Melbourne

Melbourne
Victoria
Melbourne; Victoria
	Location of Melbourne in Australia
Population	3,744,373 (2006 estimate) (2nd)
• Density	479.6/km2 (1,242/sq mi)
Established	30 August 1835
Area	8,831
Time zone	AEST (UTC+10)
• Summer (DST)	AEDT (UTC+11)
Location	723 km (449 mi) from Adelaide ; 876 km (544 mi) from Sydney ; 1,658 km (1,030 mi) from Brisbane ; 3,412 km (2,120 mi) from Perth ;
LGA(s)	various (31)
County	Bourke
State electorate(s)	various (54)
Federal division(s)	various (23)

Melbourne (pronounced /ˈmel.bən/) is the second most populous city in Australia, with a metropolitan area population of approximately 3.74 million (2006 estimate).^[1] Located around Port Phillip Bay in the country's south-east, Melbourne is the state capital of Victoria.

Melbourne is a major centre of commerce, industry and cultural activity. The city is often referred to as Australia's "sporting and cultural capital" ^[2] and it is home to many of the nation's most significant cultural and sporting events and institutions. It has been recognised as a global city by the Loughborough University group's 1999 inventory.^[3] Melbourne is notable for its mix of Victorian and contemporary architecture, its extensive tram network and Victorian parks and gardens, and its diverse, multicultural society. It was the host city of the 1956 Summer Olympics and the 2006 Commonwealth Games.

Melbourne was founded by free settlers in 1835, 47 years after the first European settlement of Australia, as a small pastoral settlement situated around the Yarra River.^[4] Transformed rapidly into a major metropolis by the Victorian gold rush in the 1850s, "Marvellous Melbourne" became Australia's largest and most important city by 1865,^[5] but was overtaken by Sydney as the largest city in Australia during the early 20th century. ^[6]

Melbourne served as the capital city of Australia from the time of the new nation's Federation in 1901, until Federal Parliament moved to the new, purpose-built capital, Canberra, in 1927.^[7]

History

The area of the Yarra River and Port Phillip that is now Melbourne was first settled by the British in 1835. These settlers came from Launceston, Tasmania (then known as Van Diemen's Land). The area was already inhabited by the indigenous Kulin people. A transaction was negotiated for 600,000 acres (2,400 km²) of land from eight Wurundjeri chiefs; this was later annulled by the New South Wales government (then governing all of eastern mainland Australia), which compensated the settlers.^[4]

In 1836, Governor Bourke declared the city the administrative capital of the Port Phillip District of New South Wales, and commissioned the first plan for the Hoddle Grid in 1837. The settlement was named Melbourne in the same year after the British Prime Minister William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne, who resided in the village of Melbourne in Derbyshire. Melbourne was declared a city by Queen Victoria on 25 June 1847.^[8]

The state of Victoria was established as a separate colony in 1851 with Melbourne as its capital. With the discovery of gold in Victoria in the 1850s, leading to the Victorian gold rush, Melbourne grew rapidly, providing the majority of service industries and serving as the major port for the region. The city became a major finance centre, home to several banks and to Australia's first stock exchange (founded in 1861). During the 1880s Melbourne was one of the largest cities in the British Empire, and reputedly the richest city in the world.^[9] This period saw the construction of many high-rise Victorian buildings, Coffee Palaces, terrace housing, grand boulevards and gardens throughout the city. Examples of this Victorian architecture still abound in Melbourne. So impressed was journalist George Augustus Henry Sala during his visit in 1885 that he coined the phrase "Marvellous Melbourne" to describe the booming city, a phrase which stuck and is used by its locals and the media to this day.

The brash boosterism which typified Melbourne during this time came to a halt in 1891 when a world economic depression hit the city's economy, sending the finance and property industries into chaos. The effects of the depression on the city were profound, although it did continue to grow slowly during the early 20th century.

At the time of Australia's Federation on 1 January 1901, Melbourne was specified as the temporary seat of government and remained the national capital until 1927, when the Federal parliament was moved to the planned city of Canberra. The first Federal parliament was convened on 9 May 1901 in the Royal Exhibition Building.

Melbourne was the Allied Pacific Headquarters from 1942 to 1944 as General Douglas MacArthur established Australia as a launch base for Pacific operations. During World War II, Melbourne industries thrived on wartime production and the city became Australia's leading manufacturing centre. After the war, Melbourne expanded rapidly, with its growth boosted by an influx of immigrants and the prestige of hosting the Olympic Games. Australia's mining boom between 1969 and 1970 proved beneficial to Melbourne, with the headquarters of many of the major companies (BHP, Rio Tinto and many others) based in the city. Nauru's booming mineral economy fuelled several ambitious investments in Melbourne such as Nauru House. Melbourne remained Australia's business and finance capital until the late 1970s, when it began to lose this primacy to Sydney.^[10]

Melbourne experienced the worst of Victoria's economic slump between 1989 to 1992. In 1992, a newly elected Victorian government began a campaign to restore the economy with an aggressive development campaign of public works and major events centred on Melbourne and the promotion of the city as a tourist destination. Major projects included the Melbourne Museum, Federation Square, the Melbourne Exhibition and Convention Centre, Crown Casino and CityLink tollway. Other strategies included the privatisation of some of Melbourne's services including power and public transport, and a reduction in funding to public services such as health and education.

Since 1997, Melbourne has maintained significant population and employment growth. There has been substantial international investment in the city's industries and property market, and 2006 figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics show that since 2000 Melbourne has sustained the highest population and economic growth rate of any Australian capital city.^[11]

Geography

Melbourne is located in the south-eastern part of mainland Australia. Geologically it is built on the confluence of Quaternary lava flows to the west, Silurian mudstones to the east^[12] and Holocene sand accumulation to the southeast along Port Phillip. The city's suburbs extend along the Yarra Valley toward the Yarra and Dandenong Ranges to the east, down towards the Mornington Peninsula and the city of Frankston, along the Maribyrnong River and its tributaries north towards the foothills of the Macedon Ranges, and along the flat volcanic plain country towards Werribee and Geelong to the south-west.

The original city (known today as the central business district or CBD) is laid out in the mile-by-half-a-mile Hoddle Grid, its southern edge fronting onto the Yarra. The city centre is well known for its historic and attractive lanes and arcades which contain a variety of shops and cafes.^[13]

Melbourne is typical of Australian capital cities in that it was built with the underlying notion of a "quarter acre home and garden" for every family, often referred to locally as the Australian Dream. Much of metropolitan Melbourne is accordingly characterised by low density sprawl. The provision of an extensive railway and tram service in the earlier years of development encouraged this low density development, mostly in radial lines along the transport corridors.

Melbourne is often referred to as Australia's garden city, and the state of Victoria was once known as "the garden state". There is an abundance of parks and gardens in Melbourne, many close to the CBD with a variety of common and rare plant species amid landscaped vistas, pedestrian pathways and tree-lined avenues. There are also many parks in the surrounding suburbs of Melbourne, such as in the municipalities of Stonnington, Boroondara and Port Phillip, south east of the CBD.

Climate

Melbourne has a moderate oceanic climate (Köppen climate classification Cfb).^[14] Melbourne's climate is notable for its changeable weather conditions. This is due in part to the city's flat topography, its situation on Port Phillip Bay, and the presence of the Dandenong Ranges to the east, a combination that creates weather systems that often circle the bay. The phrase "four seasons in one day" is part of popular culture and observed by many visitors to the city.

Melbourne is colder than most other Australian capital cities in winter. The lowest maximum on record is 4.4 degrees Celsius, on July 4, 1901.^[15] However, snowfalls are extremely rare: the most recent occurrence of sleet in the CBD was on July 25, 1986 and the most recent snowfalls in the Dandenongs were on August 10, 2005^[16] and November 15, 2006.^[17] There has not been a major snowfall in Melbourne since 1951, when moderate cover was recorded in both the CBD and suburbs.^[18] More commonly, Melbourne experiences frosts and fog in winter.

During the spring, Melbourne commonly enjoys extended periods of mild weather and clear skies. Melbourne is also known to have hot, dry summers, with maximum temperatures above 40 degrees Celsius. The hottest temperature on record was 45.6 degrees Celsius on 13 January 1939 during a four-day nationwide heat wave.^[19]

In 2006, Melbourne, like most of Australia, experienced one of the worst droughts on record. 2006 was among the driest years on record with virtually no rainfall in September and October, despite October being on average the wettest month of the year. Higher than average temperatures were recorded. In a very rare occurrence, it actually snowed in more elevated parts of the metropolitan area on 25 December 2006, in the early stages of the Southern Hemisphere summer.

It was officially announced on May 15, 2007 that the previous 12 months had seen a record low rainfall. The official results of 316mm from May 16 2006 to May 15 2007 show the lowest amount of rainfall since records began in 1855. The normal average rainfall is 653.2mm. Because of this record low rainfall, Melbourne has experienced ever increasing levels of water restrictions for over 9 months.

Climate data for Melbourne
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Source: Bureau of Meteorology ^[20]

**Other daily elements**
	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Yearly
Mean number of rain days	8.3	7.4	9.3	11.5	14.0	14.2	15.1	15.6	14.8	14.3	11.8	10.5	146.7
Mean number of clear days	6.3	6.3	5.7	4.4	3.0	2.5	2.7	2.9	3.4	3.6	3.5	4.4	48.5
Mean number of cloudy days	11.2	9.7	13.4	14.9	18.0	16.8	17.2	16.8	15.7	16.4	15.1	14.2	179.5
Source: Bureau of Meteorology

Government

The Melbourne City Council governs the City of Melbourne, which takes in the CBD and a few adjoining inner suburbs. However the head of the Melbourne City Council, the Lord Mayor of Melbourne, is frequently treated as a representative of greater Melbourne (the entire metropolitan area),^[21] particularly when interstate or overseas. The current Lord Mayor is John So.

The rest of the metropolitan area is divided into 30 local government areas. All these are designated as Cities, except for five on the city's outer fringes which have the title of Shire. The local government authorities have elected councils and are responsible for a range of functions (delegated to them from the State Government of Victoria under the Local Government Act of 1989^[22]), such as urban planning and waste management.

Most city-wide government activities are controlled by the Victorian state government. These include public transport, main roads, traffic control, policing, education above preschool level, and planning of major infrastructure projects. Because three quarters of Victoria's population lives in Melbourne, state governments have traditionally been reluctant to allow the development of citywide governmental bodies, which would tend to rival the state government. The semi-autonomous Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works was abolished in 1992 for this reason. This is not dissimilar to other Australian states where State Governments have similar powers in greater metropolitan areas.

Economy

The Rialto Towers viewed from Collins St. Melbourne.

File:Melb cbd.jpg

The Hoddle Grid in central Melbourne, viewed from the Observation Deck at Rialto Towers.

Melbourne is the southernmost city in the Globalization and World Cities group's 1999 inventory of global cities^[23] and is home to many of Australia's largest corporations: Telstra, BHP Billiton, ANZ and the National Australia Bank, and also to the Business Council of Australia, the Australian Council of Trade Unions and many of the companies listed on the Australian Stock Exchange. Many multinational corporations (approximately one-third of the 100 largest multinationals operating in Australia as of 2002) also have their main Australian office in Melbourne. The demand for office space means that there are many skyscrapers in Melbourne (although the tallest, the Eureka Tower (at 300m above street level) is mostly residential). The tallest office tower, the Rialto Towers (251m above street level) is also the tallest office building in the Southern Hemisphere. Both of these tall buildings house observation decks.

Melbourne is home to Australia's largest seaport and much of Australia's automotive industry, which include Ford and Toyota manufacturing facilities, and the engine manufacturing facility of Holden. It is also home to many other manufacturing industries.^[24] In mid-November 2006, Melbourne was host to the summit of G20 finance ministers, amid violent protests.

Melbourne is also a major technology hub, with a strong ICT industry that employs over 60,000 people (one third of Australia's ICT workforce), has a turnover of AUD$19.8 billion, and has export revenues of $615 million.^[25] In a recent study, out of the world's 50 most influential financial cities, Melbourne was placed at number 34, ahead of major cities such as Dubai, Bangkok and KualaLumpur. ^[26]

While Australia's financial services industry is generally centred in Sydney, Melbourne still has a significant presence. Two of the big four banks, NAB and ANZ, are headquartered in Melbourne. Within the area of money management, Melbourne has carved out a niche as Australia’s leading centre for superannuation (pension) funds, with 40% of the total, and 65% of industry super-funds.^[27] Melbourne is also home to the $40b Federal Government Future Fund.

Most recent major infrastructure projects, such as the redevelopment of Southern Cross Station (formerly Spencer Street Station), have been centred around the 2006 Commonwealth Games, which were held in the city from 15 March to 26 March 2006. The centrepiece of the Commonwealth Games projects was the redevelopment of the Melbourne Cricket Ground, the stadium used for the opening and closing ceremonies of the Games. The project involved rebuilding the northern half of the stadium and laying a temporary athletics track at a cost of $434 million.

Construction began in February 2006 of a $1 billion 5000-seat international convention centre, Hilton Hotel and commercial precinct adjacent to the Melbourne Exhibition and Convention Centre to link development along the Yarra River with the Southbank precinct and multi-billion dollar Docklands redevelopment.

International freight is an important industry to Melbourne. The city's port, Australia's largest, handles more than A$75 billion in trade every year and 39% of the nation's container trade.^[28]^[29]

Tourism plays an important role in Melbourne's economy, with approximately 7.6 million domestic visitors and 1.88 million international visitors in 2004.^[30]

Demographics

Today Melbourne is a diverse and multicultural city. Almost a quarter of Victoria's population was born overseas, and the city is home to residents from 233 countries, who speak over 180 languages and dialects and follow 116 religious faiths.^[31]

A person from Melbourne is referred to as a Melburnian.^[32]

Melbourne was transformed by the 1850s gold rush; within months of the discovery of gold in August 1852, the city's population had increased by nearly three-quarters — from 25,000 to 40,000 inhabitants.^[33] Thereafter, growth was exponential and by 1865, Melbourne had overtaken Sydney as Australia's most populous city.^[5] By 1900, however, Sydney and Melbourne were the same size, and by 1902, a year after Federation, Sydney had overtaken Melbourne as the largest urban centre in Australia.^[6]

In common with the rest of the continent, the earliest inhabitants of the broad area that later became Melbourne were Indigenous Australians — specifically, the Bunurong, Wurundjeri and Wathaurong peoples. Melbourne is still a centre of Aboriginal life — consisting of local groups and indigenes from other parts of Australia — with the Aboriginal community in the city numbering 12,015 persons (0.4 per cent of the population) according to the 2001 Census.

Immigrants

As with the rest of Australia, the first European settlers in Melbourne were British and Irish. These two groups accounted for nearly all arrivals before the gold rush, and supplied the predominant number of immigrants to the city until the Second World War. (Indeed, Victoria — and Melbourne in particular — attracted a greater proportion of Irish than other Australasian colonies.) Nonetheless, large numbers of Chinese, Germans and United States citizens were to be found on the goldfields and subsequently in Melbourne. The various nationalities involved in the Eureka Stockade revolt nearby give some indication of the migration flows in the second half of the nineteenth century.

In the first half of the twentieth century, alongside the usual British and Irish migrants, Melbourne began to receive steady trickles of Italians and Greeks, as did rural New South Wales and Western Australia. At the time, these inflows were considered insignificant, but with hindsight these early groups were effectively pioneers of two of the city's more numerous contemporary communities.

In the aftermath of the Second World War, Melbourne experienced an unprecedented influx of arrivals from Mediterranean Europe — primarily Greece and Italy, but also Cyprus and Turkey. The sheer numbers of Greeks and Italians — and their Greek Australian and Italian Australian children — soon led to Melbourne being referred to as "the third largest Greek city in the world" or "largest Greek city out side of Greece" and "Little Italy". Certainly, Melbourne is the centre of Greek Australian life. According to the 2001 Census, there were 151,785 ethnic Greeks in the metropolitan area, although some estimates put this number close to 300,000. Nearly half of all Greek Australians call Melbourne home.

Melbourne Population by year
1836	177
1851	29,000
1854	123,000	(gold rush)
1860	140,000
1880	280,000	(property boom)
1890	490,000
1895	900,000	(economic collapse)
1956	1,500,000
1981	2,806,000
1991	3,156,700	(economic slump)
2001	3,366,542
2004	3,592,975
2006	3,744,373
2021	4,253,400	(projected)
2030	4,500,000	(projected)
2051	5,041,100	(projected)

However, the Greek proportion of city's population (3.8 per cent) is in fact second to that of the Italian: in 2001, 247,719 persons stated they were of Italian ancestry, accounting for 31.0 per cent of all Italian Australians and 6.2 per cent of Melbourne's population. What is more, both groups are outnumbered by those claiming "Australian" — 959,822 persons or 24.0 per cent — English — 929,314 persons or 23.2 per cent — or Irish — 319,977 persons or 8.0 per cent — ancestry. Those claiming a Chinese background are the sixth largest ethnic group in Melbourne, accounting for 146,287 census responses and 3.7 per cent of the city's total inhabitants. Vietnamese and Vietnamese Australians are also a significant presence in the city.

Birthplaces

With regard to birthplace, a far higher proportion of Melbourne residents in 2001 were born overseas than the Australian average: 34.8 per cent compared to a national average of 23.1 per cent. In common with the rest of Australia, Britain was the most commonly reported country of birth, with 158,139 responses (4.7 per cent). This was followed by Italy with 80,109 (2.4 per cent), Greece with 55,574 (1.7 per cent) and the People's Republic of China with 35,844 (1.1 per cent).

Languages

Linguistically, Melbourne is one of Australia's most diverse urban centres, though according to 2001 Census data, over two-thirds of people in Melbourne speak English only at home — 2,316,755 persons or 68.8 per cent. Italian is the second most common home language, spoken by 133,907 residents or 4.0 per cent. Greek is third with 118,394 habitual users (3.5 percent) and the Chinese languages are fourth with 110,645 speakers (3.3 per cent). 84.2 per cent of those born overseas living in the city spoke English exclusively, "very well" or "well".

Melbourne Urban density (people/ha)
1951	23.4^[34]
1961	21.4^[35]
1971	18.1^[36]
1976	16.75^[37]
1981	15.9^[38]
1986	16.05^[39]
1991	16.8^[40]
1996	17.9^[41]

Religion

In terms of religion, Christianity is the most professed faith in Melbourne with 2,097,493 followers accounting for 62.3 per cent of residents. The largest Christian denominations are:

Catholicism — 981,974 (29.2 per cent)
Anglicanism — 458,848 (13.6 per cent)
Greek Orthodoxy — 206,877 (6.2 per cent)

However the largest churches in Melbourne, are generally Assemblies of God:^[42]

CityLife Church, Knox — 4,600 attending weekly (independent Pentecostal)
Planetshakers City Church — 3,000 attending weekly
Faith! Christian Church — 2,000 attending weekly

According to further census data, Melbourne residents include:

106,570 Buddhists (3.2 per cent)
87,755 Muslims (2.6 per cent)
37,779 Jews (1.1 per cent)
23,334 Hindus (0.7 per cent)

Melbourne is also home to the largest Jewish community in Oceania: four out of ten of Australia's Jews (40.4 per cent) live in the metropolitan area. Melbourne also has the largest number of Holocaust survivors of any Australian city,^[43] and the highest per capita concentration of holocaust survivors anywhere in the world except Israel.^[44]

Population growth

Although Brisbane and Perth are growing faster in percentage terms, and Victoria's net interstate migration has fluctuated, the Melbourne statistical division has grown by approximately 50,000 people a year since 2003, more than any other Australian city. Attraction of a large proportion of overseas immigrants and interstate migration from Sydney due to more affordable housing are two recent key factors.^[45] In recent years, Melton, Wyndham and Casey, part of the Melbourne statistical division, have recorded the highest growth rate of all local government areas in Australia.

Melbourne's population density declined following World War II, with the private motor car and the lures of space and property ownership causing an exodus to the suburbs, mainly to the east. After much discussion (both at general public and planning levels) in the 1980s, the decline has been reversed since the recession of the early 1990s, and the city has seen increased density in the inner and western suburbs. Since the 1970s, Victorian Government planning blueprints such as Postcode 3000 and Melbourne 2030 have aimed to curtail the urban sprawl.

A view of Melbourne Docklands and sprawling north western suburbs from the Observation Deck at Rialto Tower.

Education

Melbourne is home to some of the nation's oldest educational institutions, including the oldest Law (1857), Engineering (1860), Medical (1862), Dental (1897) and Music (1891) schools, all at the University of Melbourne. The University of Melbourne is also the oldest university in Victoria and the second oldest university in Australia. St. Mary's Primary School, Williamstown, is the oldest school in Victoria and Scotch College (1851) is the oldest secondary school. Ormiston House, the junior school of Camberwell Anglican Girls Grammar School, established in 1848, is the oldest girls' primary school on the Australian mainland. ^[46] Melbourne is home to the largest secondary school in Australia, Haileybury College.

Melbourne's two largest and most prestigious tertiary institutions are the University of Melbourne and Monash University. Both are members of the Group of Eight. Melbourne University ranked second among Australian universities in the 2006 THES international rankings. ^[47] While The Times Higher Education Supplement ranked the University of Melbourne as the 22nd best university in the world, Monash University was ranked the 38th best university in the world. Monash University is said to be Australia's largest University, based on student numbers.

Other universities located in Melbourne include La Trobe University, RMIT University, Swinburne University of Technology, Victoria University and the St Patrick's campus of the Australian Catholic University. Deakin University maintains two major campuses in Melbourne and Geelong, and is the third largest university in Victoria. In recent years, the number of international students at Melbourne's universities has risen rapidly, a result of an increasing number of places being made available to full fee paying students. ^{[citation needed]}

Although non-tertiary public education is free, 35% of students attend a private primary or secondary school.^[48] The most numerous private schools are Catholic, and the rest are independent (see Public and Private Education in Australia). The most prestigious independent schools are members of the Associated Public Schools of Victoria (APS) or the Associated Grammar Schools of Victoria (AGSV). The main purpose of these two groups is sporting competition. Private schools achieve better results on average in the VCE (the final year certificate) than public schools. The exceptions to this rule are the two academically selective public high schools, Melbourne High School and MacRobertson Girls High School. Because of this, private school students dominate admissions into tertiary institutions.^[49]

Most high schools in Melbourne are called 'Secondary Colleges', a remnant of the Kirner Labor government. There are two selective public schools in Melbourne (mentioned above), but all public schools may restrict entry to students living in their regional 'zone'.^[50]^[51]

Culture

Melbourne is known as an Australian cultural and sport capital, and is the spiritual home of Australian rules football.

It has thrice shared top position in a survey by The Economist of the World's Most Livable Cities on the basis of its cultural attributes, climate, cost of living, and social conditions such as crime rates and health care, in 2002,^[52] 2004 and 2005.^[53]

The city celebrates a wide variety of annual cultural events, performing arts and architecture.

Infrastructure

Health

The Government of Victoria's Department of Human Services oversees approximately 30 public hospitals in the Melbourne metropolitan region, and 13 health services organisations.^[54] The major public hospitals are the Royal Melbourne Hospital, The Alfred Hospital and Austin Hospital, while major private hospitals include Epworth Hospital and St Vincent's. The city is also home to major medical and biotechnology research centres such as St. Vincent's Institute of Medical Research, the Burnet Institute, Peter MacCallum Cancer Institute, The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, The Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Baker Heart Institute and the Australian Synchrotron.

Transport

File:Ac.newtram1.jpg.JPG

Melbourne has an extensive tram system, where modern and heritage trams run side by side

Melbourne has an integrated public transport system known as Metlink, originally laid out late in the 19th century when trains and trams were the primary methods of travelling to the suburbs. The 1950s saw an increase in private vehicles and freeway construction.^[55] This trend has continued with successive governments despite relentless traffic congestion.^[56]^[57] The result has been a significant drop in public transport modeshare from the 1940s level of around 25% to the current level of around 9%.^[58] Melbourne's public transport system was privatised in 1999.

File:Ac.newtram3.jpg.JPG

A heritage W6 class tram on Victoria Parade

Melbourne's tram network is both one of the world's most extensive and the only one comprising more than a single line remaining in Australia, a distinctive feature of the city. Trams are not only a form of transport, but a tourist icon of Melbourne. Visitors are served by a free City Circle Tram, taking in many tourist sights and there is also a fleet of restaurant trams, the first of its kind in the world.

There are almost 300 bus routes and a mostly-electric train system with more than 15 lines. Flinders Street Station is a prominent Melbourne landmark and meeting place. In 1926 it was the world's busiest passenger station. ^[59] The city has rail connections with several regional cities in the state, as well as interstate rail services to Sydney and Adelaide, which depart from Melbourne's other major rail terminus, Southern Cross Station.

Melbourne has a high dependency on private cars for transport, with 7.1% of trips made by public transport.^[60] However there has been a significant rise in patronage in the last two years mostly due to higher fuel prices. Melbourne has a total of 3.6 million private vehicles using 22,320 km of road, and one of the highest lengths of road per capita.^[60] Major highways feeding into the city include the Eastern Freeway, Monash Freeway and West Gate Freeway (which spans the spectacular Westgate Bridge), whilst other road systems include CityLink and the Western Ring Road, Calder Freeway, Tullamarine Freeway (main airport link) and the Hume Freeway which links Melbourne to Sydney.

The Port of Melbourne is Australia's largest container and general cargo port and also its busiest. In 2007, the port handled two million shipping containers in a 12 month period, making it one of the top five ports in the Southern Hemisphere.^[61] Station Pier in Port Phillip Bay handles cruise ships and the Spirit of Tasmania ferries which cross Bass Strait to Tasmania.

Melbourne has four airports. Melbourne International Airport located at Tullamarine is the city's main international and domestic (Qantas and Virgin Blue and Jetstar) gateway. Tullamarine is the headquarters for low cost airlines Jetstar and Tiger Airways Australia. Avalon Airport, located between Melbourne and Geelong, is a secondary hub of Jetstar. It is also used as a freight and maintenance facility. Moorabbin Airport is a significant general aviation airport in the city's south east. Essendon Airport, which was once the city's main airport before the construction of the airport at Tullamarine, handles general aviation and some cargo flights.

Utilities

Water storage and supply for Melbourne is managed by Melbourne Water, which is owned by the Victorian Government. The organisation is also responsible for management of sewerage and the major water catchments in the region. Water is mainly stored in the largest dam, the Thomson River Dam which is capable of holding around 60% of Melbourne's water capacity,^[62] while smaller dams such as the Upper Yarra Dam and the Cardinia Reservoir carry secondary supplies.

Water restrictions are in place and the state government has considered water recycling schemes for the city. In June 2007, the Bracks Government announced a $4.9 billion water plan to secure the future of water supplies in Melbourne, including the construction of a $3.1 billion desalination plant on Victoria's south-east coast, capable of treating 150 billion litres of water per year. Other projects included in this package is a 70 km pipeline from the Goulburn area in Victoria's north to Melbourne and a new water pipeline linking Melbourne and Geelong.

Supply of town gas to Melbourne was initially provided by private companies such as the Melbourne Metropolitan Gas Company from the 1850s, with gasworks being scattered throughout the suburbs. The Gas and Fuel Corporation of Victoria was formed in 1951 to manage gas supply state wide, and to build a centralised gasworks at Morwell. The discovery of natural gas in Bass Strait in the 1960s saw gas supplies converted to the new fuel by the 1970s.^[63] The Gas and Fuel Corporation was privatised in the late 1990s.

The first electricity supplies to Melbourne were also provided by private companies, with a number of small power stations such as those at Spencer Street and Richmond operating. These small operations were merged into the State Electricity Commission of Victoria that was formed in 1921,^[64] the SECV also building the first of many brown coal fired power stations at Yallourn in the Latrobe Valley. The responsibilities of the SECV were privatised between 1995 and 1999.