Tags
200th, Aboriginal, anniversary, B200, birthday, book, Brisbane, Brisbane River, castaways, councils, curriculum, documentary, events, government, historical, history, media, Moreton Bay, Moreton Island, movie, organisations, play, premier, Q150, Queensland, re-enactment, Redcliffe, schools, sponsors, television, tourism, universities
Last Monday (7 May 2018), I sent the following email to the Queensland premier, relevant councils, and historical and other organisations about a proposal for celebrating Brisbane’s 200th anniversary …
Dear Premier, Councils and Organisations
Brisbane will be 200 years old in 2024 and this might be a good time to celebrate the history of the city just as we did in 2009 with the 150th anniversary of Queensland or Q150. Plans would probably need to start during the current term of government which is due to run until late 2020. Q150 planning started in 2005. Call it B200?
What is now Brisbane was founded in September 1824 at Redcliffe and moved to its current site on the Brisbane River in May 1825. A relevant lead-in would be the story of the castaways who were marooned in the Moreton Bay area in 1823. Their journey would make a very interesting re-enactment or series of re-enactments starting in April 2023, 200 years after they landed on Moreton Island.
I have copied a number of organisations and councils into this email who may be interested in being involved in some capacity in a B200 celebration which I would envisage to run from 2023 to 2025 with a series of events. Please feel free to forward this email to any others you think might be interested.
I haven’t contacted any Aboriginal groups re involvement, sensitivities, etc but I think the best people to do that would be the Qld Department of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Partnerships. There could also be involvement by schools, universities, sponsors and of course the media. I know that some schools cover the castaways’ story in their curriculum. A person I know is writing a children’s book on the castaways and also suggests a play be put together telling the castaways’ story.
I would also like to suggest a one hour television documentary on early Brisbane and a 90-120 minute movie on the castaways. Their story is in my non-fiction book, Through the Eyes of Thomas Pamphlett: Convict and Castaway, now also an ebook. I would like to write a script for such a movie. I haven’t contacted any film companies at this stage. The federal government is increasing the tax breaks for the movie industry. Another option would be a book on the history of Brisbane.
This could be an excellent tourism opportunity for the wider Brisbane region. I think the Queensland Government might be the best ones to coordinate any B200 celebration although I’m happy to help in any way I can. There could be a role for each government department as there was for Q150. Part of the program could include support for regional cities and towns to celebrate their birthdays.
Those included in this email are as follows:
Queensland Premier
Brisbane City Council (via website)
Moreton Bay Regional Council
Noosa Shire Council
Redland City Council
Sunshine Coast Council
Abbey Museum
Bribie Historical Society
Brisbane History Group
Brisbane’s Living Heritage Network
Cooroy-Noosa Genealogical & Historical Research Group
History Redcliffe
North Stradbroke Island Historical Museum
Pamphlett Sea Scouts
Pine Rivers Heritage Museum
Queensland Colonial and Heritage Dancers
Queensland Living History Federation (via website)
Royal Historical Society of Queensland
Sandgate and District Historical Society and Museum
Wynnum Manly Historical Society
Screen Queensland
I’d like to put the contents of this email on my web page at https://chrispearce52.wordpress.com/ and my Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/chris.pearce.56614.
Please let me know if you have any queries.
Yours sincerely
Chris Pearce
