History book sheds new light on Canberra

A new book is set to show a different side of Canberra than the image portrayed during last year’s centenary celebrations.

A History of Canberra, by Associate Professor Nicholas Brown from the School of History at the Australian National University (ANU), shows Canberra as not just a city of public servants, but one of multiple communities, innovators, and a remarkably progressive and creative population.

The book was commissioned by Cambridge University Press, as part of a series to include each of the Australian states. The concise 293 page book is organised into three themes – Community, Government and Environment.

Associate Professor Brown said the reality of Canberra is different to the Canberra portrayed throughout last year’s centenary celebrations.  “The centenary celebrations, which focused on the Walter Burley Griffin vision for Canberra didn’t reflect the diversity and complexity of Canberra’s community as it has evolved,” says Brown.

“Canberra as a whole is an affluent city, but that’s not the only story. There have been other communities such as labourers and immigrants who were not well represented.”

One of the main themes of the book is of Canberra as progressive city. Even the way the government has been shaped and adapted to the needs of the time.

“I’ve tried to tell the story of government in Canberra as a creative act,” says Brown.

“Canberra made possible different ways of thinking about government and national development. The public service has been more than just the stereotypical pen-pusher, and it has evolved and tried new styles and Canberra rose with its innovation. We need to be careful it does not decline with the mantra of the efficiency dividend.”

But Canberra’s progressiveness goes further than governance itself. The Canberra community itself was very active, in the women’s liberation movement in the 1960s and 1970s and in the gay rights movements. On a local level, the development of the college school system was a community driven initiative showing the community at the forefront in education.

And underpinning the story of Canberra, Brown insists, is its environment, both natural and designed, with fragile balances of its own.

A History of Canberra was launched on Thursday 7 August at the Paperchain Bookstore in Manuka.