CNR ELIZABETH AND BOURKE STREETS
Melbourne's General Post Office was the result of a competition to replace the original 1859 building. In a controversial decision, the design awarded first prize was discarded in favour of the second-placed design by AE Johnson. Completed in 1867 the scheme was a magnificent Free Classical composition superimposing trabeated classical orders over an arcuated structure. The arcade and approach stairs surrounding the main facades, a generous gesture to the public character of the Post Office building, are still a gathering point for Melburnians.
Despite its vast scale and grandeur, the General Post Office was extended on a number of occasions to alleviate overcrowding. A third storey was added in 1887 as a response to the first round of complaints. New Mansard roofs and a corner tower completed the extensions and contributed a French Second Empire flavour to the composition. A further extension consisting of two storeys and a basement were added to the Little Bourke Street end of the Elizabeth Street facade in 1906-07. In 1917, however, the Commonwealth Government erected a new General Post Office on the corner of Bourke and Spencer Streets and the Elizabeth Street building relinquished its position as Melbourne's premier post office, not regaining it until 1964.
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In 1919, the former GPO's original sorting room was transformed into a grand public hall by architects Walter Burley Griffin and John Smith Murdoch. The Postmaster-General's report of that year expressed his fervent hope that the new open plan would relieve the building of congestion and the "pilot policeman" of his duties in directing lost customers around the postal complex.
The Commonwealth Government assumed control of postal and telecommunication services in March 1901, however the standardisation of colonial communications had been canvassed since 1856 and inter-colonial conferences held on the matter since 1867. Issues such as rationalising international postal routes to Australia became more pressing during the lead up to federation and two inter-colonial Postal and Telegraphic Conferences (in 1892 and 1897) were held at the Melbourne General Post Office. Despite all this discussion, postal services continued to run under state laws until the Post and Telegraph Act came into force in June 1902, the first nationally available, Commonwealth stamp was not produced until 1912 (and not issued until 1913), and a shortage of funds in the early years limited construction of new post offices to Victoria and New South Wales.