Prosper Australia

by Leo Foley
The primary source for this paper is “Canberra in Crisis” by Frank Brennan, 1971

The Road to Leasehold - the origins of the Canberra leasehold system..

Canberra is the offspring of politics and a social ideal.

• The politics were those of Federation and nation making.
• The ideal was one of social and economic freedom.

In the early years of Federation, there was a widespread belief in the need for government ownership of all the land within the proposed federal territory. It was considered that the taking of the unearned increment for the people would make the capital city a paying proposition within a few years. In 1901, the Prime Minister, Edmund Barton spoke of the territory to be chosen for the seat of government: “we shall be able to get the land on fair terms, lease it on fair terms and still make a profit for the Commonwealth”.

These were the years when the words ‘unearned increment’ were basic to any discussion of leasehold tenure in the proposed Federal Territory. As King O’Malley (Labour, Tas) saw it, ‘Every dollar spent by the people of Australia in the erection of that capital will create an unearned increment in the property for miles around. The question is, are the people of Australia prepared to spend thousands, yea millions, and then lose the benefit of their expenditure? I say the unearned increment created by the expenditure of the people’s money belongs to the people…”
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