Exploitation

Locality and Geological Map of The Bowen Basin Coal Basin Central Queensland, 1949. This map from 1949 predates the shift to both modern open-cut coal mining and coal seam gas development in Queensland. Exploring the map in detail shows many of the places where coal had been reported in either outcropping or in water bores or government exploration wells. The significance of the map to coal seam gas industry lies in the combination of coal discovery in water bores. Coal seam gas comes to the surface in water that is stored in coal seams; water bores are put down by pastoralists and farmers to supplement their water supplies. The map shows the gathering of knowledge for exploitation and the competing land-use interests in Queensland. From Powell Duffryn Technical Services, First report on the coal industry of Queensland, Volume 3, Plate 40, Collection of The University of Queensland Library.

Map of Torres Strait, showing route of pearl shell commission, 1908. When it appeared in the Queensland parliamentary papers the full title to this map was, ‘Map of the Torres Strait: showing islands, reefs, passages, and route of pearl shell commission in “Q.G.S. Champion” June 22—30, 1908.’ At the request of the Governor of Queensland, Frederic John Napier, a Royal Commission was ordered to inquire and report upon the working of the Pearl-shell and Beche-de-Mer Industry, with a focus on three things: ‘(1) The working of pearl-oyster beds in such a manner as to avoid depletion and to make the industry regular and permanent; (2) The scientific cultivation of pearl-oysters and the probabilities of success in that direction; and (3) The possibilities of encouraging white divers, with a view to their gradual substitution for aliens in that capacity’. To achieve their tasks the members of the commission travelled to the Torres Strait in June 1908. Between 9 and 20 June they interviewed people on Thursday Island. Between 22 June and 30 June they visited seven islands gathering further evidence. This map shows their journey (marked in red) collecting testimony for the Royal Commission. The detailed inset shows Thursday, Friday, Hammond and Prince of Wales Islands. At the top of Hammond Island the map shows different marks of exploitation, such as ‘crushing machines’ for pearl-shell activity and also a ‘Reserve for Aborigines’. And on Friday Island, there is a leper station. Upon completion the Royal Commission recommended that the pearl-shell and beche-de-mer fisheries were suffering from severe depletion of natural supplies, that scientific cultivation of pearl-oysters could be undertaken, and contrary to their investigative purposes that ‘alien’ divers were better suited to work in the tropics. One of their most drastic recommendations called for the closure of the beche-de-mer industry for two years. ‘Pearl-shell and beche-de-mer commission’, Queensland parliamentary papers, vol 2, 1908. Collection of the School of History, Philosophy, Religion and Classics, The University of Queensland

Proposed site for whaling station, Tangalooma, 1952. This map shows the location of the proposed Tangalooma whaling station to be built on Moreton Island. At a closer scale of 50 feet to one inch, the inset in the top right corner shows the proposed jetty. Surveyed by A.H. Krummel, it shows the water depths which extend out into Moreton Bay. These were measured in feet taken at low water datum. Chosen by the Australian Company Whale Products Pty Ltd, Tangalooma became the site of the largest whaling station in the southern hemisphere. It was selected for four main reasons: the site was sheltered from the ocean, it had a large supply of fresh water, it was on the migratory path of the Humpback whale and it was close to Brisbane. The first two humpback whales were killed in June 1952, but within ten years the whale population had been severely depleted and the station closed. In June 1963, the station was bought by property developers and turned into a resort where tourists now leave from the jetty on whale watching tours. Collection of the Queensland State Archives

Blair Athol coalfield, geological plan by J.H. Reid, District geologist, Rockhampton, 1936. Map shows the ‘big seam’ in red with the school and town right on top of where the coal is. On the left is a cross section of the coal seam at Blair Athol, and in the far left the cemetery. Queensland Department of Natural Resources and Water Library