City of Brisbane

City of Brisbane Queensland
Map of Brisbane City in South East Queensland
Flag of the City of Brisbane
Coordinates	27°28′S 153°07′E / 27.47°S 153.12°E / -27.47; 153.12Coordinates: 27°28′S 153°07′E / 27.47°S 153.12°E / -27.47; 153.12
Population	1,131,155 (2016 census)[1] (1st)
• Density	882/km2 (2,280/sq mi)
Established	1924
Area	1,342.7 km2 (518.4 sq mi)
Lord Mayor	Graham Quirk
Council seat	Brisbane CBD (City Hall)
Region	South East Queensland
State electorate(s)	Algester, Aspley, Bulimba, Chatsworth, Clayfield, Cooper, Everton, Ferny Grove, Greenslopes, Inala, Indooroopilly, Lytton, Mansfield, McConnel, Moggill, Mount Coot-tha, Mount Ommaney, Nudgee, Sandgate, South Brisbane, Stafford, Stretton, Sunnybank, Yeerongpilly
Federal Division(s)	Brisbane, Bonner, Griffith, Lilley, Moreton, Oxley, Petrie, Ryan
Website	City of Brisbane
LGAs around City of Brisbane: Somerset Moreton Bay Moreton Bay Somerset City of Brisbane Moreton Bay Ipswich Logan Redland

The City of Brisbane is a local government area that has jurisdiction over the inner portion of the metropolitan area of Brisbane, the capital of Queensland, Australia. Brisbane is located in the county of Stanley and is the largest city followed by Ipswich with bounds in part of the county. Unlike LGAs in the other mainland state capitals (Sydney, Melbourne, Perth and Adelaide), which are generally responsible only for the central business districts and inner neighbourhoods of those cities, the City of Brisbane administers a significant portion of the Brisbane metropolitan area, serving almost half of the population of the Brisbane Greater Capital City Statistical Area (GCCSA, formerly statistical division). As such, it has a larger population than any other local government area in Australia.^[2] The City of Brisbane was the first Australian LGA to reach a population of more than one million.^[3] Its population is roughly equivalent to the populations of Tasmania, the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory combined. In 2016–2017, the council administers a budget of over $3 billion,^[4] by far the largest budget of any LGA in Australia.

The City derives from cities, towns and shires that merged in 1925. The main offices and Central Library of the Council are at 266 George Street, also known as Brisbane Square. Brisbane City Hall houses the Council Chamber, the offices of the Lord Mayor and Deputy Mayor, meeting and reception rooms and the Museum of Brisbane.

Wards

As of the election on 19 March 2016, the twenty-six wards, their councillors and their party affiliations were:^[5]

Suburbs

The City of Brisbane includes the following settlements:

History

Map of Brisbane at time of amalgamation

Story Bridge and Brisbane River, 2006

Brisbane City Hall in the 1930s

Former council offices, 2010

The Government of Queensland created the City of Brisbane with a view to uniting the then Brisbane metropolitan area under a single planning and governance structure. The City of Brisbane Act 1924 received assent from the Governor on 30 October 1924. On 1 October 1925, 20 local government areas of various sizes were abolished and merged into the new city,^[13] namely:

• Cities:
  • Brisbane
  • South Brisbane
• Towns:
  • Hamilton
  • Ithaca
  • Sandgate
  • Toowong
  • Windsor
  • Wynnum
• Shires:
  • Balmoral
  • Belmont
  • Coorparoo
  • Enoggera
  • Kedron
  • Moggill
  • Sherwood
  • Stephens
  • Taringa
  • Tingalpa
  • Toombul
  • Yeerongpilly

The Council also assumed responsibility for several quasi-autonomous government authorities, such as the Brisbane Tramways Trust.

Demographics

Selected historical census data for City of Brisbane local government area
Census year			2001[14]	2006[15]	2011[16]	2016[1]
Population		Estimated residents on census night	873,780	956,129	1,041,839	1,131,155
		LGA rank in terms of size within Queensland		1st	1st	1st
		% of Queensland population	24.37%	24.49%	24.05%	24.05%
		% of Australian population	4.66%	4.82%	4.84%	4.83%
Cultural and language diversity
Ancestry, top responses		English			25.0%	24.3%
		Australian			23.1%	20.2%
		Irish			9.5%	9.7%
		Scottish			7.4%	7.4%
		Chinese			4.1%	5.2%
Language, top responses (other than English)		Mandarin	1.4%	1.9%	2.6%	4.1%
		Cantonese	1.4%	1.4%	1.5%	1.5%
		Vietnamese	1.3%	1.4%	1.5%	1.6%
		Italian	1.1%	0.9%	0.8%
		Greek	0.8%	0.7%
		Spanish			0.7%	0.9%
Korean				1.0%
Religious affiliation
Religious affiliation, top responses		Catholic	28.0%	27.1%	26.3%	23.1%
		Anglican	19.5%	17.2%	14.8%	11.0%
		No religion	15.0%	18.5%	23.3%	31.6%
		Uniting	7.8%	6.6%	5.6%	4.0%
		Presbyterian	3.7%	3.2%
		Buddhism			3.0%
Median weekly incomes
Personal income		Median weekly personal income		A$556	A$696	A$770
		% of Australian median income		119.3%	120.6%	116.3%
Family income		Median weekly family income		A$1403	A$1873	A$2091
		% of Australian median income		119.8%	126.5%	120.6%
Household income		Median weekly household income		A$1157	A$1547	A$1746
		% of Australian median income		112.7%	125.4%	121.4%
Dwelling structure
Dwelling type		Separate house	74.7%	71.9%	70.9%	67.4%
		Semi-detached, terrace or townhouse	6.7%	7.9%	9.7%	10.4%
		Flat or apartment	17.2%	19.3%	18.8%	21.3%

Heritage

The Brisbane City Council maintains the Brisbane Local Heritage Register, a list of nominated sites that satisfy the Council's heritage criteria.^[17]

Governance

The City of Brisbane is governed by the Brisbane City Council, the largest local council in Australia. The Brisbane City Council has its power divided between a Lord Mayor, a parliamentary-style council of twenty-six councillors representing single-member wards of approximately 23,000 voters (roughly equivalent in size to state electorates), and a Civic Cabinet comprising the Lord Mayor, the Deputy Mayor (drawn from the majority on Council) and the chairpersons of the seven standing committees drawn from the membership of Council. Due to the City of Brisbane's status as the country's largest LGA, the Lord Mayor is elected by the largest single-member electorate in Australia. Like all mayors in Queensland, he has very broad executive power.

The seven standing committees of Council are:

• City Planning Committee
• Environment, Parks and Sustainability Committee
• Establishment and Coordination Committee (Civic Cabinet)
• Field Services Committee
• Finance and Economic Development Committee
• Infrastructure Committee
• Lifestyle and Community Services Committee
• Public and Active Transport Committee

Following local government elections on 28 April 2012, the Lord Mayor and 18 councillors are members of the Liberal National Party while 7 are from the Labor Party with 1 independent. The current Lord Mayor of Brisbane is Graham Quirk of the LNP, who was elected mayor in his own right on 28 April 2012 after having been appointed to the Lord Mayoralty in April 2011 when Campbell Newman resigned to make an ultimately successful bid to become Premier of Queensland. The current Deputy Mayor is Adrian Schrinner of the LNP. The day-to-day management of Council's operations is the responsibility of the chief executive officer who is currently Colin Jensen.

Elections are held every four years with ballots for the Lord Mayoralty and the individual councillors being held simultaneously. Voting is compulsory for all eligible electors. The election in March 2004 resulted in the unusual situation of Liberal (later LNP after a July 2008 merger) Lord Mayor Campbell Newman co-existing with a Labor majority on Council and a Labor Deputy Mayor, though this resulted in remarkably few conflicts over civic budgets and Council policy. The LNP gained a 5.5% swing on the councillor votes in the March 2008 election, resulting in the Liberals taking control of the council as well (Newman won re-election with 60% of the primary vote). Graham Quirk won re-election as Lord Mayor (having been appointed to the position in April 2011) in 2012 with 61.94% of the vote and the LNP gained an additional 3 wards. The last election was held on 19 March 2016. Lord Mayor Graham Quirk defeated Labor's candidate Rod Harding.^[18]

The Brisbane City Council is incorporated under the City of Brisbane Act 1924, while other local governments in Queensland are governed by the Local Government Act 1993.

Council meetings are held at Level 2, City Hall, 64 Adelaide Street, Brisbane City^[19] every Tuesday at 2pm except during recess and holiday periods. This temporary venue is in use due to the restoration work being performed on the traditional venue Brisbane City Hall.^[20] Meetings are generally open to the public.

Brisbane City Council aims to be carbon neutral by 2026 via the reduction of emissions and carbon offsetting.^[21]

Heraldry

Brisbane coat of arms

The motto of the City of Brisbane is Meliora sequimur, Latin for We aim for better things. The Council's corporate slogan is Dedicated to a better Brisbane. The City's colours are blue and gold. Its corporate logo was introduced in 1982 in preparation for the Commonwealth Games hosted in Brisbane that year. It features a stylised version of Brisbane's City Hall which opened in 1930. The City's floral emblem is the (exotic) poinsettia and its faunal emblem is the graceful tree frog.

Amenities

Brisbane City Council operate libraries in Annerley, Ashgrove, Banyo, Bracken Ridge, Brisbane CBD (Brisbane Square), Bulimba, Carina, Carindale (Westfield Carindale), Chermside, Coopers Plains, Corinda, Everton Park, Fairfield, Upper Mount Gravatt (Garden City), Grange, Hamilton, Holland Park, Inala, Indooroopilly, Kenmore, Mitchelton, Mount Coot-tha (Botanic Gardens), Mount Gravatt, Mount Ommaney, New Farm, Nundah, Sandgate, Stones Corner, Sunnybank Hills, Toowong, West End, Wynnum, and Zillmere.^[22] In addition, it operates a mobile library service to Aspley, Bellbowrie, Brighton, Ellen Grove, Forest Lake, Manly West, Mount Crosby and The Gap.^[23] There is also a pop-up library that attends community events and festivals, as well as visiting various parks around Brisbane for children's storytime sessions (a list of dates and places is published some months in advance).^[24]

Sister cities

The City of Brisbane has nine sister cities.^[25][26][27]

Nice, France was formerly a sister city of Brisbane until the relationship was severed in 1995 as protest against the Chirac government's decision to resume nuclear testing in the Pacific Ocean.^[33] Bangkok became a sister city of Brisbane on 7 May 1997, but is no longer listed as a sister city on the Brisbane City Council website.^[34][35] Brisbane does not have any sister city relationship with any North American, South American, African or European city.^[36]

See also

• Lord Mayor of Brisbane
• Local government in Australia

References

External links

• Official website
• Brisbane City Council's Organisational Structure
• "Brisbane and Greater Brisbane". Queensland Places. Centre for the Government of Queensland, University of Queensland.
• Google map of pre 1925 merger Brisbane Councils