City of Preston (Victoria) City of Preston (Victoria) The City of Preston was a local government area about north-northeast of Melbourne, the state capital of Victoria, Australia. The city covered an area of , and existed from 1871 until 1994. Preston's first involvement in local government was part of the Epping Road District in 1854, which also included Northcote. In 1870, the Epping District was amalgamated with the Merriang, Whittlesea, Morang and Woodstock Road Districts, to form a very large Darebin Shire. These entities mostly ended up in the Cities of Broadmeadows and Whittlesea. Preston was first incorporated as the Jika Jika Shire on
Victoria (Australia) municipal areas. The state of Victoria is the second largest economy in Australia after New South Wales, accounting for a quarter of the nation's gross domestic product. The total gross state product (GSP) at current prices for Victoria was A$374 billion in June 2016, with a GSP per capita of A$60,595. The economy grew by 1.0 per cent in the 2015–16 financial year, less than the Australian average of 2.7 per cent. Finance and insurance is Victoria's largest income producing sector, while the health care and social assistance sector is the state's biggest employer. The shift towards service industries in