Basilisk, Queensland
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Basilisk | |||||||||||||
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 HMS Basilisk, on the voyage from Brisbane to Cape York, 5 February 1871, after which the locality is named | |||||||||||||
  Basilisk | |||||||||||||
 Interactive map of Basilisk | |||||||||||||
| Coordinates: 17°40′15″S 145°59′42″E / 17.6708°S 145.9950°E | |||||||||||||
| Country | Australia | ||||||||||||
| State | Queensland | ||||||||||||
| LGA | |||||||||||||
| Location |
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| Government | |||||||||||||
| • State electorate | |||||||||||||
| • Federal division | |||||||||||||
| Area | |||||||||||||
• Total | 34.5 km2 (13.3 sq mi) | ||||||||||||
| Population | |||||||||||||
| • Total | 0 (2021 census)[1] | ||||||||||||
| • Density | 0.000/km2 (0.00/sq mi) | ||||||||||||
| Time zone | UTC+10:00 (AEST) | ||||||||||||
| Postcode | 4871 | ||||||||||||
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Basilisk is a rural locality in the Cassowary Coast Region, Queensland, Australia.[2] In the 2021 census, Basilisk had "no people or a very low population".[1]
The locality is almost entirely composed of the Basilisk Range which rises from land close to sea level at the east to a series of unnamed peaks of from 200 to 400 metres.[3] The central and southern area of the locality forms the Basilisk Range National Park.[4] While the northern part of the locality is freehold land, it is mostly undeveloped. The land use in the west of the locality is grazing on native vegetation.[5]
History
The name Basilisk was the original name of the nearby town South Johnstone until 1954.[6] The name comes from the Royal Navy ship HMS Basilisk which, under the command of Captain John Moresby, undertook hydrographic surveys off the coast in the early 1870s.[3] The neighbouring locality of Moresby was named after the captain,[7] while the nearby Mourilyan Harbour and related places are named after the ship's first lieutenant, Thomas Longley Mourilyan.[8]
