Brisbane (AU)

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General Post Office Building Queens Street, Brisbane. - By 1863, the new Post Master General Thomas Murray-Prior regarded the Queen Street site as inadequate. He nominated the present site, then containing the former Female Factory, as the most appropriate location for a new General Post Office. Plans were prepared by the Colonial Architect Charles Tiffin, but a severe financial crisis in 1866 halted any further progress. In 1871 tenders were called on a new design prepared by Tiffin's successor FDG Stanley and the contract was awarded to John Petrie. Petrie drew on local materials and expertise in the erection of the new building, using porphyry (probably from Kangaroo Point), sandstone from Murphy's Creek and Breakfast Creek and iron from Smellie & Co for the upper floor colunms and railings. By the end of September 1872, the building was complete - at a cost of £7450. (Brisbane Heritage Citation & Google Maps)

Brisbane 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 2.24 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred on Brisbane, encompasses a population of more than 3 million. The Brisbane central business district stands on the original European settlement and is situated inside a bend of the Brisbane River, approximately 15 kilometres (9 miles) from its mouth at Moreton Bay. The metropolitan area extends in all directions along the floodplain of the Brisbane River valley between Moreton Bay and the Great Dividing Range. The metropolitan area sprawls across several of Australia's most populous local government areas, including the City of Brisbane, which is by far the most populous LGA in the nation. The demonym of Brisbane is Brisbanite.

Brisbane is named after the Brisbane River on which it is located, 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 central business district, which was founded 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. Brisbane has hosted many large cultural, international and sporting events, including the 1982 Commonwealth Games, World Expo '88, the final Goodwill Games in 2001, and the 2014 G-20 summit. As of 2008, Brisbane is classified as a Global city.