Telstra Tower was officially opened on May 15, 1980 by the then Prime Minister, Malcolm Fraser. Built on the summit of Black Mountain Canberra, it soon became known to the locals as Black Mountain Tower.

Black Mountain is a sensitive and stunning part of the Canberra environment, a national park of significant interest in the ecological world with its unique collection of flora and fauna. The Tower was clearly going to be a land mark which some people felt would dominate other aesthetic Canberra structures. As time progressed a feeling of outrage and vigorous protest against the project was evident among some people. Protests against the Tower on aesthetic and ecological grounds were strongly voiced during the earlier stages of the approval procedures, and at the various hearings which included a lengthy Supreme Court case.