History of The Australian Capital Territory - 2000s

2000s

The first years of the 21st century saw a period of extended drought in the ACT region, accompanied by several bushfires that caused widespread devastation. Over the 2001 Christmas period, five separate bushfires burnt over 16 km2 (6.2 sq mi) of forest in the ACT, including millions of dollars' worth of plantation pine forest.

The drought conditions continued during the following years, and in 2003 the ACT burned again. The 2003 bushfires damaged around 70% of the ACT's area, including 99% of the Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve and significant areas of government-owned pine plantation. Four people were killed and 67 rural houses were destroyed, including 16 houses at Uriarra, 12 at Pierces Creek; 414 houses in the outer suburbs of Canberra were razed.

More than 200 other houses were damaged, and numerous buildings of historical significance were lost, including the Mount Franklin Chalet, which was built in 1937–38 for the Canberra Alpine Club and was the first club-built ski lodge in mainland Australia, and many others in the Namadgi National Park. Nil Desperandum and Rock Valley Homestead, the two historic houses at Tidbinbilla, were destroyed. Most buildings of the Mount Stromlo Observatory, operated by the Australian National University, were destroyed, including the observatory's Oddie telescope and its dome, which had been built in 1911 and was the first federal building in the ACT.