The ''Seat of Government Acceptance Act 1909'' is an Australian Commonwealth Government act, that in conjunction with the '' Seat of Government Surrender Act 1909'' transferred land from the state of

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

to the Commonwealth for the creation of the Federal Capital Territory (now

Australian Capital Territory The Australian Capital Territory (commonly abbreviated as ACT), known as the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) until 1938, is a landlocked federal territory of Australia containing the national capital Canberra and some surrounding townships. ...

). The act was signed on 13 December 1909 by the

Governor-General Governor-general (plural ''governors-general''), or governor general (plural ''governors general''), is the title of an office-holder. In the context of governors-general and former British colonies, governors-general are appointed as viceroy t ...

Lord Dudley. The '' Seat of Government Surrender Act 1909'' was passed by the New South Wales government the following day, creating a site for the national capital in law.

Boundaries

The act specified the land to be surrendered to the Commonwealth as being bounded by (described in clockwise direction): *The

Goulburn Goulburn ( ) is a regional city in the Southern Tablelands of the Australian state of New South Wales, approximately south-west of Sydney, and north-east of Canberra. It was proclaimed as Australia's first inland city through letters pate ...

Cooma Cooma is a town in the south of New South Wales, Australia. It is located south of the national capital, Canberra, via the Monaro Highway. It is also on the Snowy Mountains Highway, connecting Bega with the Riverina. At the , Cooma had a po ...

railway line in the east, *Part of the Parish of Keewong in the County of Murray to the

Murrumbidgee River The Murrumbidgee River () is a major tributary of the Murray River within the Murray–Darling basin and the second longest river in Australia. It flows through the Australian state of New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory, des ...

, down the river a short distance (to the north), and then portions of the Parish of Cuppacumbalong in the

County of Cowley A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposes Chambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

. *The eastern watershed of the Gudgenby River *The eastern and southern watersheds of Naas Creek *The southern and western watersheds of the Cotter River (which passes through

Bimberi Peak Bimberi Peak or Mount Bimberi with an elevation of located within the Brindabella Ranges is the highest mountain in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT). It is located on the border between New South Wales (NSW) and the ACT, the NSW portion i ...

), and north to Mount Coree *A line north-east from Mount Coree to One-Tree Trigonometrical Station *The watershed of the

Molonglo River The Molonglo River, a perennial river that is part of the Murrumbidgee catchment within the Murray–Darling basin, is located in the Monaro and Capital Country regions of New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory, in Australia. ...

south-east to where it meets the railway line.

Water rights

The Act specified the following arrangements concerning water rights, for catchments outside the above boundaries: * The Commonwealth has paramount rights to the waters of the Queanbeyan and Molonglo Rivers and their tributaries, which lie to the east of the Goulburn to Cooma Railway * N.S.W. has secondary rights to the water from these catchments, subject to the use and requirements of the Commonwealth * N.S.W. consents to the construction by the Commonwealth in N.S.W. of works necessary for control and use of those waters * N.S.W. reserves from sale, lease, and occupation Crown lands within catchment areas of the Queanbeyan and Molonglo Rivers * N.S.W. undertakes not to pollute and undertakes to protect from pollution the waters of the Queanbeyan and Molonglo Rivers.

Jervis Bay

The Act also described the territories to be granted to the Commonwealth in

Jervis Bay Jervis Bay () is a oceanic bay and village on the south coast of New South Wales, Australia, said to possess the whitest sand in the world. A area of land around the southern headland of the bay is a territory of the Commonwealth of Austral ...

, which became the

Jervis Bay Territory The Jervis Bay Territory (; JBT) is an internal territory of Australia. It was established in 1915 from part of New South Wales (NSW), in order to give the landlocked Australian Capital Territory (ACT) access to the sea. It was administered ...

in 1915: *Separate portions of land in the Eastern Division, Land District of Nowra, County of St. Vincent, in several different

parishes A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...

: in the Parish of Bherwerre parcels of land of , , ; in the Parish of Beecroft parcels of , , ; in the Parish of Farnham ; in the Parish of Nowra .

References

*National Archives of Australi
Documenting Democracy - Seat of Government Acceptance Act 1909Seat of Government Acceptance Act
Austlii Acts of the Parliament of Australia History of the Australian Capital Territory 1909 in Australian law {{Australia-gov-stub