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. On 7 December 2013, the ACT same-sex marriage act came into effect, making the ACT the first legislature in Australia to allow same-sex marriages. On 12 December 2013, the High Court of Australia unanimously held this law to be invalid for inconsistency with the federal Marriage Act 1961. However, all parties to the case had agreed and the Court accepted that the federal parliament's power to make laws with respect to "marriage", Constitution s 51(21), extends to same-sex marriage. There can now be uniform federal law for marriages of any kind. References Cited references General references National Capital Authority. History of the NCA Further reading External links Canberra and District Historical Society