How Canberra became a progressive paradise – and a housing hell

Labor has held power in the ACT, often in coalition with the Greens for over two decades. Photograph: Alex Ellinghausen/EPA

Canberra has always been one of Australia’s more divisive cities. With its cold climate and designed to encourage work, Canberra is a city of binaries – you either love it, or love to hate it.

But in recent years Canberra has developed a new reputation as Australia’s most progressive city.