Banksia, New South Wales

Banksia is a suburb in southern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Banksia is located 12 kilometres south of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Rockdale and is part of the St George area.

History
Banksia is named for Joseph Banks, a botanist on the Voyage of Discovery of James Cook which visited the nearby Botany Bay in 1770.

The suburb was part of land owned by Simeon Pearce (1821–86) and his brother James Pearce in the 1850s, which extended from Rockdale to Brighton-Le-Sands. Until the late nineteenth century, the area was heavily timbered but residential development began in the 1880s. One of the leading developers was Frederick Jamison Gibbes, a Member of Parliament, after whom Gibbes Street in the suburb is named. The area developed more rapidly after the railway station opened on 21 October 1906. Many names for the suburb were suggested but the final choice came from Charles Stead, father of novelist Christina Stead. The post office opened in August 1924.

Landmarks

 * Gardiner Park
 * Banksia Baptist Church
 * Banksia Hotel
 * National Film and Sound Archive
 * Rocksia Hotel

Commercial area
Banksia is mainly residential with a few commercial developments. It features mostly low density houses and some medium density blocks of flats. Banksia shopping centre consists of a small group of shops on Railway Street beside Banksia railway station. It includes Banksia Bakery, a take-away shop, a convenience store, chemist, Australia Post and a number of hairdressers.

More shops and commercial developments are located on the Princes Highway. This commercial area extends to the adjacent suburbs of Arncliffe and Rockdale. Many of the commercial developments are part of an automotive precinct featuring car yards, auto accessory retailers, tyre shops and auto repairers, other businesses include hotels and various take away food shops. A market garden is located on the eastern side of West Botany Street, close to St George Soccer Stadium. Located next to St George Stadium on the grounds of Barton Park lies the Rockdale Ilinden Sports Centre, the home of the Rockdale Ilinden Football Club, a largely Macedonian supported NSWSL soccer club.

Transport
Banksia railway station on the Illawarra line of the CityRail network. Banksia is also serviced by Sydney Buses routes 400 and 410 that run between Burwood and Bondi Junction via Eastgardens.

Population
According to the 2011 Census of Population, there were 3,231 residents in Banksia. 50.7% of residents were born in Australia. The most common other countries of birth were Macedonia 7.5%, China 3.4% and Lebanon 2.9%. 40.2% of residents spoke only English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Macedonian 13.0%, Arabic 7.4% and Greek 5.5%. The most common responses for religious affiliation were Catholic 25.5%, Eastern Orthodox 21.3% and No Religion 11.6%.