This term gained currency during the invasion scare of 1942. It was the line of defence against an invading Japanese force. When Queenslanders discovered that, for sound military reasons it was in fact south of Brisbane, along the Lamington mountain range which forms the Queensland-New South Wales border, their enthusiasms declined sharply.
Up to the 1980s, Brisbane was unique among Australian capital cities in having a single city council which covered the entire urban area. With the exception of the federal capital, Canberra, which has its own Capital territory, other cities were divided among small councils, with, for example, Sydney city council covering little more that the central business district.
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Despite this advantage Brisbane until the eighties was referred to as Australia's largest country town. However, the city hall, until then a landmark as the cities tallest building was quickly surrounded by new development. |
By the ninenteen eighties rapid growth had meant that areas beyond the city boundary, such as Logan City to the south were part of the conurbation. These areas "enjoyed" lower quality building codes and attracted low income families. Kev Carmody's song "Darkside" describes the life of the disaffected youth of the area.
The Logan Hyperdrome shopping center was the first in Queensland to impose a dress code on shoppers to eliminate these youths from the privatised public space.
The response to growth and the related increase in transport requirements was to cater for private road transport. The city went directly to the source for technical support:
| LA versus the Brisbane River |  |
In the eighties the city council, struck out in a new direction: literally down under.
| Transport down under |  |
Two sand islands, Moreton Island and North Stradbrooke island at the mouth of the Brisbane river enclose Moreton Bay. This broad sheltered area which accounts for the popularity of boating in the city. Bayside suburbs contain "Canal developments" which means each house has its own waterfront. On Moreton Island the former Tangalooma whaling station has become a time-share complex.
Inevitably, the river has enjoyed a renaissance as a transport resource.
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The Brisbane river used to divided the city. Until the sixties the north and south Brisbane rail systems were separate networks. The interstate standard gauge railway only joined the 3'6" Queensland Government tracks across the Merivale Bridge from South Brisbane in the mid-eighties. |
| Brisbane City Council operate high speed ferries under the CityCat brand |  |
| By the nineties further provision for
buses, pedestrians and cycles had been made. The freeway was retrofitted with a lower level cycleway which continued along Coronation Drive and the river bank. |
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The Victoria Bridge had bus and cycle lanes added. |
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Expo'88 held in conjunction with the Bicentenary of European settlement produced a profound shift in Brisbane's self image, and an appreciation of the possibilities of urban life in the south east Queensland climate.
| Entertainers recruited to entertain the exhibition queues found subsequent employment in the new Myer's Centre above the bus station, and in the malls and streets of the city itself while the expo site was redeveloped as a culture and entertainment area. |  |
| The conversion of the State Government Treasury Building to a Casino was another response |  |
During World war two US troops were assigned to north Brisbane if white, south Brisbane, which contained he urban aboriginal population if black. David Malouf's memoir 12 Edmonstone Street describes a child view of that is period. Malouf himself came for a Christian Lebanese family which settled in the early years of the twentieth century. Their religion qualified them for entry under the then "White Australia" policy.
The white US soldiers, enjoying R&R, forties style, caused resentment among their Australian counterparts. The Battle of Brisbane was a series of serious disturbances over several days involving U.S. troops and local men, althpugh there are a variety of explanations for the start of hte troubles.
A more serious incident was alleged to have occurred in the north Queensland town of Inkerman when two passing troop trains stopped at the same station. The Americans arriving taunted the Australians who were departing to the northern front in New Guinea. The Americans might have been less explicit about their proposed exploits with local women if they had known that the Australian soldiers had already been issued with live ammunition.
A version of the incident was reconstructed in the 1985 film Rebel
A more sober, possible more accurate, version of events at Inkerman railway station can be found at http://home.st.net.au/~dunn/ozatwar/inkerman.htm
More lethal events seem to have occured entirely within the U.S. forces: http://home.st.net.au/~dunn/ozatwar/riotupperross.htm
| Kurilpa is the aboriginal name for the area of South
Brisbane occupied by the Expo Post-Expo plans took little account of the former role of the South Bank area in providing cheap centrally located accommodation for lows income groups including the urban aboriginal community. An unofficial planning exercise was held at the close of Expo'88 in which a range of alternatives to the subsequent development and gentrification were discussed. An exhibition was held at the Jagera Arts Centre in Musgrave Park. The park has been an aboriginal meeting place since long before European settlement. Malouf's Edmonstone Street runs along one side of it. |
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