SPECIAL CORNER OF QUEENSLAND GETS A NAME

Queensland has a new official “corner”, Natural Resources and Water Minister Craig Wallace announced in the Queensland Parliament today.

Mr Wallace said the State already had Cameron Corner, Poeppel Corner and Haddon Corner where the State’s borders meet NSW, South Australia and the Northern Territory.

Now Mr Wallace has approved a new name for a fourth corner on the Queensland-NSW border - Gregory and Greaves Corner.

The corner is located near the township of Mungindi, where the Queensland-NSW border intersects the Barwon River at latitude 29 degrees south.

On the map, it is the point where the Queensland-NSW border changes from a straight line to a squiggle.

Mr Wallace said the site was the only “corner” on the state boundary yet to be named.

“The corners of our state have a special fascination for people,” Mr Wallace said.

“People like to say they have stood on the exact spot were two or three states and territories meet,” he said.

“I hope Gregory and Greaves corner will become a new tourist attraction for people such as grey nomads and school excursions.”

The name Gregory and Greaves Corner honours Sir Augustus Charles Gregory and William Albert Greaves, who surveyed and marked parts of the Queensland-New South Wales border in 1865.

“Sir Augustus Gregory was Queensland’s first surveyor-general, as well as an explorer,” Mr Wallace said.

“Mr Greaves was the NSW district surveyor for Armidale,” he said.

The first survey of the state border at latitude 29 degrees south was fixed in October 1865 by Sir Gregory, Mr Greaves and their teams of assistants.

After they measured the latitude along the border, workers marked the line with iron pins, which were 60cm long and driven up to 20cm into the ground at several points along the boundary.

Mungindi also has another surveying landmark – the One Ton Post, a huge wooden surveying post also on the Queensland/NSW border.

The proposal to name Gregory and Greaves Corner was first publicised in 2007 and comment was sought from the community.

“It received support from the community, from the Balonne Shire Council, and I’m pleased to advise the descendants of Sir Augustus Charles Gregory also fully support the proposal,” Mr Wallace said.

“This is an historical day for Queensland – a fourth special corner of our State is now officially named,” he said.

Media contact: Paul Childs, Craig Wallace's office, on 0407 131 654.