Major-General Sir Thomas Brisbane Bt, GCH, GCB, FRS, FRSE
Sir Thomas Brisbane, Governor of New South Wales
6th Governor of New South Wales
In office 1 December 1821 – 1 December 1825
Preceded by	Lachlan Macquarie
Succeeded by	Ralph Darling
Personal details
Born	(1773-07-23)23 July 1773 Largs, Ayrshire, Scotland
Died	27 January 1860(1860-01-27) (aged 86) Largs

Major-General Sir Thomas Makdougall Brisbane, 1st Baronet GCH, GCB, FRS, FRSE (23 July 1773 – 27 January 1860) was Governor of New South Wales (1821-25), as recommended by the Duke of Wellington, with whom he had seen military service.

A keen astronomer, he built Australia's first observatory and encouraged scientific and agricultural training. But jealous rivals smeared his reputation, in league with the Colonial Secretary, Goulburn, and he had to defend his conduct, though an inquest cleared him. A new convict settlement was named after him, and became today's city of Brisbane.

Early life[link]

Brisbane was born at Brisbane House in Noddsdale, near Largs in Ayrshire, Scotland, the son of Sir Thomas Brisbane and Dame Eleanora Brisbane. He was educated in astronomy and mathematics at the University of Edinburgh. He joined the British Army the 38th (1st Staffordshire) Regiment of Foot in 1789 and had a distinguished career in Flanders, the West Indies, Spain and North America. He served under the Duke of Wellington, and in 1813 he was promoted to Major-General. He saw much action during the Peninsular War, including leading a brigade in the 3rd Division that broke through at Battle of Vitoria. He continued as a brigade leader in the War of 1812, where in 1814 he led a brigade at the Battle of Plattsburgh, which Brisbane claimed they could have won if they had been allowed to launch a full infantry attack.^[1] During the battle, he used the Charles C. Platt Homestead as his headquarters.^[2] For his services in the Peninsula, Brisbane received the Army Gold Cross with one clasp for the battles of Vitoria, the Pyrenees, Nivelle, Orthez, and Toulouse; and the silver war medal with one clasp for the Nive.

In November 1819 he married Anna Maria Makdougall. og

Governor[link]

In 1821, on the recommendation of Wellington, Brisbane was appointed Governor of New South Wales, a post he held until 1825. While Governor he tackled the many problems of a rapidly growing and expanding colony. He worked to improve the land grants system and to reform the currency. He set up the first agricultural training college in New South Wales and was the first patron of the New South Wales Agricultural Society. He conducted experiments in growing tobacco, cotton, coffee and New Zealand flax in the colony.

Brisbane took over the government on 1 December 1821, and at once proceeded to carry out some of the reforms recommended in the report of John Thomas Bigge. Brisbane did not always receive loyal support from his administrative officers, and in particular from Frederick Goulburn, the colonial secretary. A reference to Brisbane's dispatch to Earl Bathurst dated 14 May 1825 shows that Bigge's recommendations had been carefully considered, and that many improvements had been made.^[3] Brisbane did not limit his attention to Bigge's report. Early in April 1822 he discovered with some surprise the ease with which grants of land had hitherto been obtained. He immediately introduced a new system under which every grant had the stipulation that for every 100 acres (400,000 m²) granted the grantee would maintain free of expense to the crown one convict labourer. He also encouraged agriculture on government land, streamlined granting of tickets of leave and pardons and introduced, in 1823, a system of calling for supplies by tender. When Dr. Robert Wardell and William Wentworth brought out their paper the Australian in 1824, Brisbane tried the experiment of allowing full latitude of the freedom of the press.

In 1823 Brisbane sent Lieutenant John Oxley to find a new site for convicts who were repeat offenders. Oxley discovered a large river flowing into Moreton Bay. A year later, the first convicts arrived at Moreton Bay. Brisbane visited the settlement in 1826. Oxley suggested that both the river and the settlement be named after Brisbane. The convict settlement was declared a town in 1834 and opened to free settlement in 1839.

Brisbane was doing useful work, but he could not escape the effects of the constant faction fights which also plagued previous governors. Henry G. Douglass, the assistant-surgeon, was the centre of one of the bitter conflicts. Consequently, charges of various kinds against Brisbane were sent to England. The worst of these, that he had connived at sending female convicts to Emu Plains for immoral purposes, was investigated by William Stewart, the lieutenant-governor, John Stephen, assistant judge, and the Rev. William Cowper, senior assistant-chaplain, and found to be without the slightest foundation. Brisbane discovered that Goulburn, the colonial secretary, had been withholding documents from him and answering some without reference to the governor, and in 1824 reported his conduct to Lord Bathurst. In reply, Bathurst recalled both the governor and the colonial secretary in dispatches dated 29 December 1824.

Later years[link]

Brisbane left Sydney in December 1825 and returned to Scotland. In 1826 he added the name of Makdougall before Brisbane, and settled down to the life of a country gentleman and took interest in science, his estate, and his regiment. He was elected president of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (1832) in succession to Sir Walter Scott, and in 1836 he was created a baronet. In the same year he was offered the command of the troops stationed in Canada and two years later the chief command in India, but declined both. He continued his astronomical researches, and did valuable work.

He was the first patron of science in Australia, and as such was eulogised by Sir John Herschel when he presented Brisbane with the gold medal of the Royal Astronomical Society in 1828. Oxford and Cambridge Universities gave him the honorary degree of DCL, and he was elected a fellow of the Royal Societies of both London and Edinburgh. He was created KCB in 1814 and GCB in 1837.

The Brisbane family vault in Largs.

Brisbane was a keen astronomer throughout his career. He had an observatory built at his ancestral home in 1808. From this observatory he was able to contribute to the advances in navigation which took place over the next hundred years. He took all his instruments and two astronomical assistants, Carl Ludwig Christian Rümker and James Dunlop to New South Wales with him, first properly equipped Australian observatory at Parramatta. While waiting for Macquarie to complete his final arrangements, interested himself in making astronomical observations. In 1822 he established an observatory at Parramatta west of Sydney. In 1828 he won the Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society. He published The Brisbane Catalogue of 7,385 stars of the Southern Hemisphere in 1835. The Observatory was used until 1855.

When Brisbane returned to Scotland he continued his studies and built a further observatory on his wife's estate, Makerstoun, near Kelso in the Borders. He was a member of the Royal Society of Edinburgh and received their Keith Prize in 1848. He was elected president in 1833 after the death of Sir Walter Scott, and in the following year acted as president of the British Association for the Advancement of Science. He founded a gold medal for the encouragement of scientific research to be awarded by the Royal Society of Edinburgh.

Brisbane died much respected and honoured on 27 January 1860 in Largs. His four children predeceased him. He is buried in the Brisbane Aisle Vault, which is in the small kirkyard next to Skelmorlie Aisle, Largs Old Kirk.

Named after Thomas Brisbane[link]

Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article Brisbane, Sir Thomas Makdougall.

The following features are named after Thomas Brisbane:

• The Brisbane River and the city of Brisbane in Australia, the Queensland state capital. (The city of Brisbane, California may in turn have been named after Brisbane, Queensland, but the derivation is disputed.)
• The Sir Thomas Brisbane Planetarium (in Brisbane, Australia).
• The crater Brisbane on the Moon.
• Noddsdale, the valley near Largs where his birthplace Brisbane House was situated, was renamed Brisbane Glen in his honour.^[4]
• Brisbane Street, Greenock
• The Canberra suburb of Isabella Plains is named after Sir Thomas's daughter Isabella Brisbane.
• The Brisbane House Hotel in Largs, a town located by the sea in North Ayrshire, Scotland.
• The Thomas Makdougall Brisbane bridge in Largs
• The Makdougall Brisbane prize of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.

Many other uses of Brisbane derive from the Australian city and hence are indirectly named after Thomas Brisbane.

References[link]

This article includes a list of references, related reading or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. Please improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (April 2009)

• J. D. Heydon, 'Brisbane, Sir Thomas Makdougall (1773–1860)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 1, MUP, 1966, pp 151–155.
• Serle, Percival (1949). "Brisbane, Sir Thomas Makdougall". Dictionary of Australian Biography. Sydney: Angus and Robertson. http://gutenberg.net.au/dictbiog/0-dict-biogBr-By.html#brisbane1. 

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Thomas Brisbane

• Mennell, Philip (1892). " Brisbane, General Sir Thos. Makdougall". The Dictionary of Australasian Biography. London: Hutchinson & Co. Wikisource 

v t e Governors of New South Wales Before Federation Phillip Hunter King Bligh Macquarie Brisbane Darling Bourke Gipps FitzRoy Denison Young Belmore Robinson Loftus Carrington Jersey Duff Hampden Beauchamp After Federation Rawson Chelmsford Strickland Davidson de Chair Game Hore-Ruthven Anderson Wakehurst Northcott Woodward Cutler Rowland Martin Sinclair Samuels Bashir

Brisbane Queensland
The Brisbane skyline from Kangaroo Point
Brisbane
Population:	2,074,222 (2011)[1] (3rd)
• Density:	346.0/km² (896.1/sq mi) (2006)[2]
Established:	1824
Coordinates:	27°28′22″S 153°01′40″E / 27.47278°S 153.02778°E / -27.47278; 153.02778Coordinates: 27°28′22″S 153°01′40″E / 27.47278°S 153.02778°E / -27.47278; 153.02778
Area:	5904.8 km² (2,279.9 sq mi) [3]
Time zone:	AEST (UTC+10)
Location:	931 km (578 mi) N of Sydney 1692 km (1,051 mi) NNE of Melbourne 1969 km (1,223 mi) NE of Adelaide 4262 km (2,648 mi) E of Perth 1450 km (901 mi) NNE of Canberra
LGA:	Brisbane Ipswich Logan Moreton Bay Redland Scenic Rim (part)
Region:	South East Queensland
County:	Stanley, Canning, Ward
State electorate:	41 divisions
Federal Division:	17 divisions
Mean max temp Mean min temp Annual rainfall 26.4 °C 80 °F 16.2 °C 61 °F 965.7 mm 38 in

Brisbane ( /ˈbrɪzbən/)^[4] is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of approximately 2.1 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of more than 3 million.^[5] The Brisbane central business district stands on the original European settlement and is situated inside a bend of the Brisbane River, approximately 23 km (14 mi) from its mouth at Moreton Bay. The metropolitan area extends in all directions along the floodplain of the Brisbane River valley between the bay and the Great Dividing Range. While the metropolitan area is governed by several municipalities, a large portion of central Brisbane is governed by the Brisbane City Council, which is by far Australia's largest Local Government Area by population. The demonym of Brisbane is Brisbanite.

Brisbane is named after the river on which it sits, which, in turn, was named after Scotsman Sir Thomas Brisbane, the Governor of New South Wales from 1821 to 1825. The first European settlement in Queensland was a penal colony at Redcliffe, 28 kilometres (17 mi) north of the Brisbane central business district, in 1824. That settlement was soon abandoned and moved to North Quay in 1825. Free settlers were permitted from 1842. Brisbane was chosen as the capital when Queensland was proclaimed a separate colony from New South Wales in 1859.

The city played a central role in the Allied campaign during World War II as the South West Pacific headquarters for General Douglas MacArthur. Furthermore, Brisbane has hosted many large cultural and sporting events, including the 1982 Commonwealth Games, World Expo '88 and the final Goodwill Games in 2001. Brisbane is the largest economy between Sydney and Singapore, and as of 2008 is classified as a Global city.^[6] It was also rated the 16th most livable city in the world in 2009 by the Economist Intelligence Unit.

History[link]

The Old Windmill in Wickham Park, built by convicts in 1824.

RAAF recruits marching along Queen Street, August 1940.

Nineteenth century[link]

Prior to European settlement, the Brisbane area was inhabited by the Turrbal and Jagera people.^[7] They knew the area that is now the central business district as Mian-jin, meaning "place shaped as a spike".^[8] The Moreton Bay area was initially explored by Matthew Flinders. On 17 July 1799, Flinders landed at what is now known as Woody Point, which he named "Red Cliff Point", after the red-coloured cliffs visible from the bay.^[9] In 1823, Governor of New South Wales, Thomas Brisbane, instructed that a new northern penal settlement be developed, and an exploration party led by John Oxley further explored Moreton Bay.^[10]

Oxley discovered, named and explored the Brisbane River as far as Goodna, 20 kilometres (12 mi) upstream from the Brisbane central business district.^[10] Oxley recommended Red Cliff Point for the new colony, reporting that ships could land at any tide and easily get close to the shore.^[11] The party settled in Redcliffe on 13 September 1824, under the command of Lieutenant Henry Miller with 14 soldiers (some with wives and children) and 29 convicts. However, this settlement was abandoned after a year, and the colony was moved to a site on the Brisbane River now known as North Quay, 28 kilometres (17 mi) south, which offered a more reliable water supply. Chief Justice Forbes gave the new settlement the name of Edenglassie before it was named Brisbane.^[12] Non-convict European settlement of the Brisbane region commenced in 1838.^[13] German missionaries settled at Zions Hill, Nundah, as early as 1837, five years before Brisbane was officially declared a free settlement. The band consisted of two ministers, Christopher Eipper (1813–1894) and Carl Wilhelm Schmidt, and lay missionaries Haussmann, Johann Gottried Wagner, Niquet, Hartenstein, Zillman, Franz, Rode, Doege and Schneider.^[14] They were allocated 260 hectares and set about establishing the mission, which became known as the German Station.^[15]

Free settlers entered the area over the following five years and by the end of 1840 Robert Dixon began work on the first plan of Brisbane Town, in anticipation of future development.^[16] Queensland was proclaimed a separate colony on 6 June 1859,^[17] with Brisbane chosen as its capital, although it was not incorporated as a city until 1902.

Twentieth century[link]

ANZAC Square and the Shrine of Remembrance in 1930.

World Expo 88 at South Bank Parklands.

Over twenty small municipalities and shires were amalgamated in 1925, to form the City of Brisbane, governed by the Brisbane City Council.^[18][19] 1930 was a significant year for Brisbane, with the completion of Brisbane City Hall, then the city's tallest building and the Shrine of Remembrance, in ANZAC Square, which has become Brisbane's main war memorial.^[20] These historic buildings along with the Story Bridge, opened in 1940^[21] are key landmarks that help define the character of the city.

During World War II, Brisbane became central to the Allied campaign when the AMP Building (now called MacArthur Central) was used as the South West Pacific headquarters for General Douglas MacArthur, chief of the Allied Pacific forces, until his headquarters were moved to Hollandia in August 1944. MacArthur had previously rejected use of the University of Queensland complex as his headquarters, as the distinctive bends in the river at St Lucia could have aided enemy bombers. Also used as a headquarters by the American troops during World War II was the T & G Building.^[22] Approximately 1 million US troops passed through Australia during the war, as the primary coordination point for the South West Pacific.^[23] In 1942 Brisbane was the site of a violent clash between visiting US military personnel and Australian servicemen and civilians which resulted in one death and several injuries. This incident became known colloquially as the Battle of Brisbane.^[24]

Postwar Brisbane had developed a "big country town" stigma, an image the city's politicians and marketers were very keen to remove.^[25] In the late 1950s an anonymous poet known as The Brisbane Bard generated much attention on the city which helped to shake this stigma.^[26][27] Despite steady growth, Brisbane's development was punctuated by infrastructure problems. The State government under Joh Bjelke-Petersen began a major program of change and urban renewal, beginning with the central business district and inner suburbs. Trams in Brisbane were a popular mode of public transport, until the network was closed in 1969, leaving Melbourne as the last Australian city to operate a tram network. The 1974 Brisbane flood was a major disaster which temporarily crippled the city. During this era, Brisbane grew and modernised rapidly becoming a destination of interstate migration. Some of Brisbane's popular landmarks were lost, including the Bellevue Hotel in 1979 and Cloudland in 1982, demolished in controversial circumstances by the Deen Brothers demolition crew. Major public works included the Riverside Expressway, the Gateway Bridge, and later, the redevelopment of South Bank, starting with the Queensland Art Gallery.

Brisbane hosted the 1982 Commonwealth Games and the 1988 World Exposition (known locally as World Expo 88). These events were accompanied by a scale of public expenditure, construction and development not previously seen in the state of Queensland.^[28][29] Brisbane's population growth has exceeded the national average every year since 1990 at an average rate of around 2.2% per year.

Twenty-first century[link]

After two decades of record population growth, Brisbane was again hit by a major flood in January 2011. The Brisbane River did not reach the same height as the previous 1974 flood but still caused extensive damage and disruption to the city.^[30][31]

Geography[link]

Satellite image of Brisbane Metropolitan Area.

Brisbane is in the southeast corner of Queensland, Australia. The city is centred along the Brisbane River, and its eastern suburbs line the shores of Moreton Bay. The greater Brisbane region is on the coastal plain east of the Great Dividing Range. Brisbane's metropolitan area sprawls along the Moreton Bay floodplain from Caboolture in the north to Beenleigh in the south, and across to Ipswich in the south west.

The city of Brisbane is based on a hilly surface.^[32] The urban area, including the central business district, are partially elevated by spurs of the Herbert Taylor Range, such as the summit of Mount Coot-tha, reaching up to 300 metres (980 ft) and the smaller Enoggera Hill. Other prominent rises in Brisbane are Mount Gravatt and nearby Toohey Mountain. Mount Petrie at 170 metres (560 ft) and the lower rises of Highgate Hill, Mount Ommaney, Stephens Mountain and Whites Hill are dotted across the city.

The city is on a low-lying floodplain.^[33] Many suburban creeks criss-cross the city, increasing the risk of flooding. The city has suffered three major floods since colonisation, in February 1893, January 1974, and January 2011. The 1974 Brisbane flood occurred partly as a result of "Cyclone Wanda". Heavy rain had fallen continuously for three weeks before the Australia Day weekend flood (26 – 27 January 1974).^[34] The flood damaged many parts of the city, especially the suburbs of Oxley, Bulimba, Rocklea, Coorparoo, Toowong and New Farm. The City Botanic gardens were inundated, leading to a new colony of mangroves forming in the City Reach of the Brisbane River.^[35]

Urban structure[link]

Brisbane's skyline, viewed from Kangaroo Point is one of the most extensive in the Southern hemisphere.

The Brisbane central business district (CBD) lies in a curve of the Brisbane river. The CBD covers 2.2 km² (0.8 sq mi) and is walkable. Central streets are named after members of the royal family. Queen Street is Brisbane's traditional main street. Streets named after female members (Adelaide, Alice, Ann, Charlotte, Elizabeth, Margaret, Mary) run parallel to Queen Street and Queen Street Mall (named in honour of Queen Victoria) and perpendicular to streets named after male members (Albert, Edward, George, William). The city has retained some heritage buildings dating back to 1820's. The Old Windmill, in Wickham Park, built by convict labour in 1824,^[36][37] is the oldest surviving building in Brisbane. The Old Windmill was originally used for the grinding of grain and a punishment for the convicts who manually operated the grinding mill. The Old Windmill tower’s other significant claim to fame, largely ignored, is that the first television signals in the southern hemisphere were transmitted from it by experimenters in April 1934 – long before TV commenced in most places. These experimental TV broadcasts continued until World War II.^[36] The Old Commissariat Store, on William Street, built by convict labour in 1828, was originally used partly as a grainhouse, has also been a hostel for immigrants and used for the storage of records. Built with Brisbane tuff from the nearby Kangaroo Point Cliffs and sandstone from a quarry near today's Albion Park Racecourse, it is now the home of the Royal Historical Society of Brisbane. It contains a museum and can also be hired for small functions.^[38][39][40] The city has a density of 379.4 people per square kilometre, which is high for an Australian city and comparable to that of Sydney. However like many western cities, Brisbane sprawls into the greater metropolitan area. This results from 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. 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.^[41] The high density housing that historically existed came in the form of miniature Queenslander-style houses which resemble the much larger traditional styles but are sometimes only one quarter the size. These miniature Queenslanders are becoming scarce but can still be seen in the inner city suburbs. Multi residence accommodations (such as apartment blocks) are relatively new to Brisbane, with few such blocks built before 1970, other than in inner suburbs such as New Farm. Pre-1950 housing was often built in a distinctive architectural style known as a Queenslander, featuring timber construction with large verandahs and high ceilings. The relatively low cost 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 (also called "stilts"), that were originally timber, but are now frequently replaced by steel or concrete. Brisbane is home to several of Australia's tallest buildings. Brisbane's tallest buildings are Soleil at 243 metres, Aurora Tower at 207 metres, Riparian Plaza at 200 metres, One One One Eagle Street at 195 metres, and Infinity, at 249 metres, which is currently under construction.^[42]

Walter Taylor Bridge (road) (left), Albert Bridge (rail) (centre), unnamed bridge (rail) (right), Jack Pesch Bridge (far right) Eleanor Schonell Bridge (Green Bridge) (pedestrians, pedal cycles, buses) Merivale Bridge (rail) William Jolly Bridge (road) Victoria Bridge Captain Cook Bridge Story Bridge Pacific Motorway Suncorp Stadium (Lang Park) (Rugby league/Rugby Union/Soccer ground) Norman Creek (Anglican Church Grammar School) Oxley Creek Brisbane River Indooroopilly Shoppingtown "The Gabba" (Brisbane Cricket Ground) South Bank arts and recreation precinct Central business district University of Queensland (UQ) St Lucia Campus City Botanic Gardens Queensland University of Technology (QUT) Gardens Point Campus Goodwill Bridge (pedestrians and pedal cycles) The Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital and the Royal Children's Hospital Mater Private Hospital Roma Street Rail Station Roma Street Parkland New Farm Park and Powerhouse Victoria Park Golf Course Brisbane Exhibition Ground Brisbane Riverwalk (Destroyed in 2011 floods) Inner City Bypass (rail) (left) (road) (right) Indooroopilly Golf Course (Long Pocket)

Climate[link]

This detailed astronaut photograph illustrates flooding in suburbs of the Brisbane metropolitan region during early 2011.

Brisbane has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen climate classification Cfa) with warm to hot and humid summers and dry, moderately warm winters.^[43][44] From November to March, thunderstorms are common over Brisbane, with the more severe events accompanied by large damaging hail stones, torrential rain and destructive winds.

The city's highest recorded temperature was 43.2 °C (110 °F) on 26 January 1940. On 19 July 2007, Brisbane's temperature fell below the freezing point for the first time since records began, registering −0.1 °C (31.8 °F) at the airport.^[45] In 2009 Brisbane recorded its hottest winter day at 35.4 °C (95.7 °F) on 24 August.^[46] Brisbane's wettest day occurred on 21 January 1887, when 465 millimetres (18.3 in) of rain fell on the city, the highest maximum daily rainfall of Australia's capital cities.

From 2001 until 2010, Brisbane and surrounding temperate areas had been experiencing the most severe drought in over a century, with dam levels dropping to 16.9% of their capacity on 10 August 2007. Residents were mandated by local laws to observe level 6 water restrictions on gardening and other outdoor water usage. Per capita water usage is below 140 litres per day, giving Brisbane one of the lowest per capita usages of water of any developed city in the world.^[47] On Sunday 9 January 2011, an upper low crossed north of Brisbane and dropped rainfall on an already saturated southeast coast of Queensland, resulting in severe flooding and damage in Brisbane and the surrounding area,^[48] ironically the same storm season also resulted in the water storage climbing to over 98% of maximum capacity and breaking the drought.^[49] Water restrictions have been replaced with water conservation measures that aim at a target of 200 litres per day/per person, but consumption is rarely over 160 litres. Dust storms in Brisbane are extremely rare; on 23 September 2009, however, a severe dust storm blanketed Brisbane, as well as other parts of eastern Australia.^[50][51]

Brisbane also lies in the Tropical Cyclone risk area. Although cyclones hitting Brisbane are rare, they have happened in the past. The last cyclone to affect Brisbane but not directly cross the city was Tropical Cyclone Hamish in March 2009, although the cyclone remained approx 350 km (220 mi) north of Brisbane^[52] but caused significant damage to beaches and caused the worst oil spill in Moreton Bay.^[53] Average annual temperature of the sea is 24 °C (75 °F), from 21 °C (70 °F) in July to 27 °C (81 °F) in February.^[54]

In November 2011, Brisbane saw 22 days with no recorded rainfall, which is the driest start to November since 1919.^[55]

Governance[link]

Brisbane City Hall home to the Museum of Brisbane and Brisbane City Council offices.

Parliament House, the home of Queensland's state legislature.

Unlike other Australian capital cities, a large portion of the greater metropolitan area of Brisbane is controlled by a single local government area, the City of Brisbane. Since the creation of the City of Brisbane in 1925 the urban areas of Brisbane have expanded considerably past the council boundaries.^[57] The City is by far the largest local government body (in terms of population and budget) in Australia. It was formed by the merger of twenty smaller LGAs in 1925, and covers an area of 1,367 km² (528 sq mi). The Council's annual budget is approximately AUD 1.6 billion, and it has an asset base of AUD 13 billion.^[58] The remainder of the metropolitan area falls into the LGAs of Logan City to the south, Moreton Bay Region in the northern suburbs, the City of Ipswich to the south west, Redland City to the south east on the bayside, with a small strip to the far west in the Scenic Rim Region.

Economy[link]

Skyscrapers under construction in the Brisbane CBD.

Brisbane has the largest economy of any city between Sydney and Singapore, which includes cities like Jakarta, Darwin, Townsville and Cairns, and has seen consistent economic growth in recent years as a result of the resources boom. White-collar industries include information technology, financial services, higher 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, including 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.^[59]

Since 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" initiative.^[60] 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 (UQ) 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 (QUT) Campus at Kelvin Grove with the establishment of the Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation (IHBI).^[61]

Brisbane is one of the major business hubs in Australia.^[62] Most major Australian companies, as well as numerous international companies, have contact offices in Brisbane, while numerous electronics businesses have distribution hubs in and around the city. DHL Global's Oceanic distribution warehouse is located in Brisbane, as is Asia Pacific Aerospace's headquarters. Home grown major companies include Suncorp-Metway Limited, Flight Centre, Sunsuper, Orrcon, Credit Union Australia, Boeing Australia, Donut King, Wotif.com, WebCentral, PIPE Networks, Krome Studios, NetBox Blue, Mincom Limited, TechnologyOne and Virgin Australia. Brisbane has the fourth highest median household income of the Australian capital cities at AUD 57,772.^[63]

Retail[link]

Queen Street Mall.

Brisbane has a range of retail precincts, both in the Central Business District and in surrounding suburbs. The Queen Street Mall has a vast array of cafes, restaurants, cinemas, gift shops and shopping centres including: Wintergarden, Broadway on the Mall, QueensPlaza, Brisbane Arcade, Queen Adelaide Building, Tattersalls Arcade and The Myer Centre. Edward St, in the city, is home to many luxury international retailers, such as Louis Vuitton, Tiffany and Co., Hermès, Gucci, Bally, Montblanc, Canali, Maxmara, Oroton, Polo Ralph Lauren, Bvlgari, and Hugo Boss. The majority of retail business is done within the suburbs of Brisbane in shopping centres which include major department store chains. The largest shopping centres by area are located in the suburbs of Chermside, Upper Mount Gravatt, Carindale and Indooroopilly. Other large shopping centres are located in Toombul (Centro Toombul), Mitchelton (Brookside Shopping Centre), North Lakes (Westfield North Lakes), Strathpine (Westfield Strathpine) and Loganholme (Logan Hyperdome).

Port of Brisbane[link]

The Port of Brisbane is on the lower reaches of the Brisbane River and on Fisherman's Island at the rivers mouth, and is the 3rd most important port in Australia for value of goods.^[64] Container freight, sugar, grain, coal and bulk liquids are the major exports. Most of the port facilities are less than three decades old and some are built on reclaimed mangroves and wetlands.

The Port is a part of the Australia TradeCoast, the country's fastest-growing economic development area.^[65] Geographically, Australia TradeCoast occupies a large swathe of land around the airport and port. Commercially, the area has attracted a mix of companies from throughout the Asia Pacific region.^[65]

Demographics[link]

Significant overseas born populations[66]
Country of birth	Population (2006)
United Kingdom	95,315
New Zealand	73,128
South Africa	12,824
Vietnam	11,857
China	11,418
Spain	10,880
Philippines	9,871
Germany	8,645
India	7,549
Netherlands	7,014
Fiji	6,791
Papua New Guinea	6,706
Italy	6,704
Malaysia	6,686
United States	6,057
Hong Kong	6,036
South Korea	4,841
Sri Lanka	4,806

The statistical division of Brisbane includes much of Brisbane's Local Government Area as well as the cities of Ipswich, Moreton Bay, Logan City and Redland City which demographically are part of a single conurbation. The 2006 census reported 1,763,131 residents within the Brisbane Statistical Division, making it the third largest city in Australia.^[68] Brisbane recorded the largest growth rate of all capital cities in the last Census, with an annual growth rate of 2.2%.^[69] The median age across the city was 35 years.^[3]

The 2006 census showed that 1.7% of Brisbane's population were of indigenous origin and 21.7% were born overseas. Of those born outside of Australia, the three main countries of birth were New Zealand, South Africa, and the United Kingdom.

Approximately 16.1% of households spoke a language other than English, with the most common languages being Mandarin 1.1%, Vietnamese 0.9%, Cantonese 0.9%, Italian 0.6% and Samoan 0.5%. Areas of significant overseas populations include the southern suburbs of Brisbane. Moorooka is home to many residents of African descent. Most of the Vietnamese population reside in the suburbs of Darra and Inala. Sunnybank is where the majority of Brisbane's Chinese population reside, consisting mainly of people from Republic of China (Taiwan) and Hong Kong, while those from China, Malaysia and other Southeast Asian countries are often found not in one particular area but all around Brisbane, especially in the southern suburbs. Brisbane has the highest population of Taiwanese Australian citizens. It has been estimated that the population has grown to an estimated 35 000+, making them the highest Asian population in Brisbane. Consequently, Sunnybank and its surrounding suburbs have often been dubbed as the "Real Chinatown" and "Taiwan Town".

The inner southern suburbs were considered the most densely populated areas of people with Southern European heritage, primarily Greece and Italy, as well as Cyprus and other nations in Southeastern Europe. New Farm was historically home to many of Brisbane's early Italian community. There are also a major number of Indians, Filipinos, Dutch, Hispanics, Germans, Koreans, Papua New Guineans, Fijians and other Pacific Islander communities in the city.

Education[link]

The Forgan Smith Building and the Great Court, University of Queensland.

Brisbane has multi-campus universities and colleges including the University of Queensland, Queensland University of Technology and Griffith University, all among Australia's highest rated universities. Other universities which have campuses in Brisbane include the Australian Catholic University, Central Queensland University, James Cook University, JMC Academy, University of Southern Queensland and the University of the Sunshine Coast.

There are three major TAFE colleges in Brisbane; the Brisbane North Institute of TAFE, the Metropolitan South Institute of TAFE, and the Southbank Institute of TAFE.^[70] Brisbane is also home to numerous other independent tertiary providers, including the Australian College of Natural Medicine, the Brisbane College of Theology, QANTM, as well as Jschool: Journalism Education & Training.

Many of Brisbane's preschool, primary, and secondary schools are run under the jurisdiction of Education Queensland, a branch of the Queensland Government.^[71] There are also a large number of independent (private), Roman Catholic, and other Christian run schools.

Culture[link]

Arts and entertainment[link]

Brisbane has a substantial live music scene, both popular and classical. The Queensland Performing Arts Centre (QPAC), which is located at South Bank, consists of the Lyric Theatre, a Concert Hall, Cremorne Theatre and the Playhouse Theatre and is home to the Queensland Ballet, Opera Queensland, Queensland Theatre Company, and the Queensland Symphony Orchestra. The Queensland Conservatorium, in which professional companies and Conservatorium students also stage performances, is located within the South Bank Parklands. Numerous choirs present performances across the city annually. These choirs include the Brisbane Chorale, Queensland Choir, Brisbane Chamber Choir, Canticum Chamber Choir, Brisbane Concert Choir, Imogen Children's Chorale and Brisbane Birralee Voices. Due to the lack of a suitable purpose built performance venue for choral music, these choirs typically perform in the city's many churches.

The Queensland Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA), opened in December 2006, is one of the latest additions to the South Bank precinct and houses some of the most well-known pieces of modern art from within and outside Australia. GOMA is the largest modern art gallery in Australia. GOMA holds the Asia Pacific Triennial (APT) which focuses on contemporary art from the Asia and Pacific in a variety of media from painting to video work. In Addition, its size enables the gallery to exhibit particularly large shows — the Andy Warhol exhibition being the largest survey of his work in Australia. GOMA also boasts Australia's largest purpose-built Cinémathèque. The Gallery of Modern Art is located next to the State Library of Queensland and the Queensland Art Gallery. Along with Beijing, Berlin, Birmingham and Marseille, Brisbane was nominated as one of the Top 5 International Music Hotspots by Billboard in 2007. There are also popular entertainment pubs and clubs within both the City and Fortitude Valley.^[72][73]

The Brisbane Powerhouse in New Farm and the Judith Wright Centre of Contemporary Arts on Brunswick Street in Fortitude Valley also feature diverse programs featuring exhibitions and festivals of visual art, music and dance. The La Boite Theatre Company performs at the Roundhouse Theatre at Kelvin Grove. Twelfth Night Theatre at Bowen Hills is also a professional theatre. There are numerous amateur theatre groups in Brisbane. The oldest is the Brisbane Arts Theatre which was founded in 1936. It has a regular adult and children's theatre and is located in Petrie Terrace.

Annual events[link]

Fireworks over the South Bank Parklands

Major cultural events in Brisbane include the Ekka (the Royal Queensland Exhibition), held each August, and the Riverfestival, held each September at South Bank Parklands and surrounding areas. Warana, (meaning Blue Skies), was a former spring festival which began in 1961 and was held in September each year. Run as a celebration of Brisbane, Warana was similar to Melbourne's Moomba festival. In 1996 the annual festival was changed to a biennial Brisbane Festival.^[74] The Brisbane International Film Festival (BIFF) is held in July/August in a variety of venues around Brisbane. BIFF features new films and retrospectives by domestic and international filmmakers along with seminars and awards.

The Paniyiri festival at Musgrave Park (corner of Russell and Edmondstone Streets, South Brisbane) is an annual Greek cultural festival held on the first weekend in May. The Brisbane Medieval Fayre and Tournament is held each June in Musgrave Park. The Valley Fiesta is an annual three-day event organised by the Valley Chamber of Commerce. It was launched by Brisbane Marketing in 2002 to promote Fortitude Valley as a hub for arts and youth culture. It features free live music, market stalls, food and drink from many local restaurants and cafés, and other entertainment. The Bridge to Brisbane fun run has become a major annual charity event for Brisbane.

Tourism and recreation[link]

Sir Thomas Brisbane Planetarium at the base of Mount Coot-tha.

Tourism plays a major role in Brisbane's economy, being the third-most popular destination for international tourists after Sydney and Melbourne.^[75] Popular tourist and recreation areas in Brisbane include the South Bank Parklands, Roma Street Parkland, the City Botanic Gardens, Brisbane Forest Park and Portside Wharf. The Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary opened in 1927 and was the world's first koala sanctuary.^[76]