Pinkenba is a long narrow strip of land on the northern side of the Brisbane River, facing Moreton Bay, 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) from the Brisbane central business district. The area is spatially isolated from other residential suburbs and is bounded by the Brisbane Airport to west, Moreton Bay to the north, and the Brisbane River to the east.[5]
The land use is mostly industrial except for a small residential area at the town centre.[5]
History
Pinkenba is situated in the Yugarabul traditional Aboriginal country.[13] The Turrbal people are custodians within the Yugurabul traditional country. The name Pinkenba comes from the Turrbal word binkinba, which means "place of land tortoise".[14]
The former suburb of Meeandah took its name from the now disused Meeandah railway station on the Pinkenba railway line, which in turn was named after a corruption of the Greek word meander, and referred to Serpentine Creek which flowed through the area, but has subsequently been converted into a drain due to the development of Brisbane Airport. The name is often thought to be an Aboriginal word.[15][16][17]
In 1892, the opening of the Queensland Meat Export and Agency Company's meatworks in Pinkenba necessitated the establishment of a town where workers could live close to their work. On 15 October 1892, there was an auction of 40 allotments of land in the new town of Pinkenba. That land was bounded by the present-day streets of McBride Road to the west, Serpentine Road to the north, and Eagle Farm Road to the south-east (27°25′19″S153°07′11″E / 27.4219°S 153.1197°E / -27.4219; 153.1197 (Town of Pinkenba estate)).[27]
In 1902, a Baptist church opened in Pinkenba.[33][34] Prior to the opening of the church, the Baptist congregation met in Harris's Hall. A stump-capping ceremony for the new church was held on Monday 11 November 1901.[35] The church officially opened on New Year's Day, 1 January 1902.[36]
In 1902, a spur line was built from Pinkenba to the wharf, to facilitate the movement of goods. In 1909, a separate railway wharf was constructed.[37]
Pinkenba Rail Post Office opened at the Pinkenba railway station in mid 1915 and closed in April 1954.[28]
Brisbane's first sewerage treatment plant was officially opened at Luggage Point on 23 November 1923. It was Australia's first full-scale sewerage treatment plant, a key component of Brisbane's sewerage scheme which commended in March 1914. It was serviced by an electric tramway.[41][42][43][44][45]
Qantas selected Pinkenba for its flying boat base in the 1930s. Until World War II, the other flying boat base, at Hamilton Reach, was too congested, but the Qantas base eventually moved upstream, providing better access for passengers.[48]
During the war, a Royal Australian Navy Defence Station was established, with the remains of the facility listed on the current Queensland Heritage Register.[37]
On 6 March 1963, Queen Elizabeth II unveiled a roadside memorial at 315 Tingara Street (corner of Kirra Street, 27°25′01″S153°08′09″E / 27.41690°S 153.13579°E / -27.41690; 153.13579 (Discovery of Oil Memorial)).[49][50] It commemorates the discovery of commercial quantities of oil in Australia at Moonie.[51] The location was chosen because it was close to the site of the oil refinery which was to be built to process the oil.[51] However, at the time of the queen's visit, The Canberra Times described the site as "desolate" and "a smelly, muddy, mosquito-infested swamp", but the site was planted with 12-foot (3.7 m) high palm trees and flower beds and the area sprayed with insecticide in advance of her visit (which are no longer extant).[52] The memorial was designed sculptor Rod Shaw of Narrabeen, Sydney. The bas relief monement reflects the cooperation between the United States and Australia in the search for oil though the imagery of oil workers handling a drill bit with flags of the two countries in the background.[53] Although significant oil deposits had been found at Moonie, the 186-mile (299 km) pipeline to Brisbane was not completed until the following year.[51][54]
In 1975, Myrtletown (then an independent suburb) was downgraded to a neighbourhood within Pinkenba.[6] Myrtletown was historically known as a residential and farming locality, though maritime and industrial facilities have developed in recent decades.[citation needed]
As of March 2020[update], two cruise ship wharves for Brisbane are located there, with differing facilities. Portside Wharf at Hamilton was completed in 2006 and is an international-standard facility for cruise liners, offering restaurants, coffee shops, gift shops, and other facilities. However, due to the height restrictions of the Gateway Bridge, and length restriction of 270 metres (890 ft) that far upstream, larger cruise liners must dock further down the river at the more industrial multi-user terminal at the Port of Brisbane. In late 2020, the new Brisbane International Cruise Terminal was scheduled to open on the northern bank of the Brisbane River at Myrtletown, opposite the port (27°22′52″S153°09′15″E / 27.3811°S 153.1542°E / -27.3811; 153.1542 (Brisbane International Cruise Terminal)), but its opening was delayed because of shut-down of the cruise industry due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[56] The new cruise terminal is located at Luggage Point next to the Luggage Point sewage treatment plant (which has been renamed the Luggage Point Resource Recovery Centre). The new terminal will be able to accommodate the largest cruise vessels in the world. It will be operated by the port but will not be part of the suburb of Port of Brisbane (which is on the southern bank of the river).[57]
Demographics
In the 2011 census, Pinkenba recorded a population of 350 people; 42.9% female and 57.1% male. The median age of the Pinkenba population was 42 years, 5 years above the Australian median. Children aged under 15 years made up 15.4% of the population and people aged 65 years and over made up 12.8% of the population. 62.5% of people living in Pinkenba were born in Australia, compared to the national average of 69.8%; the next most common countries of birth were New Zealand 7%, Iran 6.8%, England 2.5%, Italy 1.4%, France 0.8%. 77.3% of people spoke only English at home; the next most popular languages were 2% Italian, 1.7% Cantonese, 1.1% Tagalog, 0.9% Afrikaans, 0.9% Serbo-Croatian/Yugoslavian. The most common religious affiliation was "No Religion" 22.8%; the next most common responses were Catholic 19.9%, Anglican 16.5%, Presbyterian and Reformed 5.4% and Uniting Church 4.3%.[58]
In the 2016 census, Pinkenba had a population of 368 people.[59]
In the 2021 census, Pinkenba had a population of 350 people.[1]
Pinkenba is the site of BP's Bulwer Island Refinery (an import terminal since 2015), and Shell's Pinkenba Terminal. In 2011, Shell's operations at Bulwer Island were expanded, with the opening of a new bitumen and marine fuel import facility.[67] Shell facilities include its Queensland state office, a bitumen plant, a lubricants and grease manufacturing facility, several warehouses and a fuel storage unit.[68]
Pinkenba has a historical trail, which was designed on behalf of the Pinkenba Community Association and the Port of Brisbane with help from Brisbane City Council Neighbourhood planning team. More work has still to be done over the next[when?] ten years, involving the beautification of Pinkenba, with the first part being the local park and historical path and local pub.[citation needed]
Transport
The suburb is accessed by road via Kingsford Smith Drive, which passes an industrial area before reaching the suburb. A railway branch line to Pinkenba was constructed to encourage port development downstream away from the Brisbane central business district.[70] The now-abandoned Pinkenba railway station opened in 1882 as the terminus of the line, and closed in 1993.[citation needed]
On the day of the 2011 census, 9.1% of employed people travelled to work on public transport and 63.6% by car (either as driver or as passenger).[58]
^"AIATSIS code E66: Yugarabul". Federal government. Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies. 26 July 2019. Archived from the original on 13 August 2020. Retrieved 31 July 2020.
^"SKETCHER". The Queenslander. Queensland, Australia. 11 April 1914. p. 8. Archived from the original on 26 December 2020. Retrieved 29 March 2020 – via Trove.
^"Home page". Pinkenba State School. 18 July 2008. Archived from the original on 18 July 2008. Retrieved 10 March 2020.
^"Eagle Farm Meat Works". The Telegraph. No. 6, 225. Queensland, Australia. 29 September 1892. p. 5. Retrieved 27 May 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
^ abFrew, Joan (1981), Queensland post offices, 1842-1980 and receiving offices, 1869-1927, J. Frew, p. 393, ISBN978-0-9593973-0-7
^"Advertising". The Telegraph. No. 8, 758. Queensland, Australia. 14 December 1900. p. 8 (SECOND EDITION). Archived from the original on 13 April 2022. Retrieved 27 May 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
^"Successful Land Sale". The Telegraph. No. 8, 760. Queensland, Australia. 17 December 1900. p. 4. Archived from the original on 13 April 2022. Retrieved 27 May 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
^"1902 Pinkenba". Baptist Church Archives Queensland. Archived from the original on 26 November 2021. Retrieved 29 November 2021.
^"Pinkenba Baptists". Brisbane. No. 9, 042. Queensland, Australia. 12 November 1901. p. 7. Archived from the original on 13 April 2022. Retrieved 29 November 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
^"Pinkenba Baptist Mission". The Telegraph. No. 9, 087. Queensland, Australia. 4 January 1902. p. 2 (SECOND EDITION). Retrieved 29 November 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
^"BRISBANE SEWERAGE". Daily Standard. No. 3397. Queensland, Australia. 24 November 1923. p. 8. Archived from the original on 12 May 2024. Retrieved 15 January 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
^"BRISBANE FALLS INTO LINE". The Daily Mail. No. 6784. Queensland, Australia. 24 November 1923. p. 16. Archived from the original on 12 May 2024. Retrieved 15 January 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
^"SEWERAGE SYSTEM". The Brisbane Courier. No. 20, 543. Queensland, Australia. 24 November 1923. p. 8. Archived from the original on 12 May 2024. Retrieved 15 January 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
^Anglican Church of Southern Queensland. "Closed Churches". Archived from the original on 3 April 2019. Retrieved 2 July 2020.
^Gregory's Street Directory of Brisbane and Suburbs and Metropolitan Road Guide (11 ed.). 1975. pp. 108, Map 25 K4.
^ abcGregory, Helen; Dianne Mclay (2010). Building Brisbane's History: Structure, Sculptures, Stories and Secrets. Warriewood, New South Wales: Woodslane Press. p. 108. ISBN9781921606199.
^"MEMORIAL TO OIL DISCOVERY". The Canberra Times. Vol. 37, no. 10, 460. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 14 February 1963. p. 22. Archived from the original on 12 August 2022. Retrieved 12 August 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
^"OIL PIPE TO COAST THIS YEAR". The Canberra Times. Vol. 37, no. 10, 452. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 5 February 1963. p. 3. Archived from the original on 12 August 2022. Retrieved 12 August 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
Munro, Jennifer (2002), Fighting turtles : the life and times of the children who have attended Pinkenba State School No. 200 : across three centuries 1875-2001, Pinkenba State School, ISBN978-0-9580918-0-0