NSW and ACT in talks over biggest border shake-up in living memory

The ACT has begun discussions with the NSW government to acquire 330 hectares of farmland called Parkwood.

The land lies within a planned housing development called Ginninderry, which covers both the ACT and NSW.

While Barr seemed to believe the annexation was a fait accompli, a spokesperson for the NSW premier said no decision had been made on the border shift.

The shift would mark the first time the borders have changed since Jervis Bay was ceded to the commonwealth for what was then known as the Federal Capital Territory on its establishment in 1915, though the federal government has been responsible for the coastal town since 1989.

The Macquarie University lecturer Andrew Burridge, a political geographer, said there had been other minor territorial disputes since then.

It was not until 2006 that NSW and Victoria formally settled on the border along what is known as the Black-Allan Line, 180km of land that runs north-west from Cape Howe to Indi Springs at the source of the Murray River.