The city's brief stint as a colonial capital
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For a period in the early twentieth century, this city served as the seat of the newly federated nation's government, hosting parliament in a borrowed building while a purpose built capital was still being planned and constructed elsewhere. Officials and dignitaries arriving during this period often expressed surprise at how quickly the city had assembled the necessary infrastructure.
That temporary arrangement left a lasting mark on the city's sense of itself, a period of national significance still occasionally referenced in local history, even though the role was always understood to be provisional rather than permanent. Locals at the time seemed to treat the arrangement with a mixture of pride and quiet awareness of its impermanence.
Once the purpose built capital was finally ready, parliament moved on, and the city returned to its more familiar identity as a commercial and cultural centre rather than a seat of government, a chapter now mostly remembered rather than actively felt. Few visitors today realise the connection, assuming the city's current role has simply always been this way.