Australian state in the context of "Australia Act 1986"

The Australia Act 1986 is the short title of each of a pair of separate but related pieces of legislation: one an act of the Parliament of Australia, the other an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The Acts eliminated the ability for the United Kingdom to legislate with effect in Australia, for the UK to be involved in any Australian government, and for an appeal from any Australian court to a British court. This act formally severed all legal ties between Australia and the United Kingdom.

In Australia they are referred to, respectively, as the Australia Act 1986 (Cth) and the Australia Act 1986 (UK). These nearly identical Acts were passed by the two parliaments, because of uncertainty as to whether the Commonwealth Parliament alone had the ultimate authority to do so. They were enacted using legislative powers conferred by enabling acts passed by the parliaments of every Australian state. The acts came into effect simultaneously, on 3 March 1986.

State parks are parks or other protected areas managed at the sub-national level within those nations which use "state" as a political subdivision. State parks are typically established by a state to preserve a location on account of its natural beauty, historic interest, or recreational potential. There are state parks under the administration of the government of each U.S. state, some of the Mexican states, and in Brazil. The term is also used in the Australian states of Victoria and New South Wales. The equivalent term used in Canada, Argentina, South Africa, and Belgium, is provincial park. Similar systems of local government maintained parks exist in other countries, but the terminology varies.

State parks are thus similar to national parks, but under state rather than federal administration. Similarly, local government entities below state level may maintain parks, e.g., regional parks or county parks. In general, state parks are smaller than national parks, with a few exceptions such as Anza-Borrego Desert State Park in California, Wood-Tikchik State Park in Alaska, or Adirondack State Park in New York, the largest state park in the United States.

Melbourne is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second most-populous city in Australia, after Sydney. The city's name generally refers to a 2,453 km (947 sq mi) area, comprising an urban agglomeration of 31 local government areas. The name is also used to specifically refer to the local government area named City of Melbourne, whose area is centred on the Melbourne central business district and some immediate surrounds.

The city occupies much of the northern and eastern coastlines of Port Phillip Bay. As of 2024, the population of the city was 5.35 million, or 19% of the population of Australia; inhabitants are known as "Melburnians".

The Black Saturday bushfires were a series of bushfires that either ignited or were already burning across the Australian state of Victoria on Saturday, 7 February 2009, and was one of Australia's all-time worst bushfire disasters. The fires occurred during extreme bushfire weather conditions and resulted in Australia's highest-ever loss of human life from a bushfire, with 173 fatalities. Many people were left homeless and family-less as a result.

As many as 400 individual fires were recorded on Saturday 7 February; the day has become widely referred to in Australia as Black Saturday.

Melbourne (/ˈmɛlbərn/ MEL-bərn, locally [ˈmæɫbən] ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: Narrm or Naarm) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second most-populous city in Australia, after Sydney. The city's name generally refers to a 2,453-square-kilometre (947 sq mi) area, comprising an urban agglomeration of 31 local government areas. The name is also used to specifically refer to the local government area named City of Melbourne, whose area is centred on the Melbourne central business district and some immediate surrounds.

The city occupies much of the northern and eastern coastlines of Port Phillip Bay. As of 2024, the population of the city was 5.35 million, or 19% of the population of Australia; inhabitants are known as "Melburnians".

The Gold Coast is a coastal city in the Australian state of Queensland. It is the second-largest city in the state after the capital, Brisbane, with a population of 753,000 as of 2025. The Gold Coast has a very large skyline relative to the city's population; despite being Australia's sixth largest city, the city has the fourth-greatest number of skyscrapers in Australia, after Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane. As of 2025, there are 12 buildings in the Gold Coast with a height of 150 metres (492 ft) or greater, with 6 more under construction. The city has been home to Australia's tallest building, Q1, since 2005; the residential skyscraper stands at a height of 322.5 metres (1,058 ft), and is Australia's first supertall skyscraper.

The first high-rises appeared in the city in the 1960s and 1970s as it boomed as a leading tourist destination. An early residential tower was Breakfree Peninsula at a height of 137 m (449 ft), which was the city's tallest building from 1982 until 1992, when it was overtaken by The Grand Mariner, which was only 2 metres taller. In the 2000s, skyscraper development increased rapidly. Besides Q1, other new buildings during the boom include Chevron Renaissance and the Circle on Cavill complex. Development has continued into the 2010s and 2020s, with two of the city's five tallest buildings, Ocean and Epsilon, built since 2020. Under construction is Cypress Palms, a two-tower development, the taller of which will be the Gold Coast's second supertall skyscraper.