9 January 2013

Jack the Insider on why we're not in Dalgety

| johnboy
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The Australian is featuring a blog post on how Dalgety came to lose poll position to be the capital of Australia.

After breakfast, the conditions worsened. The sky was ominously leaden and the wind howled while the MPs continued on by coach out to the site, followed by a gaggle of eager Dalgety locals, keen to show the town’s best face. Hughes and his fellows shivered through the guided tour of the property, growing more miserable as they went.

Hughes wrapped himself in a coat as he wandered around the property, stopping to inquire of a local policeman about the weather.

“I’ve been here 15 years, Mr Hughes and I declare to God this is the warmest winter I’ve ever known.”

And that was it for Dalgety. The front runner had been scratched, leaving only Canberra to win the prize. When pollies, media and other visitors complain about the weather in Canberra, those frosty winter mornings where the cold southerlies cut right through numerous layers of clothing, they should stop and think how much worse it might have been had Billy Hughes and his colleagues not put the kibosh on Dalgety.

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In weak moments I dream of how good Canberra would have been were it located at Jervis Bay, but otherwise was much the same as it currently is (lots of greenery, population around 300k etc etc).

Or at least somewhere like Braidwood. You know, nearer the ocean. Actually, Dalgety with a good road would be closer to both the ocean and the snow; just a bit further from Sydney (no bad thing)

I was told they stopped by the river (now lake) under the shade of the trees and claimed this was much nicer than Dalgety and hence changed their decision on the way home.

….and for this reason I presumed it was summer and not winter. Correct me please

I always thought Eden was the front runner (?)

And to this day, that policeman is honoured as Dalgety’s greatest hero!

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