History

Brisbane’s first exports were shipments of timber from local pine and cedar forests during the early days of European settlement.  The logs were rafted down the river and across Moreton Bay to Dunwich (North Strabroke Island), where sailing ships would load the cargo and head for Sydney.

Between 1850 and 1885 Brisbane emerged as the main commercial centre in the colony.  Net tonnage through the port grew from 8,128 tonnes in 1850 to 690,883 tonnes in 1885.  In the same period the area’s population grew from under 8,000 people to over 100,000.

During this time water transport was dominant, with ships carrying exports of coal and rural products, and imports of manufactured goods between Brisbane and Ipswich.

In 1888 the frozen beef trade was introduced in Brisbane, creating considerable employment and prosperity in the port.

The next major historical event to substantially influence port activities was World War II.  Normal maintenance dredging activities were disrupted, resulting in inadequate channel depths by 1949.  During this period Cairncross Dockyard was constructed to meet the demand for ship repair facilities.

Later in the decade, a new wave of development began, dominated by the processing of sugar, meat, oil and mining output.  The population grew from 457,000 in 1947 to 693,000 in 1961.  In the same period, total tonnage through the port rose to 2.6 million tonnes.

Two major phases of development began in the 1960s, which were to change the industrial and port structures of Brisbane.

Firstly, the discovery of the Moonie oil fields resulted in two refineries being constructed at the mouth of the Brisbane River.

Secondly, containerisation prompted a change in cargo handling technology, and by 1969 the port’s first container terminal had been built by private enterprise in the Hamilton Reach of the river.