13 November 2009

Join Oz, New Zealand - it's for the best

| Chop71
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ED – The below extract has been ‘Sourced’ form the this story in the SMH and brought to our attention by Chop71. Although not massively Canberra focused and we don’t encourage wholesale cut and pasting of other media’s content (link to it people!) it does include an interesting insight to some of canberra’s planning history…

There’s a lively part of Canberra – at least at night – just a trot from Parliament House.

It is Manuka, ringed by restaurants, bars and cafes.

Many Australians may well think the suburb’s name has Aboriginal origins. No. It’s named after a small New Zealand shrub that gives a clue as to why Canberra Avenue, which leads to it, is the only one of the national capital’s radial roads not named after an Australian state capital.

It was to be Wellington Avenue, named after New Zealand’s capital city – when Australia confidently anticipated that New Zealand would join the Australian Federation when it was formed in 1901.

Of course, the Kiwis decided against it and Canberra was the stand in name given to the avenue.

It’s a slot still open to be renamed Wellington – and the Australian Constitution still holds open the door for New Zealand to join up and become an Australian state.

ED – the remainder of this article by BERNARD LAGAN
can be located on the SMH website here.

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NZ feels closer than WA, and I’d rather be a fellow citizen with Tongans than with the many Brits in the Perth environs. Let’s join the eastern states with NZ and WA can secede and solve the refugee and Chinese mineral ownership problems however they wish!

Gungahlin Al2:11 pm 16 Nov 09

Devil_n_Disquiz said :

Manuka is said differently in NZ.

Here its pronounced Mah-Nah-Kah, in NZ its pronounced Mah-Nu-Ka. quote]

My GPS begs to differ.

anonymous gungahlian10:58 am 16 Nov 09

caf said :

2) Who would Australia pick on? Or would it be acceptable to pick on one of our own states?

False dichotomy, it has always been acceptable to pick on Tasmania!

UGH! I can’t believe I did’nt think about those Imbreeding Southerners before (maybe it’s because many of us don’t see Tasmania as a state)- or I would not have done point number two! Thanks for re-informing me caf.

2) Who would Australia pick on? Or would it be acceptable to pick on one of our own states?

False dichotomy, it has always been acceptable to pick on Tasmania!

The PM of NZ hasn’t been Helen Clarke for a while now.

Also, along with NZ, Australia would be getting the Cook Islands, Tokelau and Niue too. Tokelau is a non-self governing territory of NZ, and the other two are self-governing democracies in free association with NZ, all the residents have NZ passports and NZ has various responsibilities in terms of defence and representation.

anonymous gungahlian2:31 pm 13 Nov 09

aussielyn said :

Now the Causeway Tips & south will become East Lake and north Weston will be Molonglo. Not sure if Molonglo will be in the ACT Electorate of Molonglo

Mill Creek Oval is next to what the locals call Mill Creek but is listed as Jerrabomberra Creek in Narrabundah

That’s just confusing. How come they had to rename anything that Burley Griffin came up with?

Also If New Zealand joined Australia:
1) What would happen to our accent? – what la mente torbida said I guess.
2) Who would Australia pick on? Or would it be acceptable to pick on one of our own states?
3) Would the Prime Minister of New Zealand (Helen Clarke I think) just become the premier of New Zealand?
4) Would we use the “North” and “South” Island thing for different states?

The National Memorials Committee is responsible for naming roads & suburbs.
They seem to consider history irrevant and are prone to some very strange decisions.

Anything given a name by Walter Burley Griffin had to be renamed!

Canberra Ave was also called Narrabundah Road in a 1914 map by Scrivener given to me by ann Gugler. It may have been named this after NZ declined to join the Australian federation in the 1890s.

Thus East Lake was renamed Kingston, Molonglo became Fyshwick.
Now the Causeway Tips & south will become East Lake and north Weston will be Molonglo. Not sure if Molonglo will be in the ACT Electorate of Molonglo

Mill Creek Oval is next to what the locals call Mill Creek but is listed as Jerrabomberra Creek in Narrabundah

la mente torbida11:00 am 13 Nov 09

fush and chups…that’s sux

How could we have thought, in designing the capital, that NZ would have been part of Australia when the site was announced in 1913, and Federation happened in 1901???

I happen to think it’d be great if NZ joined, but not likely given the rugby issue.

hehe…the wallablacks…I like that…or…the allabies…:-)

well if we became the one country then hopefully the wallablacks wouldnt get boo’d by unproud australians when they play at home.

Devil_n_Disquiz5:37 pm 12 Nov 09

Trunking – Wellington became the capital in 1865 replacing Auckland which had been capital since 1841.

Devil_n_Disquiz5:33 pm 12 Nov 09

Manuka is said differently in NZ.

Here its pronounced Mah-Nah-Kah, in NZ its pronounced Mah-Nu-Ka. The rumour I have heard is the Queen mispronounced it here and it stuck.

Go the ALL BLACKS !

Trunking symbols5:23 pm 12 Nov 09

Fairly plausible apart from the bit about Canberra Avenue originally being Wellington Avenue. I’m fairly sure that in 1901 (and 1913 when Canberra was established) the capital of New Zealand was Auckland, not Wellington.

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