Proposed development to rewrite Braddon's rich newspaper history

Plans to redevelop the original offices of The Australian newspaper on Mort Street in Braddon, one of the few remaining industrial sites in the suburb, have been lodged with the ACT Planning Authority by the building's new owners.

The plans for a seven-storey building include 68 apartments and commercial spaces for non-retail and restaurant uses, and will see one of the last built links with the street's rich newspaper history pulled down.

The $17 million project for the 1500 square-metre site would also include 109 parking spaces across a three-level basement and a roof terrace with recreational spaces.

Documents submitted to the ACT planning authority on behalf of Core Developments said the proposed facade would be "visually interesting and highly articulated".

This would "contribute to the interesting mix of developments in Braddon and make provision for active frontages along Mort Street" while the two street trees would be retained, the documents said.

The Australian was launched from the building in 1964, with editorial staff based in Mort Street preparing the newspaper's pages to be flown to press sites for national distribution in an era before sophisticated electronic communication.

A pyjama-clad Rupert Murdoch is said to have argued with pilots reluctant to fly the charter planes through thick Canberra fog with the printing matrices to the Sydney and Melbourne presses.

If the planes did not take off, the fledgling newspaper would be late across the country.

The national newspaper's launch sparked a tough circulation battle with The Canberra Times, which had offices down the road at 18 Mort Street.

Before The Australian was launched, Murdoch told a group of newspapermen at a party in King's Hall for the opening of parliament in February 1964 that his plan for recently purchased land in Mort Street was to run The Canberra Times out of business.

This prompted Arthur Shakespeare, whose father Thomas had established The Canberra Times in 1926, to sell to the newspaper to Fairfax. Fairfax then bought the land behind Murdoch to prevent him expanding.

Later that year The Canberra Times, with a new focus on quality and an expanded staff of senior editors and journalists, reverted to broadsheet, a fortnight before The Australian's launch.

The Canberra Times had seen its circulation expand to more than 20,000 with the changes, which was more than the number of households in the city at the time.

Despite best efforts to beat The Canberra Times, The Australian moved its offices to Sydney in 1967. Not even a month's worth of The Australian, delivered free to houses in Canberra, could convert enough readers to the new newspaper, instead only causing a temporary hit to The Canberra Times' circulation.

The Australian's Mort Street building became a liquor shop and has recently housed a printer's offices and yoga studio.

The Canberra Times moved its presses to Fyshwick in 1964 and editorial staff followed in 1987. The Canberra Times building was demolished in 1991.

The building at 42 Mort Street was sold in October 2019 for $5.3 million.

Public consultation on the development application closes on February 24.