On 23 May 1912, the Australian Minister for Home Affairs, King O’Malley announced that the winner of the Australian National Capital Competition was entry 29, the entry by Mr Walter Burley Griffin, architect and landscape artist, Steinway Hall, Chicago, Illinois.
On that day at the official announcement, Mr O’Malley stated “What we wanted was the best the world can give us and we have got it”.1
For further information about the Griffins’ winning entry:
https://www.griffinsociety.org/index.html
http://www.idealcity.org.au/
1 Canberra 1912: Plans and Planners of the Australian Capital Competition, John W. Reps, Melbourne University Press 1997, p100.
Detail from ‘Section A–B Northerly Side of Water Axis: Black Mountain to Lake Park’ showing the central railway station and cathedral. Illustration by Marion Mahony Griffin, 1911. National Archives of Australia: A710 42