Queensland's history – 1900s

1901

• Queensland the colony becomes a State of the new Commonwealth of Australia on 1 January.

1903

• Under the Jacaranda is painted by R. Godfrey Rivers, a leading Queensland artist. This has since become a very popular painting among visitors to the Queensland Art Gallery.

1905

• Queensland women are granted the right to vote.

1908

• Witches Falls at Mt Tamborine is proclaimed Queensland's first national park.
• Rugby League is established as a separate sport from Rugby Union.

1909

• Queensland surf lifesavers rescue a group of young women in the first recorded rescue, at Greenmount Beach, Coolangatta.

1911

• The University of Queensland opens its doors to students.

• The first alternative treatments for polio are pioneered in Queensland and remain in use across the world today.

1914

• World War I is declared (ceases 1918).
• Yatala Pie Shop opens.

1915

• Premier T.J. Ryan leads the first Queensland ALP government to govern in its own right without the need of non-labor MPs. Except for 1929–1932, Labor is in power from 1915–1957.

1917

• Prime Minister Billy Hughes establishes the Australian Federal Police after local police refuse to arrest the men responsible for throwing eggs at him during a pro-conscription rally in Warwick.

1920

• Four World War I veterans establish Australia's first airline, QANTAS, at Winton.

1922

• Queensland becomes the only State Parliament in Australia with only a Lower House, after the Upper House is abolished.

1924

• The winking Mr Fourex, atop of the Milton brewery in Brisbane, makes his first appearance.

1925

• Dors Hassell stars in Charles Chauvel's first movie, The Moth of Moonbi, made by Australian Film Production, and shot mainly in the Brisbane bush (released January 1926).

1927

• Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary is established as the world's first koala sanctuary and the first to breed captive koalas.

1928

• The Royal Flying Doctor Service is founded by Reverend John Flynn in response to an emergency call. John Flynn is today commemorated on the Australian $20 note.

1929

• Irene Longman becomes the first woman elected to Queensland Parliament, winning the Brisbane seat of Bulimba for the Country National Party.

• First 'talkies' screen at the Tivoli in Brisbane.

1930

• A preparatory year of schooling is added to State primary schools. It is abolished in 1953 and re-introduced after a trial period in 2007.
• Charles Kingsford Smith breaks Bert Hinkler's solo record from England to Australia and lands at Eagle Farm, Brisbane.

1939

• World War II commences with Germany's invasion of Poland (ceases in 1945).
• Dr James Mayne and sister Mary Emilia bequeath their entire estate to The University of Queensland for medical education.

1940

• Brisbane's most iconic bridge, the Story Bridge, named after John Douglas Story, opens.

1942

• Japanese flying boats bomb Townsville (26–29 July) and Mossman (31 July). No fatalities, only one minor injury is recorded.

1944

• Fred Paterson becomes the first and only Communist to gain a seat in Queensland Parliament. From 1944 to 1950, Paterson is the Member for Bowen.

1946

• Free public hospital treatment is made available to Queenslanders for the first time.

1951

• The School of the Air commences, giving children in remote areas access to education via radio.

1953

• Best known for house calls to the sick and elderly, Blue Care begins life as the Blue Nursing Service, an outreach initiative of the members of the Methodist Mission at West End.

1954

• Queen Elizabeth II is met by hysterical crowds when she visits Queensland during her Australian tour.

1959

• Queensland's centenary celebrations are held, including a royal tour by Princess Alexandra.

• The Cooktown Orchid is proclaimed Queensland's floral emblem.

1961

• Brisbane changes forever under the leadership of Lord Mayor Clem Jones (until 1975), whose city council introduces town planning and massive development programs.

1962

• The Bruce Highway linking Brisbane and Cairns is completed. This encourages the growth in tourism as Queenslanders take advantage of shorter travel times to tourism locations such as the Whitsunday Islands.

• Rockhampton born ‘Rocket’ Rod Laver wins the tennis Grand Slam (only man to win it twice – again in 1969).

1964

• 10,000 excited fans greet The Beatles when they arrive in Brisbane.

1965

• Merle Thornton and Rosalie Bogner chain themselves to the bar rail at Brisbane's Regatta Hotel to protest against men-only bars in Queensland pubs (law changed 1970).

1968

• Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen commences his premiership, which lasts until 1987, making him the longest serving premier in Queensland history.

1969

• Brisbane's tram service is abolished.

1971

• Queenslander Neville Bonner becomes the first Indigenous person to be elected to Federal Parliament as a Senator for Queensland.

1973

• Surf clothing company, Billabong is founded on the Gold Coast by surfer and surfboard shaper Gordon Merchant and his partner.
• Arsonists James Finch and John Stuart are jailed for fire-bombing the Whiskey Au Go Go nightclub on St Pauls Terrace in Brisbane, the worst mass murder in Australia until the Port Arthur massacre in 1996.

1974

• The Brisbane flood, the worst floods since 1893, leads to major flood mitigation works, including expansion of the Wivenhoe Dam.

1975

• The State Emergency Service is established.

1980

• Queensland belts New South Wales 20–10 in the first State of Origin game in front of a packed Lang Park.

1981

• The Great Barrier Reef is World Heritage-listed.

1982

• The Commonwealth Games come to Brisbane – the largest major sporting event held in Queensland, with Australia winning the overall gold medal tally.
• The iconic Cloudland Ballroom at Bowen Hills is demolished overnight, following the demolition of Brisbane's historic Bellevue Hotel three years earlier. These events changed the way Queenslanders saw and valued their heritage.

1987

• The Fitzgerald Inquiry commences, resulting in reforms to the public service, the police service, electoral processes and government accountability over a period of several years. Some politicians and the Police Commissioner are convicted and imprisoned.
• Queensland's largest dam, the Burdekin Falls Dam southwest of Ayr, is completed with a capacity four times that of Sydney Harbour.

1988

• Queen Elizabeth II officially opens World Expo '88, a central feature of the national bicentennial celebrations.

• The Daintree Rainforest is World Heritage-listed.
• Australian Stockman's Hall of Fame opens at Longreach.

1989

• The ALP, led by Wayne Goss, returns to power after 32 years.
• A daylight saving trial begins. In 1992 the majority of Queensland voters reject daylight saving in a referendum and it is consequently abolished.

1991

• First Indy, outside the United States, is held at Surfers Paradise.
• Warner Bros. Movie World opens at Oxenford.

1992

• The push for Native Title develops impetus because of the favourable Mabo High Court ruling over Torres Strait Island land claims by Eddie Mabo and others.
• South Bank Parklands in Brisbane opens.

1994

• Cathy Freeman carries both the Australian and Aboriginal flags at the Commonwealth Games in Canada after winning two events.

1995

• Queensland wins the Sheffield Shield for the first time, 68 years after joining the national competition.
• Stretching 7.5km Skyrail, just outside Cairns, is completed. Today it is one of the State's top tourist attractions.

1996

• Queensland born and educated immunologist Professor Peter Doherty shares the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with his Swiss colleague Professor Rolf Zinkernagel for discoveries on how the immune system recognises virus-infected cells.
• The first high speed CityCat is launched in Brisbane.

1997

• The first electric Tilt Train service runs from Brisbane to Rockhampton. With a top speed of 165 km/h, and the ability to tilt five degrees in each direction, the Tilt Train is the fastest train in Australia.

Last reviewed 28 August 2009

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