MORE than 100 years ago, in 1904, it was gazetted in federal parliament that the town of Dalgety would become the site for the capital city of Australia.

Dalgety was a popular choice at the time due to it being halfway between Sydney and Melbourne and a suitable distance inland to avoid attack from the sea.

Members of parliament came and 'bathed in the river' and a decision was made in favour of the town. Extracts from a Sydney newspaper of the time said 'Our representative, who has photographed every one of the sites, and who has been over practically every corner of the Commonwealth, is one of the enthusiasts with regard to Dalgety'.

Federal parliament passed the 'Seat of Government Act' in 1904 declaring the capital should be within 17 miles of Dalgety.

The NSW government, which alone had the constitutional authority to surrender lands for a national capital, objected to the proposal on two grounds.

Firstly, it had not been consulted and secondly, the federal parliament was seeking a site nine times larger than the minimum of 100 square miles specified in the Australian Constitution Act.

On 16 September, 1908 (following lobbying from Sydney businesses who believed Twofold Bay would become the port for the capital and not Sydney) the federal parliament dropped its preference for Dalgety and voted for a site at Yass/Canberra.

For four years it was imagined Dalgety would one day be a large city - but that wasn’t to be. Today, Dalgety has changed little since that time more than100 years ago.

Dalgety is a small town near the Snowy Mountains, 50kms south of Cooma and 35kms from Jindabyne.

The local show is one of the highlights of the year. For more than 60 years it has operated as the only agricultural show in the former Snowy River Shire, a shire with a mixed interest of agriculture and tourism, and draws on people from a large geographical area.

The first show in 1945 was officially held to raise money to build a memorial hall to honour soldiers fighting in the war.

Since then, the Dalgety Show has become one of the best and most popular in southern NSW.