Encyclopedia
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city of the
Australian
state of
Queensland, and is the third largest city in Australia, with a population of over 1.8 million. It is a city set close to the
Pacific Ocean, and is situated beside the
Brisbane River on plains between
Moreton Bay and the
Great Dividing Range in
south-eastern Queensland.
Named in honour of
Sir Thomas Brisbane, the city grew from a harsh penal colony established in 1824 at Redcliffe, 40 km to the north. The colony was moved to Brisbane in 1825 and free settlers were permitted from 1842. It was chosen as the capital of Queensland when it was proclaimed a separate colony in 1859. The city developed slowly until after
World War II, when it played a central role in the
Allied campaign as the
South West Pacific headquarters for
General Douglas MacArthur. Brisbane staged a successful
Commonwealth Games in 1982 and
World's Fair in 1988. In the new millennium, it is Australia's fastest growing city and the second fastest in the developed world.
History
The area now known as Brisbane was inhabited before European settlement by the Turrbul and Jagera people whose ancestors originally migrated to the region from across the
Torres Strait.
In 1823 an exploration party led by
John Oxley explored
Moreton Bay and sailed up the
Brisbane River as far as Goodna, some 20 km upstream from what is now
Brisbane central business district.
In 1824, the colonial administration of
New South Wales established a penal settlement at what is now Redcliffe, on the shores of Moreton Bay. However, the Redcliffe settlement was abandoned after only one year and the colony was moved south to a peninsula on the Brisbane River , which offered a more reliable water supply. Non-convict European settlement of the Brisbane region commenced in 1838.
Queensland was proclaimed a separate colony in June 1859 and Brisbane, which was named in honour of
Sir Thomas Brisbane , was chosen as its capital. However, Brisbane was not incorporated as a city until 1902. Over twenty small municipalities and shires were amalgamated, in 1925, to form the City of Greater Brisbane, now known simply as the
City of Brisbane.
During
World War II, Brisbane played a central role in the the
Allied campaign when the AMP Building was used as the
South West Pacific headquarters for
General Douglas MacArthur, the chief of the Allied Pacific forces. A significant but largely unacknowledged local sex industry sorung up as Brisbane was home at some time or other to the larger portion of the approximately 1,000,000 US troops who passed through Australia during the war, as the primary coordination point for the
South West Pacific.
Brisbane staged a successful
Commonwealth Games during 1982, and the successful
Expo '88 World's Fair in 1988. These events in the
1980s were accompanied by a scale of public expenditure, construction and development not previously seen in the state of
Queensland, and culminated in a corruption scandal. The ensuing FitzGerald Inquiry resulted in a number of reforms which arguably cleared the way for the relatively harmonious and modern city of today. The sex industry is now legalised in Queensland, and Brisbane has been the home to a controversial
Sexpo exhibition in more recent years.
In the new millennium, Brisbane is one of Australia's fastest growing and most
multicultural centres, receivibg large numbers of migrants both internationally and from other Australian states and territories.
Geography
Brisbane city centre is situated in the southeast corner of Queensland, Australia, at a
latitude and longitude of . The city straddles the Brisbane River, and its eastern suburbs line the shores of Moreton Bay. The greater Brisbane region lies on the coastal plain east of the
Great Dividing Range, although the urban area is dotted by large hills reaching up to 300 metres such as Mount Coot-tha,
Mount Gravatt, Whites Hill and Stephens Mountain. Generally, the city is a low-lying
floodplain and susceptible to severe
flooding. Many suburban creeks also criss-cross the city increasing the risk of localised flooding. The city has suffered two major floods since colonisation, in 1893 and 1974. The 1974 Brisbane flood occurred partly as a result of "Cyclone Wanda". Continual non-stop heavy rain had fallen during the three weeks leading up to the flood, which occurred during the
Australia Day weekend . The flood damaged many parts of the city, especially in the suburbs of
Oxley, Bulimba, Rocklea,
Coorparoo and
New Farm. The
City Botanic gardens were also inundated, leading to a new colony of
mangroves to form in the City Reach of the Brisbane River.
The
Brisbane central business district is situated in a curve of a river. Covering only 2.2 square kilometres, it is easily walkable. The central streets are named for members of the
House of Hanover. Streets named after female members run parallel to
Queen Street and Queen Street Mall and perpendicular to streets named after male members .
Brisbane has a lower inner city population density than Australia's two largest cities,
Sydney and
Melbourne, although constant population growth occurring in Brisbane is closing the gap between Brisbane and Melbourne. The lower population density reflects the fact that most of Brisbane's housing stock consists of detached houses. Early legislation decreed a minimum size for residential blocks resulting in few
terrace houses being constructed in Brisbane. Multi residence accommodations are relative newcomers to Brisbane, with few such blocks built before 1970, other than in inner suburbs such as
New Farm. Pre-1950 housing stock was often built in a distinctive architectural style known as a Queenslander, featuring timber construction with large verandahs and high ceilings. The relative cheapness of timber in South-East Queensland meant that until recently most residences were constructed of timber, rather than brick or stone. Many of these houses are elevated on stumps , that were originally timber, but are now frequently replaced by steel or concrete.
Overall the city has a density of 379.4 people per square kilometre, which is comparable to that of Sydney. Recently the density of the city and inner city neighbourhoods has increased with the construction of apartments, with the result that the population of the central business district has doubled over the last 5 years.
Climate
Brisbane has a typical subtropical
climate with hot,
humid summers and dry, mild
winters. From late Spring through to early Autumn,
thunderstorms are common over the greater Brisbane area, with the more severe events accompanied by large damaging
hailstones, torrential rain and destructive winds.
The city's highest recorded temperature was 43.2 °C on the 26 January 1940, while the lowest temperature of 2.3 °C was recorded on 12 July 1894 and 2 July 1896 . Brisbane's wettest day was 21 January 1887, when 465 mm of rain fell on the city, the highest maximum daily rainfall of any of Australia's capital cities.
Climate Table
| | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
|---|
| Mean daily maximum temperature | 29.4 | 29.0 | 28.0 | 26.1 | 23.2 | 20.9 | 20.4 | 21.8 | 24.0 | 26.1 | 27.8 | 29.1 | 25.5 |
|---|
| Mean daily minimum temperature | 20.7 | 20.6 | 19.4 | 16.6 | 13.3 | 10.9 | 9.5 | 10.3 | 12.9 | 15.8 | 18.1 | 19.8 | 15.7 |
|---|
| Mean total rainfall | 159.6 | 158.3 | 140.7 | 92.5 | 73.7 | 67.8 | 56.5 | 45.9 | 45.7 | 75.4 | 97.0 | 133.3 | 1146.4 |
|---|
| Mean number of rain days | 13.1 | 13.5 | 14.5 | 11.3 | 9.6 | 7.9 | 7.2 | 6.7 | 7.4 | 9.3 | 9.9 | 11.5 | 122.0 |
|---|
| Mean number of clear days | 1.5 | 1.3 | 2.4 | 3.1 | 3.8 | 4.3 | 5.4 | 5.4 | 5.0 | 3.3 | 2.6 | 2.2 | 40.1 |
|---|
| Mean number of cloudy days | 5.2 | 4.8 | 4.6 | 3.1 | 3.5 | 2.9 | 2.6 | 2.1 | 2.1 | 3.5 | 3.8 | 4.3 | |
|---|
| Source: |
Governance
Unlike other Australian capital cities, a large portion of the greater metropolitan area of Brisbane is controlled by a single local government entity, the
Brisbane City Council. Since the creation of the Brisbane City Council in 1925 the urban areas of Brisbane have expanded considerably past the City Council boundaries.
The City of Brisbane is divided into 26 wards, with each ward electing a Councillor as their community representative. The Lord Mayor of Brisbane and Councillors are elected every four years by popular vote, in which all residents must participate. The current Lord Mayor of Brisbane is
Campbell Newman, who was elected to the position in March 2004.
Brisbane City Council is the largest local government body in Australia. The Council, formed by the merger of twenty smaller councils in 1925, has jurisdiction over an area of 1367 km². The Council's annual budget is approximately $1.6 billion, and it has an asset base of $13 billion .
The Brisbane
metropolitan area now covers parts of several adjoining local government areas including Beaudesert Shire, Caboolture Shire,
Gold Coast City, Ipswich City,
Logan City, Pine Rivers Shire, Redcliffe City and
Redland Shire.
Economy
Brisbane's economy has white-collar and blue-collar industries. White-collar industries include
information technology, financial services,
higher education and public sector administration generally concentrated in and around the
central business district and recently established office areas in the inner suburbs. Blue-collar industries include
petroleum refining, stevedoring,
paper milling,
metalworking and
QR railway workshops tend to be located on the lower reaches of the Brisbane River and in new industrial zones on the urban fringe.
Tourism is an important part of the Brisbane economy, both in its own right and as a gateway to other areas of Queensland.
During the late 1990s and early 2000s, the Queensland State Government has been developing technology and science industries in Queensland as a whole, and Brisbane in particular, as part of its "Smart State" initative. The government has invested in several biotechnology and research facilities at several universities in Brisbane. The Institute for Molecular Bioscience at the
University of Queensland Saint Lucia Campus is a large
CSIRO and Queensland state government initiative for research and innovation that is currently being emulated at the
Queensland University of Technology Campus at Kelvin Grove with the establishment of the
Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation .
Brisbane is also considered one of the major business hubs in Australia. Most major Australian and International companies have either a major or minor contact office in Brisbane. Many
electronics companies also take advantage of the strategic port and airports by choosing to have distribution hubs in the city. LG,
Panasonic,
Samsung are just a few practical examples. DHL Global have their Oceanic distribution warehouse located in Brisbane, while Asia Pacific Aerospace their headquarters.
Australia TradeCoast, the country's fastest-growing economic development area, is a marketing partnership between the Queensland Government, the city of Brisbane, Brisbane airport and its seaport, originally proposed by a UK marketer who had also developed the
Amsterdam airport Area zone. Geographically, Australia TradeCoast occupies a huge swathe of land around the airport and port. Commercially, the area has attracted a mix of companies from throughout the Asia Pacific region.
Home grown major companies from Brisbane include
Suncorp-Metway Limited,
Flight Centre, SunSuper, Orrcon, Credit Union Australia,
Donut King, Wotif.com, WebCentral, Mincom Ltd. and
Virgin Blue are headquartered in Brisbane, while the city has regional presences of
Alcan,
Oracle,
Boeing and
Red Hat.
Commerce
Brisbane has many
shopping centres in the
CBD.
The Queen Street Mall has
restaurants, souvenirs and shopping centres, including:
Wintergarden,
Broadway on the Mall, Queens Plaza, Brisbane Arcade and
The Myer Centre.
In
Fortitude Valley , the Brunswick Street mall has pedestrian markets on Saturday and Sunday mornings, restaurants, cafés and the
Fortitude Valley's Chinatown precinct.
The majority of consumer commerce is generally done within the suburbs of Brisbane, via massive shopping centre hubs which include major departments chains. There are 4 major shopping centres in Brisbane located in the suburbs of Chermside, Indooroopilly, Mt Gravatt and Carindale. Smaller, yet significant shopping centres are also littered around the other suburbs of the city.
For a full listing of shopping centres in Brisbane CBD, and Brisbane suburbs, see the Brisbane, Queensland section of the List of shopping centres in Australia article
Demographics
The population of the Brisbane City is estimated at 971,757 . Greater Brisbane has an estimated urban population of 1.81 million.
Brisbane City Council as Australia's largest predominantly urban Local Government Area, is the most populous LGA in Australia. Brisbane is claimed to have Australia's highest rate of capital city population growth. The urban population reportedly grew by 11.5% between 1999 and 2004 .
The last Australian Census in 2001 showed that 1.7% of Brisbane's population are of indigenous origins, while 21.0% were born overseas. Approximately 13.5% of households speak a language other than English, with the most common being Chinese, Vietnamese and Italian. The median age across the city is 32 years old.
Education
Brisbane has multi-campus universities and colleges including the
University of Queensland ,
Queensland University of Technology and
Griffith University. Other universities which have campuses in Brisbane include the
Australian Catholic University,
Central Queensland University,
James Cook University, the
University of Canberra, the
University of New South Wales and the
University of Southern Queensland.
Brisbane also has
TAFE colleges including the Bremer Institute of TAFE, Brisbane North Institute of TAFE, Metropolitan South Institute of TAFE and the Southbank Institute of TAFE. Other independent tertiary education providers include the Australian College of Natural Medicine, the Brisbane College of Theology, QANTM and .
Brisbane is covered under the jurisdiction of Education Queensland regarding public primary and high schools.
Culture
Brisbane hosted the
1982 Commonwealth Games and the
World Expo '88.
The
South Bank Parklands established on the former Expo '88 site, is now a lifestyle and entertainment location.
Popular cultureBrisbane has a thriving live music scene. The nightlife also includes pubs, clubs and themed bars. There are two main entertainment areas: "The City" and "The Valley" . Brisbane has produced singers and bands who have performed internationally. The
Popular entertainment in Brisbane article includes information about the nightclub and pub scene, as well as the names of Brisbane pop singers, rock and roll singers and musicians, jazz singers, heavy metal singers, punk singers, and popular musicians, etc.
Classical arts in BrisbaneBrisbane has museums, theatres, performing arts and creative arts. It is the birthplace of opera singers, classical musicians and actors. It has also produced authors, artists and sculptors.
SportBrisbane was traditionally a
rugby league and
Rugby Union city, with the
Brisbane Broncos, who play in the
National Rugby League Premiership, previously being the most-supported team in Rugby League. In Rugby Union, the
Queensland Reds is Queensland's representative team.
The national
Cricket ,
Soccer ,
Basketball and
Australian rules football competitions all have Brisbane-based teams.
With the closure of the Milton Tennis grounds in 1994, Brisbane has been without a major tennis facility until Recently. In 2005, a new A$65 million tennis stadium, to be located in the suburb of Tennyson was approved by the State government and in conjunction with Mirvac constructions is to be constructed starting in May 2006, with a completion date scheduled for December 2008.
Brisbane, which is the birthplace of several Australian sportsmen and sportswomen, also hosted the
1982 Commonwealth Games and the 2001
Goodwill Games.
Annual events in BrisbaneAnnual events held in Brisbane are also drawcards for tourists.
- The Ekka is held each year in August, at the Brisbane Exhibition Ground .
- Warana, , was a former spring festival which began in 1961 and was held in September each year. Run as a celebration of Brisbane, it was similar in many ways to Melbourne's Moomba festival. Warana was changed, in 1996, to a biennial Brisbane Festival, as a lower key event with a focus on the performing arts.
- Paniyiri festival at Musgrave Park . Paniyiri, which is a Greek festival, is held on the first weekend in May.
Landmarks and tourism
Historic landmarksFor a listing of articles about Brisbane's landmarks, and also other articles about Brisbane, please click on the above title.
Buildings of historical significanceBrisbane has many important and historical buildings and structures, some of which date back to
colonial times.
The Windmill, , is one of Brisbane's oldest building. The Windmill, which was originally intended for the grinding of grain, was built by convicts.
The
Shrine of Remembrance, , is Brisbane's main memorial of remembrance to Australia's war dead. The
Shrine of Remembrance has steps leading down to
Anzac Square, where the
Shrine of Memories is located. The
Shrine of Remembrance is located opposite
Central Station in Ann Street.
Modern buildings of importanceMore recent buildings of importance include the
Queensland Cultural Centre at South Bank .
Close by the Queensland Cultural Centre is the
Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre.
Tourist destinationsBrisbane also has many beautiful gardens and parklands.
Popular with tourists are the rock-climbing cliffs which are located at the southern approach to the Story Bridge at
Kangaroo Point, as well as the more than 27 km of bicycle pathways which line both sides of the river east and west of the city centre. Another new Brisbane attraction is the Story Bridge Adventure Climb . The Story Bridge is one of only three legally climbable bridges in the world.
Also popular with tourists are the
South Bank Parklands, which are located on the site of
World Expo '88. The South Bank Parklands is famous for firework displays that attract thousands of spectators. Tourists and locals alike frequent the beautiful bougainvillea lined Riverside Walkway at all times of the year and flock to the area during music and arts festivals. Restaurants, Theatres and Beaches make South Bank a great place to spend a day just minutes away from public transport.
Other popular areas for tourism and recreation include the
Roma Street Parkland, the
Brisbane City Botanic Gardens , and the Mount Coot-tha state forest , the
Brisbane Botanic Gardens and also the Sir Thomas Brisbane Planetarium. Other popular tourist areas are
Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary and
Brisbane Forest Park.
Infrastructure
Health
Brisbane is covered under Queensland Health's "Central" and "Southern" zones. There are 8 major public hospitals in the greater Brisbane area, as well as 4 major private hospitals, and numerous smaller facilities both public and private. Specialist and GP practises are also located in most suburbs and localities in the city.
Utilities
Water storage, treatment and delivery for Brisbane is handled by SEQ Water, which sells on to Brisbane Water for distribution to the greater Brisbane area. Water for the area is stored in one of three dams;
Wivenhoe,
Somerset and North Pine, all of which are at all time lows, causing councils in the South East Queenland area to devise some of the strictest water restrictions in Australia. Brisbane Water also handles sewage treatment and recycled water distribution.
Electricity and Gas in Brisbane are handled by
Energex, a state government organisation, and
Origin Energy, a private company that also handles the gas line grid within the city.
Transport
As Queensland's largest city and state capital, Brisbane has an extensive transportation network within the city, as well as connections to regional centres, interstate and to overseas destinations.
Public Transport in Brisbane is provided by bus, rail and ferry services. Bus services are operated by public and private operators whereas trains and ferries are operated by public agencies. The
Brisbane central business district is the central hub for all public transport services with services focusing on Queen Street Bus Station, Roma Street and Central railway stations, and various city ferries wharves. Brisbane's
CityCat high speed ferry service, popular with tourists and commuters, operates services along the
Brisbane River and in this regard is unusual among Australian cities.
The CityTrain urban rail network consists of 7 suburban lines and covers mostly the west, north and east sides of the city. It also provides the route for an AirTrain service between the City and
Brisbane Airport . Since 2000, Brisbane has been developing a network of
busways 
