Page "History of Canberra" Paragraph 30

Consequentially, this enabled the picturesque site to act as a proxy for the Old World ’ s culture, relics, and established nature which the new colony innately lacked ( Gordon 2006 ).

By continuing to build upon this forming identity, a picturesque capital would “ obscure the nation ’ s youth and … register its membership within the British Empire ”.

Hence, although Canberra is undoubtedly Australian with respect to its landscaping and wider location, the underlying motivations for these aspects “ remained colonial, rooted in eighteenth-century Britain .”