Tony Whitlam, son of former Australian prime minister Gough Whitlam, said he and his siblings were "delighted" when the ACT Government first proposed to name a suburb after their late father.
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As the first Whitlam residents move in this weekend, Mr Whitlam said the new suburb represents a "big family connection" to Canberra.
"Many Canberra suburbs have been named for former prime ministers, what makes it particularly interesting in [Gough's] case is that he is, in fact, the only prime minister who was really raised in Canberra," he said.
"He's got a bigger connection with Canberra than most of the prime ministers had."
Sebastian Hlatshwayo and Precious Shamba, along with their two daughters Kayla and Zoë, will be the first residents to move into the new Molonglo Valley suburb, having recently picked up the keys to their newly-built home.
"We're excited to move into the area, especially as the first residents," said Ms Shamba.
"We've always been living around this area in Molonglo Valley and we used to drive past the area, [it has] beautiful, beautiful views and is a very short distance to the city," said Mr Hlatshwayo.
Located about 10 kilometres from Civic, Whitlam is the first Molonglo Valley suburb to be built north of Molonglo River and is being delivered in four stages with a final completion date of 2025.
By then, the suburb will be home to about 2100 dwellings that will house some 5000 residents, as well as a primary school and a local centre with a 1500-square-metre supermarket.
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Minister for Housing and Suburban Development Yvette Berry said Whitlam has been "on the drawing board for almost a decade".
"To see the first resident move in and make Whitlam their home is an incredible milestone for the Molonglo Valley suburb," she said.
The suburb was previously criticised by environmental experts who warned sediment run-off from the development could pose a threat to the local platypus population.
Simon Tennent, the Suburban Land Agency's development delivery director for Molonglo Valley, said an "inordinate" amount of due diligence was done on the project.
"When it comes to environmental matters the stakes have never been higher in a suburb because Whitlam is quite literally surrounded on three sides by nature park and river corridor," he said.
Mr Tennent said regular water quality audits are taking place, while a 20-megalitre Deep Creek dam is under development and will serve a "really important purpose of being a water quality control pond".
Behind the first completed home in Whitlam is Sumandeep Dhillon of Taz Building Group, who has eight houses under construction in the suburb.
His team completed the build in four months, but faced some delays in handing over the keys due to the lockdown.
"It's exciting for everyone and we are also very excited [to be] part of developing the suburb," he said.
Mr Dhillon said families and first home buyers have been drawn to the suburb for its central location.
More residents are expected to move in over the coming weeks and months, but in the meantime Mr Hlatshwayo and Ms Shamba joked that they are taking isolation to a "whole new level", as they wait for the rest of their community to join them.
Future residents have had an opportunity to meet at community events organised by the Suburban Land Agency.
"We know, essentially, who our first 500 residents will be so we've already been reaching out to them through our Mingle program so we're starting to foster some community spirit," said Mr Tennent.
"We've been holding events on-site at the suburb, putting on entertainment and food and getting the future neighbours all talking to each other.
"There's certainly been that absolute sense of excitement."
As for whether the Whitlam family will make a trip to the suburb in the future, Mr Whitlam said, "At some point I'll sashay down and have a look at the suburb, for sure".
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