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History OF QUEENSLAND |
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Queensland, state in
northeastern Australia, bounded on the north by the Gulf of Carpentaria, on the
east by the Coral Sea (part of the Pacific Ocean), on the south by the state of
New South Wales, on the southwest by the state of South Australia, and on the
west by the Northern Territory. Queensland is the second largest of Australia's
states and territories (after Western Australia), covering about 1,727,200 sq
km (666,876 sq mi), or 22.5 percent of Australia. Queensland has 7400 km (4600
mi) of coastline, with the magnificent Great Barrier Reef stretching along the
shoreline in the Coral Sea. The capital of Queensland is Brisbane, on the
southeastern coast. Queensland was known to Dutch navigators by the early
1600s. In 1770 the British explorer Captain James Cook visited Queensland's
eastern coast, near present-day Brisbane, and claimed it for Great Britain.
Settlement began in 1824 with a colony for British convicts called Moreton Bay.
At the time, the settlement was part of New South Wales, which was then a
colony of Britain.
In 1831 Moreton Bay peaked at 1100 convicts and in 1839
officially ended its penal function. The colony was renamed after Sir Thomas
Brisbane, governor of New South Wales, and in 1842 began to welcome free
settlers. From Brisbane, settlers continued to move north along the coast, with
disastrous consequences for the local Aborigines. Perhaps 30 percent of all
Australian Aborigines lived in the area, and clashes between settlers and
Aborigines became common and violent. At least 20,000 Aborigines died in the
fighting, compared with 1000 Europeans. European diseases also took a toll on
the Aborigines.
In 1859 Brisbane and the rest of what is now Queensland was
removed from New South Wales to become its own colony. Although Queensland
suffered a severe economic crisis in the mid-1860s, discoveries of copper and
gold set the stage for growth through the rest of the century and farming grew
steadily as well. This progress was marred, however, by the practice of
blackbirding the importation, often by deception or force, of native Kanakas
from Polynesia.
The Kanakas were free in theory but in practice they were
enslaved on sugar plantations, where they were often treated brutally.
Blackbirding began about 1860 and ended when Australia became independent from
Britain, in 1901. (Queensland became a state in the same year.)
In later
years, the large sugar estates were broken up, and small farming prospered,
thus laying the foundation for Queensland's network of strong regional
centers.
Political parties emerged during the late 19th century, and the
rural-based Labor Party dominated government for all but five years (1928-1933)
between 1915 and 1957. In the 1950s both the national and state Labor parties
split in two over the Petrov Affair, a controversy in which Labor members were
accused of spying for the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. The split
allowed the Country Party (later known as the National Party) and the Liberal
Party to take power together. Their most notable leader was Sir Joh
Bjelke-Petersen, whose administration (1968-1987) was notorious for
unrestrained commercial development and opposition to the Aboriginal, trade
union, and women's rights movements.
Bjelke-Petersen was deposed by his own
party in 1987. In 1989 a public inquiry found that his administration had been
riddled with corruption, a finding that helped the Labor Party return to power
in 1989, for the first time in 32 years. The party received a second term in
1992. In 1996 a coalition of the National and Liberal parties returned to
power.
National park in
Australia in the northeastern part of the state of Queensland. Established in
1962, the park consists of about 7000 sq km (2734 sq mi) of ancient tropical
rain forest near Cairns. The forest, spread over the Bellenden Ker Range and
the lowlands below, is believed to be the oldest virgin rain forest in the
world. It originated between 50 million and 100 million years ago, when all of
Australia was covered by similar rain forests. The vegetation in the park
includes more than 90 species of orchids, several other kinds of flowering
plants, and a variety of ferns.
Daintree National Park was created to
protect the rain forest from tin mining, logging, and major road-building, each
of which was proposed during the 1980s. The park occupies most of a larger
region, known as the Wet Tropics of Queensland, which has an area of about 9200
sq km (3594 sq mi) and also takes in other national parks and state
forests.
The Great Dividing Range, a sprawling system of mountain ranges running the length of the state from north to south, separates Queensland into four regions: the eastern plains, islands, and reefs of the coast; the eastern highlands; the western plains; and the northwestern uplands. The eastern coast is notable for fine beaches and excellent farmland. Its most extraordinary feature is the coral reef chain of the Great Barrier Reef, which extends about 2000 km (about 1250 mi) from north to south. To the west of the Great Dividing Range is a region of rolling grasslands, which gives way to a vast, semiarid plain. Located at the northern end of the range, in the Bellenden Ker Range, is Mount Bartle Frere, Queensland's highest point, at 1611 m (5287 ft). The Atherton Plateau, an isolated highland area, also lies at the northern end of the range, and the Darling Downs, a fertile farming region, lies in the south.
Island off the
southeastern coast of Queensland, Australia, separated from the mainland by the
Great Sandy Strait and Hervey Bay, facing the town of Maryborough. Fraser
Island is the world's largest sand island. It is about 120 km (about 75 mi)
long and ranges in width from about 7 to 22 km (about 4.5 to 14 mi). The
island's sandhills, which are up to 400,000 years old, rise to heights of about
240 m (about 787 ft). Rain forests grow on the sand dunes of Fraser Island,
unlike on other sand islands. Hoop, kauri, blackbutt, and satinay trees are
common. There are more than 40 deep freshwater lakes on the island, some of
which are perched high above sea level. Lake Boemingen, the largest of these
lakes, is almost 200 hectares (almost 495 acres) in area. Prior to European
occupation the island was home to several thousand Aborigines. The island is
exceptionally rich in plant life. There are well-preserved tidal marshes,
subtropical rain forests and communities of mangroves on the western side of
the island, and heaths and open forests on the east.
Humpback whales are
sometimes seen offshore. Much of the island is protected as the Great Sandy
National Park. In 1992 the park was inscribed on the World Heritage List, a
listing by the World Heritage Convention of the world's unique and precious
places.
Chain of coral reefs
in the Coral Sea, off the northeastern coast of Australia. The largest deposit
of coral in the world, the reef extends about 2010 km (about 1250 mi) from a
point near Mackay, Queensland, to the Torres Strait, which lies between
Australia and New Guinea.
The channel that separates the reef from the
Australian coast varies in width. Certain northern parts of the reef are as
close as 16 km (10 mi) to the coast. In the south, the channel reaches a width
of about 240 km (about 150 mi). The reef protects the channel from the harsh
wind and waves of the Coral Sea. Water in the channel is calm and shallow.
Islets and rings of coral called atolls are scattered throughout the channel,
making ship navigation difficult.
The Great Barrier Reef is home to a
remarkable number of organisms. The coral itself is made up of the skeletons of
tiny, flowerlike water animals called polyps, held together by a limestone
substance produced by a type of algae. Hundreds of species of polyps form coral
in a beautiful range of colors and shapes. The reef also supports many larger
water animals, including as many as 2000 species of fish.
Since the early
1960s crown-of-thorns starfish have invaded parts of the reef. These animals
feed on coral and can destroy large portions of a coral reef. The Australian
government has made efforts to limit destruction of the coral.
