City of Melbourne
Encyclopedia
Victoria (Australia)
Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, located in the central city area of Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
. The city has an area of 36 square kilometres and has an estimated population of 93,105 people. The city's motto
Motto
A motto is a phrase meant to formally summarize the general motivation or intention of a social group or organization. A motto may be in any language, but Latin is the most used. The local language is usual in the mottoes of governments...
is "Vires acquirit eundo" which means "She gathers strength as she goes."
The current Lord Mayor is Robert Doyle
Robert Doyle
Robert Keith Bennett Doyle is an Australian politician and the 103rd Lord Mayor of Melbourne, elected on 30 November 2008...
. The Melbourne City Council (MCC) holds office in Melbourne Town Hall
Melbourne Town Hall
Melbourne Town Hall is the central municipal building of the City of Melbourne, Australia, in the State of Victoria. It is located on the northeast corner of Swanston and Collins Streets, in the central business district. It is the seat of the Local Government Area of the City of Melbourne...
.
History
Melbourne was founded in 1835, during the reign of King William IVWilliam IV of the United Kingdom
William IV was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and of Hanover from 26 June 1830 until his death...
, with the arrival of the schooner
Schooner
A schooner is a type of sailing vessel characterized by the use of fore-and-aft sails on two or more masts with the forward mast being no taller than the rear masts....
Enterprize near the present site of the Queen's Wharf, as a barely legal, speculative settlement that broke away from New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
. Unlike other Australian capital cities, Melbourne did not originate under official auspices, instead forming through the foresight of settlers from Tasmania
Tasmania
Tasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart...
.
Having been a province of New South Wales from its establishment in 1835, affairs of the settlement had been administered by the Parliament of New South Wales
Parliament of New South Wales
The Parliament of New South Wales, located in Parliament House on Macquarie Street, Sydney, is the main legislative body in the Australian state of New South Wales . It is a bicameral parliament elected by the people of the state in general elections. The parliament shares law making powers with...
. With the growth of the settlement there had been an increasing demand by the inhabitants for greater autonomy over their own affairs. On 12 August 1842, Melbourne was incorporated as a "town" by Act 6 Victoria No. 7 of the Governor and Legislative Council of New South Wales.
The town of Melbourne was raised to the status of a city by Letters Patent
Letters patent
Letters patent are a type of legal instrument in the form of a published written order issued by a monarch or president, generally granting an office, right, monopoly, title, or status to a person or corporation...
of Queen Victoria
Victoria of the United Kingdom
Victoria was the monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death. From 1 May 1876, she used the additional title of Empress of India....
dated 25 June 1847, five years after its incorporation as a town. The Letters Patent also constituted the Anglican Diocese of Melbourne
Anglican Diocese of Melbourne
The Anglican Diocese of Melbourne is the metropolitan diocese of the Province of Victoria in the Anglican Church of Australia. The diocese includes the urban cities of Melbourne and Geelong and also some more rural areas. The cathedral church is St Paul's Cathedral, Melbourne...
and declared Melbourne a cathedral city
City status in the United Kingdom
City status in the United Kingdom is granted by the British monarch to a select group of communities. The holding of city status gives a settlement no special rights other than that of calling itself a "city". Nonetheless, this appellation carries its own prestige and, consequently, competitions...
. A motion was tabled at a meeting of the Town Council to alter the style and title of Melbourne from a town to a city, a draft Bill was approved and transmitted to the Government for introduction to the Legislature. On 3 August 1849, Act 13 Victoria No. 14 was finally assented to as "An Act to effect a change in the Style and Title of the Corporation of Melbourne rendered necessary by the erection of the Town of Melbourne to a City".
The city's initial boundaries, as set down in Act 8 Victoria No. 12 (19 December 1844) extended from Point Ormond in Elwood
Elwood, Victoria
Elwood is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 8 km south from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Port Phillip...
up Barkly Street and Punt Road
Hoddle Highway
Hoddle Highway is an urban highway in Melbourne linking CityLink and the Eastern Freeway, allotted metropolitan route . The name "Hoddle Highway" is almost completely unknown to most drivers - who refer instead to its constituent parts: Hoddle Street and Punt Road.It starts at the Eastern Freeway...
to the Yarra River
Yarra River
The Yarra River, originally Birrarung, is a river in east-central Victoria, Australia. The lower stretches of the river is where the city of Melbourne was established in 1835 and today Greater Melbourne dominates and influences the landscape of its lower reaches...
, along the river to Merri Creek
Merri Creek
The Merri Creek is a waterway in southern parts of Victoria, Australia which flows through the northern suburbs of Melbourne. It begins in Wallan north of Melbourne and flows south for 70km until it joins the Yarra River at Dights Falls...
at Abbotsford
Abbotsford, Victoria
Abbotsford is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 2 km east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Yarra. At the 2006 Census, Abbotsford had a population of 4,327....
, then west along Brunswick Road to Moonee Ponds Creek, then south past Flemington Bridge to Princes Pier in Port Melbourne
Port Melbourne, Victoria
Port Melbourne is a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 5 km southwest of Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government areas are the cities of Port Phillip and Melbourne. At the 2006 Census, Port Melbourne had a population of 13,293....
. The Act imposed on the Mayor a duty to set up “permanent and conspicuous boundary marks of iron, wood, stone or other durable material” along or near the line of the Town’s boundaries—this was undertaken by Mayor James Frederick Palmer and Town Clerk John Charles King on 4 February 1846.
During the 1850s, Collingwood
City of Collingwood
The City of Collingwood was a Local Government Area located about east-northeast of Melbourne, the state capital of Victoria, Australia. The city covered an area of , and existed from 1855 until 1994.-History:...
, Fitzroy
City of Fitzroy
The City of Fitzroy was a Local Government Area located about northeast of Melbourne, the state capital of Victoria, Australia. The city covered an area of , making it the smallest municipality by land area in Victoria, and existed from 1858 until 1994....
and Richmond
City of Richmond
The City of Richmond was a Local Government Area located about east of Melbourne, the state capital of Victoria, Australia. The city covered an area of , and existed from 1855 until 1994.-History:...
seceded from Melbourne (all are, since 1994, part of the City of Yarra
City of Yarra
The City of Yarra is a Local Government Area in Victoria, Australia, located in the inner eastern and northern suburbs of Melbourne. It has an area of 19.5 square kilometres, and at the 2006 census it had a population of 69,330...
), as did South Melbourne
City of South Melbourne
The City of South Melbourne was a Local Government Area located about south of Melbourne, the state capital of Victoria, Australia, on the south bank of the Yarra River...
, whilst other parts became parts of the neighbouring districts of St Kilda
City of St Kilda
The City of St Kilda was a Local Government Area located on Port Phillip about south of Melbourne, the state capital of Victoria, Australia. The city covered an area of , and existed from 1855 until 1994.-History:...
and Port Melbourne
City of Port Melbourne
The City of Port Melbourne was a Local Government Area located about southwest of Melbourne, the state capital of Victoria, Australia, on the south bank of the Yarra River...
, and the border between Brunswick and Melbourne moved south one block to Park Street.
Edward VII of the United Kingdom
Edward VII was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910...
conferred the title "Lord Mayor" on the mayor of the City of Melbourne.
On 30 October 1905, Melbourne absorbed two neighbouring council areas. Now included in the City was the Borough of Flemington
Flemington, Victoria
Flemington is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, situated between the Maribyrnong River and Moonee Ponds Creek 4 km north-west from Melbourne's central business district. It was named by settler James Watson after Flemington estate in Scotland. Its Local Government Areas are the...
and Kensington
Kensington, Victoria
Kensington is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 4 km north-west from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Melbourne...
which had been formed in 1882 when it broke away from the City of Essendon
City of Essendon
The City of Essendon was a Local Government Area located about northwest of Melbourne, the state capital of Victoria, Australia. The city covered an area of , and existed from 1861 until 1994.-History:...
. The second, the Town of North Melbourne
North Melbourne, Victoria
North Melbourne is a large inner city suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 2 km north-west from Melbourne's central business district. It is bounded by the CityLink freeway to the west, Victoria Street to the south, O'Connell and Peel Streets to the east and Flemington Road to the north. Its...
, formerly known as Hotham, had been established on 30 September 1859 and been granted town status on 18 December 1874. Both town halls are still in use today as public buildings—the former in Kensington near the present-day Newmarket railway station
Newmarket railway station, Melbourne
Newmarket is a railway station in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, located in the suburb of Flemington, on the Craigieburn railway line. Newmarket is classed as a Host station and is in Metcard Zone 1.-Facilities:...
; the latter in Errol Street, North Melbourne.
The Melbourne and Geelong Corporations Act 1938 allowed for three councillors for each of the eleven wards, with a general election held on 24 August 1939. Following a recommendation by the Local Government Advisory Board in 1978, an Order in Council (27 February 1979, effective from 19 May 1979) reduced this to eight wards. In December 1980, the Hamer
Rupert Hamer
Sir Rupert James Hamer, AC, KCMG, ED , generally known until he was knighted in 1982 as Dick Hamer, Australian Liberal Party politician, was the 39th Premier of Victoria, serving from 1972 to 1981.-Early years:...
Government dismissed the council, and appointed three Commissioners to determine how the boundaries could best be altered to produce more effective local government, with special regard to Melbourne's central business district and its importance to the state, as well as to advise changes needed to the constitution, structure, functions and administration. However, in 1982, with the election of a new Labor
Australian Labor Party
The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...
government under John Cain
John Cain II
John Cain , Australian Labor Party politician, was the 41st Premier of Victoria, holding office from 1982 to 1990.-Biography:...
, the Act establishing the commission was repealed, and the Melbourne Corporation (Election of Council) Act 1982 established six wards, for which an election was held on 4 December 1982. Three years later, an additional ward was added.
In 1993, the City of Melbourne Act specified changes to the boundaries which saw Melbourne gain Southbank
Southbank, Victoria
Southbank is an inner city suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia located direct south of the Yarra River opposite Melbourne's Hoddle Grid. The northernmost area is considered part of the Central Business District and Central Activities District of the city. Its Local Government Area are the...
and the Victorian Arts Centre on 18 November 1993, and the city was resubdivided into four wards - Flagstaff, University, Hoddle and Domain. The wards were abolished in 2001, with the council currently having an elected Lord Mayor with a Deputy Lord Mayor and seven other councillors.
In 2005, the council announced the construction of a new 6 star environmental office building Council House 2
Council House 2
Council House 2 , is an office building located at 240 Little Collins Street in the CBD, in Melbourne, Australia. It is occupied by the City of Melbourne council, and in April, 2005, became the first purpose-built office building in Australia to achieve a maximum Six Green Star rating, certified by...
in Little Collins Street.
On 2 July 2007, the City of Melbourne almost doubled in size when the suburb of Docklands was added to its jurisdiction, having been transferred from the administration of the State Government
Government of Victoria
The Government of Victoria, under the Constitution of Australia, ceded certain legislative and judicial powers to the Commonwealth, but retained complete independence in all other areas...
.
In July 2009, Lord Mayor Robert Doyle
Robert Doyle
Robert Keith Bennett Doyle is an Australian politician and the 103rd Lord Mayor of Melbourne, elected on 30 November 2008...
unveiled a new corporate identity for the City of Melbourne, costing $239,558.
Elections
Elections are semi democratic as voting entity eligibility includes, in addition to citizens, various classes of business interests.Councillors
- Robert DoyleRobert DoyleRobert Keith Bennett Doyle is an Australian politician and the 103rd Lord Mayor of Melbourne, elected on 30 November 2008...
(Lord Mayor) - Susan Riley (Deputy Lord Mayor)
- Carl Jetter
- Cathy Oke
- Kevin Louey
- Peter Clarke (resigned in July 2011)
- Ken Ong
- Brian Shanahan
- Jennifer Kanis
- Jacquie Watts (appointed in July 2011 by count-back after resignation of Peter Clarke)
Suburbs
|
Melbourne city centre Melbourne City Centre is an area of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia. It is not to be confused with the larger local government area of the City of Melbourne... North Melbourne, Victoria North Melbourne is a large inner city suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 2 km north-west from Melbourne's central business district. It is bounded by the CityLink freeway to the west, Victoria Street to the south, O'Connell and Peel Streets to the east and Flemington Road to the north. Its... (part) Port Melbourne, Victoria Port Melbourne is a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 5 km southwest of Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government areas are the cities of Port Phillip and Melbourne. At the 2006 Census, Port Melbourne had a population of 13,293.... (part) Parkville, Victoria Parkville is an inner city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 3 km north from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Melbourne. At the 2006 Census, the population was 4,980.... Southbank, Victoria Southbank is an inner city suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia located direct south of the Yarra River opposite Melbourne's Hoddle Grid. The northernmost area is considered part of the Central Business District and Central Activities District of the city. Its Local Government Area are the... South Yarra, Victoria South Yarra is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 4 km south-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area are the Cities of Stonnington and Melbourne... (part) West Melbourne, Victoria West Melbourne is an inner city suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 3 km north-west from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Melbourne... |
Population
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* Estimates in 1958, 1983 and 1988 Victorian Year Books.
Railway stations
|
Royal Park railway station, Melbourne Royal Park is a railway station in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, located in the suburb of Parkville, on the Upfield railway line. Royal Park is unmanned and in Metcard Zone 1.-Facilities:... Southern Cross Station Southern Cross is a major railway station and transport hub in Melbourne Docklands, Victoria, Australia. It is located on Spencer Street between Collins and La Trobe Streets at the western edge of the central business district... (formerly Spencer Street) Showgrounds railway station, Melbourne Showgrounds is a railway station in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is located on the Flemington Racecourse railway line in the suburb of Flemington, adjacent to the Melbourne Showgrounds.... |
Private
- Wesley CollegeWesley College, MelbourneWesley College, Melbourne is an independent, co-educational, Christian day school in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Established in 1866, the college is a school of the Uniting Church in Australia. Wesley is the largest school in Australia by enrolment, with 3,511 students and 564 full-time staff...
- Collins StreetCollins Street, MelbourneCollins Street is a major street in the Melbourne central business district and runs approximately east to west.It is notable as Melbourne's traditional main street and best known street, is often regarded as Australia's premier street, with some of the country's finest Victorian era buildings.The...
Campus (Year 9 City Experience Campus) - Wesley CollegeWesley College, MelbourneWesley College, Melbourne is an independent, co-educational, Christian day school in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Established in 1866, the college is a school of the Uniting Church in Australia. Wesley is the largest school in Australia by enrolment, with 3,511 students and 564 full-time staff...
- St Kilda Road Campuses - Melbourne Grammar SchoolMelbourne Grammar SchoolMelbourne Grammar School is an independent, Anglican, day and boarding school predominantly for boys, located in South Yarra and Caulfield, suburbs of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia....
- Melbourne Girls' Grammar School
Public
- University High SchoolUniversity High School, MelbourneThe University High School is a public, co-educational high school, located in the Melbourne suburb of Parkville.-History:...
- South Yarra Primary School
- Debney Park Secondary Collage
Catholic
- St Aloysius' CollegeSt Aloysius' College (Melbourne)St. Aloysius College is a Roman Catholic, secondary day school, catering for girls from year 7 to 12 in North Melbourne, Victoria Australia. It was established by the Sisters Of Mercy in 1887. The College was named after its patron saint - Aloysius Gonzaga....
- St Joseph's College
- Simonds Catholic CollegeSimonds Catholic CollegeSimonds Catholic College is a Roman Catholic Independent school for boys located in the Melbourne suburb of West Melbourne. Simonds is within walking distance of the Queen Victoria Market. The school consists of two campuses years 7-10 is at the St Marys campus in West Melbourne with years 11-12...
- Eltham CollegeEltham College of EducationEltham College of Education is a private early years, junior and high school with an enrolment of approximately 1,200 students. It is situated in Research, an outer suburb north east of Melbourne, Australia. The current principal is Dr. David Warner.-Campuses:The school is currently divided up...
(Year 9 campus, whole school in 2009)
Sister cities
The City of Melbourne has six sister cities. They are:Osaka, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
(1978) Tianjin
Tianjin
' is a metropolis in northern China and one of the five national central cities of the People's Republic of China. It is governed as a direct-controlled municipality, one of four such designations, and is, thus, under direct administration of the central government...
, China
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
(1980) Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki , historically also known as Thessalonica, Salonika or Salonica, is the second-largest city in Greece and the capital of the region of Central Macedonia as well as the capital of the Decentralized Administration of Macedonia and Thrace...
, Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
(1984) Boston, Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
(1985) Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
(1989) Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
(2004)
Some other local councils in the Melbourne metropolitan area have sister city relationships; see Local Government Areas of Victoria.
See also
- City of Melbourne election, 2008City of Melbourne election, 2008The 2008 City of Melbourne election took place in late November. The new council was sworn in on 4 December 2008.-Lord Mayor and Deputy Lord Mayor:Incumbent: John So ; Gary Singer...
- List of mayors and lord mayors of Melbourne