of regional locations in New South Wales arranged by the Minister for Home Affairs, William Lyne, in an effort to choose a site for the federal capital - the photograph shows the senators apparently discussing a site at Tumut, which was in Lyne's electorate.
• It shows some of the touring party during February and March of 1902 - the senators and accompanying journalists visited other locations, including Albury, Wagga, Yass, Goulburn, Orange, Armidale, Lake George, Bombala, Dalgety, Eden and Bega; factors used to assess locations included clean permanent water sources, a pleasant outlook, an existing lake or the possibility of creating one, flat land suitable for building, and a large area for military manoeuvres; the site had to be inland to secure the city from possible attack from foreign invaders approaching from the sea.
• It illustrates federal senators trying to fulfil the compromise agreement on the site of the new federal capital of Australia - after years of wrangling by Melbourne and Sydney it was decided at a premiers' conference in 1899 to locate the capital in New South Wales, but that it would be more than 100 miles (161 kilometres) from Sydney; this decision provided a compromise between Sydney and Melbourne and satisfied all states in the new federation.
• It shows an example of the lobbying involved in choosing a site for the new federal capital, with the senators meeting local dignitaries in every town they visited - these people were keen to impress the decision-makers with the attributes of their local area, often taking the senators to the tops of hills to point out features of the landscape; over the years, a total of 35 locations were considered as possible sites.
• It includes a saddled horse, suggesting that the senators may have had to ride to the site because the road was impassable for coaches at some point - the senators left Melbourne (where Federal Parliament was then based) by train and later travelled by stage coach to some of the more remote areas.
• It illustrates men's clothing and fashion of the time - three-piece suits were worn with starched shirt collars and bow ties; accessories included hats, an umbrella and cane, and the chains of fob watches can be seen on the men's waistcoats; men also wore beards and moustaches that were popular at the time; long moustaches, such as that worn by the man on the right, were waxed to help hold them in place.

Year level

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