To most of us the 3Rs connote literacy and numeracy, but did you know the initials also used to apply to the Queensland Railway Refreshment Rooms? Originally run by enterprising locals, the Railway Department, Refreshment Rooms Branch was created in June 1916. The official public announcement that the Queensland Government would run the railway refreshment […]
Copenhagan [has been rendered] … a city of turmoil … and the same exciting scenes recurred in Amsterdam. Beatlemania is coming … So watch out Australia. The Courier-Mail, 8 June 1964 Beatlemania was in full swing in 1964 and the spectacle was coming to Queensland. While the thought of the Fab Four visiting Brisbane was […]
You may have seen in the news recently that Sweden – one of those countries that recycles almost all of their household waste and even imports waste from other countries to recycle – has opened a shopping centre that only sells recycled, upcycled and repurposed goods! This news story got me thinking about the methods […]
In 2010, Queensland Parliament celebrated its 150th anniversary. Over the course of those 150 years, this institution of governance underwent changes in both its location and its structural composition. It has, however, consistently represented the interests of a diverse group of people and a geographically large terrain. Queensland Parliament met for the first time on […]
The first royal visitor to Australia was Prince Alfred, the second son of Queen Victoria (later to become the Duke of Edinburgh). A Royal Navy Captain on a world tour on board HMS Galatea he visited Queensland in March 1868. During his visit, The Brisbane Courier reported a restless, feverish excitement as seemed to pervade all classes during the whole time. […]
Sir Thomas B Robinson’s endeavours as Queensland’s Agent General held a unique place during the First World War, but we’ll come back to that part of his story later. Robinson was born on the 24 November 1853 in Rotherhithe, England and moved to Australia in 1881 with his wife, Elizabeth. He first managed the firm […]
Core of my heart, my country! Land of the Rainbow Gold, For flood and fire and famine, She pays us back threefold My Country, Dorothea Mackellar In this famous ode to her adopted country written in 1908, Dorothea Mackellar successfully captures the spirit of Australians battling a hostile environment in which flood, fire and famine […]
