Bundaberg, Queensland
Encyclopedia
Bundaberg is a city in Queensland
, Australia. It is part of the Local Government Area (LGA)
of the Bundaberg Region
and is a major centre within Queensland's broader Wide Bay-Burnett
geographical region. The city lies on the Burnett River
, approximately 385 kilometres (239.2 mi) north of the state capital, Brisbane
and 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) inland from the coast.
word denoting important man and the German suffix berg indicating mountain. The city is colloquially known as "Bundy".
The local Aboriginal group is the Dundu:ra/Doondora people the inhabitants of the Hervey Bay (Dundu:ra Bay) region which stretched from the Mary River to the Burnett River who was part of the Wahr Language Group of the Kabi nation (Edward Curr 1886).
Bundaberg as a European township was founded by timbergetters Bob and George Stewart and Lachlan Tripp in 1867. The first farmers in the area arrived soon after. It was local resident and District Surveyor John Charlton Thompson who received the directive to survey a plot an area on the South side of the river. The city was surveyed, laid out and named Bundaberg in 1870. It was gazetted a town in 1902 and a city in 1913.
Timber was the first established industry in Bundaberg. In 1868 a sawmill was erected on the Burnett River
downstream from the Steuart and Watson holdings. The Burnett Sawmill operated for over 100 years at its East Bundaberg location. It was the oldest operating sawmill in the Bundaberg area until it ceased operating on 26 May 2010.
Experimental sugar cane growing in the district followed and a successful industry grew. The first sugar mill was opened in 1882. The early sugar industry in Bundaberg was the result of the semi-slave labour carried out by Kanakas
.
The naming of Bundaberg's streets was a job for its surveyors, of which there were three. Thompson was assisted by unregistered surveyor assistants James Ellwood and Alfred Dale Edwards. Edwards preferred using aboriginal names. It is a common misconception that the main street was incorrectly gazetted in the Bundaberg Mail as "Bourbong" instead of "Bourbon" street and the name persisted. However, Rackemann conducted a survey of letterheads printed between 1904 and 1957. Up until 1940 the count for both names was near enough to equal, with in some cases companies carrying both spelling variations in successive years. However, by 1941 there is no reference to "Bourbon" street. It is thought more likely that Edwards named it after 'Boorbong', the local name given to a series of waterholes near the Rubyanna area. (Now East Bundaberg) This is borne out by farmer Robert Strathdee's farming selection in the vicinity of the watering holes being recorded on early survey maps as 'Boorbung'. The Bourbong was referred to (Howitt 1904) as the name of one of the initiation ceremonies. Harry Aldridge stated that the scars of initiated men differed from that of Fraser Island in that men on Fraser Island had 5 vertical scars on their chest whereas in Bundaberg the Dundu:ra people had 3 scars across the chest.
In December 2010, Bundaberg experienced its worst floods in 60 years with floodwaters from the Burnett River inundating hundreds of homes.
Subtropical
Bundaberg is dependent to a large extent on the local sugar industry. Extensive sugar cane fields are found throughout the district and value-adding operations, such as the milling and refinement of sugar, and its packaging and distribution, are located around the city. A local factory that manufactured sugar-cane harvesters was closed down after it was taken over by the US multinational corporation
Case New Holland. Most of the raw sugar is exported. A bulk terminal for the export of sugar is located on the Burnett River east of Bundaberg.
Another of the city's exports is Bundaberg Rum
, made from the sugar cane by-product molasses
. Bundaberg is also home to beverage producer Bundaberg Brewed Drinks
. Commercial fruit and vegetable production is also significant: tomatoes, zucchini
s, capsicum
s, legumes, Sweet Potato
s and watermelon
s are grown in abundant quantities.
'. The city lies near the southern end of the reef in proximity to Lady Elliot
and Lady Musgrave Island
s. The nearby town of Bargara
is an increasingly popular holiday and retirement destination.
The Mon Repos
turtle rookery
is located on the coast just east of Bundaberg. The northern bank of the Burnett River between the Don Tallon and Burnett bridges is home to a colony of flying foxes
.
Nearby beaches are popular with both locals and tourists. Moore Park, to the city's north, boasts 20 km of golden sandy beach. Beaches on the southern side of the Burnett River are (from north to south) the Oaks Beach, Mon Repos, Nielsen Park, Bargara Beach, Kellys Beach, Innes Park and Elliott Heads.
Cania Gorge National Park
, Deepwater National Park
, Eurimbula National Park
and Kinkuna National Park, located in the Bundaberg region are popular with campers and bush-lovers.
Tours of the famous Bundaberg Rum
distillery
and attractions at the Botanic Gardens are also popular with tourists. The Mystery Craters, 35 un-explained water-filled holes in the ground, discovered in 1971 at South Kolan, are also a tourist attraction.
Opened in December 2008, the Hinkler Hall of Aviation is an historical aviation tourist attraction that celebrates pioneer solo aviator Bert Hinkler. It includes an exhibition hall, featuring multi-media exhibits, a flight simulator, a theatre, five aircraft and the historic Hinkler House.
The Bundaberg Regional Art Gallery (BRAG) is a large multi-purpose visual arts facility located at Barolin Street Corner Quay Street in Bundaberg City. The gallery showcases exhibitions drawn from local, state, national and international artists, and includes a gift shop, artist-in-residence apartment, workshop areas and an art resource library (The Green Room).
Bundaberg is served by three commercial television stations (Seven Queensland
, WIN Television
and Southern Cross Ten
) and publicly owned services (ABC TV
) and (SBS
). Each broadcasts television services in both analogue and digital formats, with analogue transmissions to be deactivated in the second half of 2011.
Seven Queensland and WIN Television both produce half-hour long local news bulletins. Seven Local News screens from Monday to Friday at 6 pm. WIN NEWS screens Monday to Friday at 6.30 pm, with a late news bulletin screening at approximately 12 midnight.
SBS offers digital high-definition
simulcasts of their main channel, SBS ONE on SBS HD. Ten digital-only channels are also available: ABC2
, ABC3
, ABC News 24
, SBS Two, One HD, Eleven
, 7Two
, 7mate
, GEM
and GO!
. Austar Limited
provides subscription satellite television services.
The city has been the location for two film sets, including the 1989 film, The Delinquents, starring Kylie Minogue
and the 1977 film, The Mango Tree
. Both films were set in and around Bundaberg.
, Basketball, Cricket
, Golf, Lawn bowls, Netball
, Tennis, Rugby league
, Football, Hockey
, Australian Rules Football
, and Softball
.
The Bundaberg & District Tennis Senior Association operates eleven floodlit clay courts in Drinan Park, Bundaberg West at the corner of George & Powers Streets. Competition tennis is played all year round. The Bundaberg & District Junior Tennis Association operates five artificial grass courts, and two granite courts, at 69B George Street in Bundaberg South.
Bucca Weir, west of Bundaberg, is home to the state rowing Championships every three years.
Bundaberg has two current clubs playing in the AFL Wide Bay competition.
The other clubs in the competition are:
Bundaberg is home to the Bundaberg Spirit
Football Club. They participate in the Queensland State League
against other teams across Queensland.
, St. Luke's Anglican School
, and Bundaberg Christian College
.
, located adjacent to the airport.
Road
Bundaberg is situated at the end of the Isis Highway
(State Route 3), approximately 50 km east of its junction with the Bruce Highway
. Many long-distance bus
services also pass through the city.
Rail
Bundaberg is serviced by several Queensland Rail
passenger trains, including the Tilt Train and is approximately four and a half hours north of Brisbane by rail. The closed North Bundaberg railway station formerly served the Mount Perry railway line
and is now a museum.
Air
Bundaberg is also served by Bundaberg Airport
, with flights to Brisbane and Lady Elliot Island. The city is home to the Jabiru Aircraft
Company, which designs and manufactures a range of small civil utility aircraft.
Water
Bundaberg Port
is located 20 kilometres northeast of the city, at the mouth of the Burnett River
. The port is a destination for ships from Australia and overseas. It is predominantly used for shipping raw sugar and other goods related to that industry such as Bundaberg Rum
.
Bundaberg was also the location of another health-related disaster in January 1928, when 12 children died shortly after receiving injections of diphtheria
vaccine
. At the time, the vaccine was created by the toxin-antitoxin, or TAT process, where diphtheria toxin was combined with antibodies
from horses, which served to eliminate the toxicity of the toxin while leaving it intact enough to stimulate a long-lasting immunological response
in the recipient. The vaccine, produced by the Commonwealth Serum Laboratories
in Melbourne ??? world renowned for the quality of its work and products ??? was dispensed to many of the city's children from late 1927 without incident. However, because of fears that the preservative
usually included in the TAT preparation might render the vaccine ineffective, it had been left out of the batch supplied to Bundaberg. Unfortunately, the associated warning did not reach the local Medical Officer of Health, Dr Ewing Thomson, and he continued to re-use the batch of vaccine over a period of weeks, including immunising his own son. On 27 January 1928 Thomson inoculated 21 children aged from one to nine years old; over the following 36 hours 18 became very ill and 12 died. One family lost all three of their children in the disaster, and two more families watched two of their children die. Not surprisingly, the ???Bundaberg tragedy??? or ???serum tragedy??? ??? as it became known ??? created a media sensation both in Australia and around the world, causing a halt in diphtheria immunisation programs as far afield as New Zealand and Cape Town
. Given the precarious nature of mass immunisation programs at the time, the Bundaberg tragedy also potentially compromised the careers of the Minister of Health, Dr Sir Neville Howse
, and the Director General of Health, Dr (John) Howard Cumpston.
Initial fears that the TAT process had failed to neutralise the diphtheria toxin in this instance were allayed by an Australian Royal Commission
. This Commission, headed by the director of the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute
, Charles Kellaway
, found that the vaccine had become contaminated by Staphylococcus aureus
, probably from Thomson???s imperfect sterilisation technique. In the Bundaberg heat, these bacteria had multiplied in the vaccine, contaminating the serum with a massive quantity of a different toxin (see toxic shock syndrome
). As a result of this finding, the Royal Commission issued a strong recommendation, adopted by all major manufacturers, that all vaccines packaged for administration of multiple doses should incorporate an antibacterial preservative. After testing of various compounds for toxicity and compatibility with the vaccine, the optimal preservative was determined to be thiomersal
, which, ironically, has now become controversial due to questions of its own toxicity. By 1931, CSL had replaced the TAT formulation with diphtheria anatoxin (or toxoid), which was claimed to be a safer product.
The Bundaberg tragedy set back the cause of mass immunisation in Australia by several years, and its consequences were remembered for decades in the town. Ewing Thomson stayed in Bundaberg for several years but then left, claiming that the fault lay with CSL???s inadequate labelling rather than his procedures. However, in addition to improving manufacturing of vaccines, the Royal Commission helped raise the profile of medical research in Australia and provided an important intellectual impetus for the future Nobel Prize winning immunologist Macfarlane Burnet
, who had conducted key bacteriological work during the investigation.
Bundaberg attracted national media attention in 2005 due to the alleged incompetence of Bundaberg Base Hospital surgical director Jayant Patel
(also known as "Doctor Death"), who was implicated in the deaths of up to 87 patients.
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Well-known current and former inhabitants of Bundaberg include:
Former
, China and Settsu
City, Japan.
Queensland
Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
, Australia. It is part of the Local Government Area (LGA)
Local Government Areas of Queensland
This is a list of local government areas in Queensland, sorted by region. For the history and responsibilities of local government in that state, see Local government in Queensland.-LGAs sorted by region:...
of the Bundaberg Region
Bundaberg Regional Council
The Bundaberg Region is a Local Government Area located in the Wide Bay-Burnett region of Queensland, Australia, about north of Brisbane, the state capital. It is centred on the city of Bundaberg, and also contains a significant rural area surrounding the city...
and is a major centre within Queensland's broader Wide Bay-Burnett
Regions of Queensland
The Regions of Queensland refers to the geographic areas of the Australian state of Queensland. Due to its large size and decentralised population, the state is often divided into regions for statistical and administrative purposes. Each region varies somewhat in terms of its economy, population,...
geographical region. The city lies on the Burnett River
Burnett River
The Burnett River is a river in central Queensland, Australia that empties into the Pacific Ocean near the city of Bundaberg. The Burnett River region is largely given over to growing sugar cane....
, approximately 385 kilometres (239.2 mi) north of the state capital, Brisbane
Brisbane
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
and 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) inland from the coast.
Etymology
The city name is thought to be an artificial combination of bunda, the Kabi AboriginalIndigenous Australians
Indigenous Australians are the original inhabitants of the Australian continent and nearby islands. The Aboriginal Indigenous Australians migrated from the Indian continent around 75,000 to 100,000 years ago....
word denoting important man and the German suffix berg indicating mountain. The city is colloquially known as "Bundy".
History
Bundaberg as a European township was founded by timbergetters Bob and George Stewart and Lachlan Tripp in 1867. The first farmers in the area arrived soon after. It was local resident and District Surveyor John Charlton Thompson who received the directive to survey a plot an area on the South side of the river. The city was surveyed, laid out and named Bundaberg in 1870. It was gazetted a town in 1902 and a city in 1913.
Timber was the first established industry in Bundaberg. In 1868 a sawmill was erected on the Burnett River
Burnett River
The Burnett River is a river in central Queensland, Australia that empties into the Pacific Ocean near the city of Bundaberg. The Burnett River region is largely given over to growing sugar cane....
downstream from the Steuart and Watson holdings. The Burnett Sawmill operated for over 100 years at its East Bundaberg location. It was the oldest operating sawmill in the Bundaberg area until it ceased operating on 26 May 2010.
Experimental sugar cane growing in the district followed and a successful industry grew. The first sugar mill was opened in 1882. The early sugar industry in Bundaberg was the result of the semi-slave labour carried out by Kanakas
Kanakas
Kanaka was the term for a worker from various Pacific Islands employed in British colonies, such as British Columbia , Fiji and Queensland in the 19th and early 20th centuries...
.
The naming of Bundaberg's streets was a job for its surveyors, of which there were three. Thompson was assisted by unregistered surveyor assistants James Ellwood and Alfred Dale Edwards. Edwards preferred using aboriginal names. It is a common misconception that the main street was incorrectly gazetted in the Bundaberg Mail as "Bourbong" instead of "Bourbon" street and the name persisted. However, Rackemann conducted a survey of letterheads printed between 1904 and 1957. Up until 1940 the count for both names was near enough to equal, with in some cases companies carrying both spelling variations in successive years. However, by 1941 there is no reference to "Bourbon" street. It is thought more likely that Edwards named it after 'Boorbong', the local name given to a series of waterholes near the Rubyanna area. (Now East Bundaberg) This is borne out by farmer Robert Strathdee's farming selection in the vicinity of the watering holes being recorded on early survey maps as 'Boorbung'. The Bourbong was referred to (Howitt 1904) as the name of one of the initiation ceremonies. Harry Aldridge stated that the scars of initiated men differed from that of Fraser Island in that men on Fraser Island had 5 vertical scars on their chest whereas in Bundaberg the Dundu:ra people had 3 scars across the chest.
In December 2010, Bundaberg experienced its worst floods in 60 years with floodwaters from the Burnett River inundating hundreds of homes.
Industry
Subtropics
The subtropics are the geographical and climatical zone of the Earth immediately north and south of the tropical zone, which is bounded by the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn, at latitudes 23.5°N and 23.5°S...
Bundaberg is dependent to a large extent on the local sugar industry. Extensive sugar cane fields are found throughout the district and value-adding operations, such as the milling and refinement of sugar, and its packaging and distribution, are located around the city. A local factory that manufactured sugar-cane harvesters was closed down after it was taken over by the US multinational corporation
Multinational corporation
A multi national corporation or enterprise , is a corporation or an enterprise that manages production or delivers services in more than one country. It can also be referred to as an international corporation...
Case New Holland. Most of the raw sugar is exported. A bulk terminal for the export of sugar is located on the Burnett River east of Bundaberg.
Another of the city's exports is Bundaberg Rum
Bundaberg Rum
Bundaberg Rum is a dark rum produced in Bundaberg, Australia, often referred to as "Bundy".The Bundaberg Distilling Company owns its own cola-producing facility, which supplies the cola for its ready-to-drink Bundaberg Rum and Cola products.-History:...
, made from the sugar cane by-product molasses
Molasses
Molasses is a viscous by-product of the processing of sugar cane, grapes or sugar beets into sugar. The word molasses comes from the Portuguese word melaço, which ultimately comes from mel, the Latin word for "honey". The quality of molasses depends on the maturity of the sugar cane or sugar beet,...
. Bundaberg is also home to beverage producer Bundaberg Brewed Drinks
Bundaberg Brewed Drinks
Bundaberg Brewed Drinks Pty Ltd is an Australian-based, beverages manufacturer in Bundaberg, Queensland. Bundaberg Brewed Drinks uses traditional brewing processes to produce non-alcoholic products. Bundaberg Brewed Drinks are exported to over 30 countries....
. Commercial fruit and vegetable production is also significant: tomatoes, zucchini
Zucchini
The zucchini is a summer squash which often grows to nearly a meter in length, but which is usually harvested at half that size or less. It is a hybrid of the cucumber. Along with certain other squashes, it belongs to the species Cucurbita pepo. Zucchini can be dark or light green...
s, capsicum
Capsicum
Capsicum is a genus of flowering plants in the nightshade family, Solanaceae. Its species are native to the Americas where they have been cultivated for thousands of years, but they are now also cultivated worldwide, used as spices, vegetables, and medicines - and have become are a key element in...
s, legumes, Sweet Potato
Sweet potato
The sweet potato is a dicotyledonous plant that belongs to the family Convolvulaceae. Its large, starchy, sweet-tasting, tuberous roots are an important root vegetable. The young leaves and shoots are sometimes eaten as greens. Of the approximately 50 genera and more than 1,000 species of...
s and watermelon
Watermelon
Watermelon is a vine-like flowering plant originally from southern Africa. Its fruit, which is also called watermelon, is a special kind referred to by botanists as a pepo, a berry which has a thick rind and fleshy center...
s are grown in abundant quantities.
Tourism
Tourism is an important industry in Queensland, and Bundaberg is known as the 'Southern Gateway to the Great Barrier ReefGreat Barrier Reef
The Great Barrier Reef is the world'slargest reef system composed of over 2,900 individual reefs and 900 islands stretching for over 2,600 kilometres over an area of approximately...
'. The city lies near the southern end of the reef in proximity to Lady Elliot
Lady Elliot Island
Lady Elliot Island is the southern-most coral cay of the Great Barrier Reef, Australia. The island lies north-east of Bundaberg and covers an area of approximately . The island is home to a small eco resort and an airstrip, which is serviced daily by flights from Bundaberg, Hervey Bay,...
and Lady Musgrave Island
Lady Musgrave Island
Lady Musgrave Island is a coral cay in the Great Barrier Reef, with a surrounding reef. The island is the second island in the Great Barrier Reef chain of islands , and is most easily reached from the town of 1770, Queensland, located on approximately 5 hours north of Brisbane...
s. The nearby town of Bargara
Bargara, Queensland
Bargara is a town located on the central coast of Queensland, Australia. The town lies 384 kilometres north of the state capital Brisbane and just east of Bundaberg. Bargara is considered to be a satellite town of Bundaberg, with only sugar cane fields separating the two centres. Between 1912 and...
is an increasingly popular holiday and retirement destination.
The Mon Repos
Mon Repos Conservation Park
Mon Repos Conservation Park is a turtle rookery located on Queensland's central coast, 14 km east of Bundaberg. Mon Repos hosts the largest concentration of nesting marine turtles on the eastern Australian mainland and supports the most significant nesting population of the endangered loggerhead...
turtle rookery
Rookery
A rookery is a colony of breeding animals, generally birds. A rook is a Northern European and Central Asian member of the crow family, which nest in prominent colonies at the tops of trees. The term is applied to the nesting place of birds, such as crows and rooks, the source of the term...
is located on the coast just east of Bundaberg. The northern bank of the Burnett River between the Don Tallon and Burnett bridges is home to a colony of flying foxes
Pteropus
Bats of the genus Pteropus, belonging to the megabat or Megachiroptera sub-order, are the largest bats in the world. They are commonly known as the fruit bats or flying foxes among other colloquial names...
.
Nearby beaches are popular with both locals and tourists. Moore Park, to the city's north, boasts 20 km of golden sandy beach. Beaches on the southern side of the Burnett River are (from north to south) the Oaks Beach, Mon Repos, Nielsen Park, Bargara Beach, Kellys Beach, Innes Park and Elliott Heads.
Cania Gorge National Park
Cania Gorge National Park
Cania Gorge is a national park in Queensland, Australia, 373 km northwest of Brisbane. The nearest town is Monto. Three Moon Creek is the name of the waterway that runs along the length of the gorge....
, Deepwater National Park
Deepwater National Park
Deepwater is a coastal national park in Queensland, Australia, 375 km north of Brisbane. It protects an area of sand dunes and coastal heaths in the Deepwater Creek catchment. The area is one of the few remaining pristine freshwater catchments on Queensland's east coast...
, Eurimbula National Park
Eurimbula National Park
Eurimbula is a national park in Queensland, Australia, 411 km north of Brisbane. The nearest town is Agnes Water.Eurimbula consists of three separate sections. The main section is centred around Eurimbula Creek and is accessible from the main Agnes Water road. There are camping facilities at...
and Kinkuna National Park, located in the Bundaberg region are popular with campers and bush-lovers.
Tours of the famous Bundaberg Rum
Bundaberg Rum
Bundaberg Rum is a dark rum produced in Bundaberg, Australia, often referred to as "Bundy".The Bundaberg Distilling Company owns its own cola-producing facility, which supplies the cola for its ready-to-drink Bundaberg Rum and Cola products.-History:...
distillery
Distillation
Distillation is a method of separating mixtures based on differences in volatilities of components in a boiling liquid mixture. Distillation is a unit operation, or a physical separation process, and not a chemical reaction....
and attractions at the Botanic Gardens are also popular with tourists. The Mystery Craters, 35 un-explained water-filled holes in the ground, discovered in 1971 at South Kolan, are also a tourist attraction.
Opened in December 2008, the Hinkler Hall of Aviation is an historical aviation tourist attraction that celebrates pioneer solo aviator Bert Hinkler. It includes an exhibition hall, featuring multi-media exhibits, a flight simulator, a theatre, five aircraft and the historic Hinkler House.
Arts and entertainment
Bundaberg has two cinemas. The Reading Cinemas are on Johanna Dr, and the Moncrieff Theatre is on Bourbong St. The Moncrieff Theatre also has live musical and theatrical performances.The Bundaberg Regional Art Gallery (BRAG) is a large multi-purpose visual arts facility located at Barolin Street Corner Quay Street in Bundaberg City. The gallery showcases exhibitions drawn from local, state, national and international artists, and includes a gift shop, artist-in-residence apartment, workshop areas and an art resource library (The Green Room).
Media
The newspaper in Bundaberg is called the Bundaberg NewsMail and it is published from Monday to Saturday.- ABC Local RadioABC Local RadioABC Local Radio is a network of publicly owned radio stations in Australia, operated by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.ABC Local Radio stations broadcast across the continent using terrestrial transmitters and satellites...
: Wide Bay 855 AM/100.1 FM – Due to the terrain of the area, both AM and FM frequencies are used. - 4BU 1332 AM (commercial)
- Sea FM 93.1 (commercial) – Part of the SEA FM network, owned by Macquarie Media .
- Hitz FM 93.9 (commercial)
- 4DoubleB 96.3 FM (community)
- 4BCR 94.7 FM (community)
- 95.5 FM (narrowcast)
- 97.1 FM (narrowcast)
- ABC Classic FMABC Classic FMABC Classic FM is a classical music radio station available in Australia, and internationally online. It is operated by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation . It was established in 1976 as "ABC-FM", and later for a short time was known as "ABC Fine Music" , before adopting its current name...
98.5 FM - Triple JTriple Jtriple j is a nationally networked Australian radio station intended to appeal to listeners between the ages of 18 and 30. The government-funded station is a division of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation...
99.3 FM - ABC Radio National 100.9 FM
- Rebel FM 106.7 FM (Wide Bay) Australia's largest independent commercial FM radio network
Bundaberg is served by three commercial television stations (Seven Queensland
Seven Queensland
Seven Queensland is an Australian television station, licensed to, and serving the regional areas of Queensland. The station is owned and operated by the Seven Network from studios located in Maroochydore on the Sunshine Coast, using the callsign STQ, which stands for Sunshine Television,...
, WIN Television
WIN Television
WIN Television is an Australian television network owned by the WIN Corporation that is based in Wollongong, New South Wales. WIN commenced transmissions on 18 March 1962 as a single Wollongong-only station, and has since expanded to 24 owned-and-operated stations with transmissions covering a...
and Southern Cross Ten
Southern Cross Ten
Southern Cross Ten is an Australian television channel broadcast by the Macquarie Media Group in Queensland, New South Wales, the Australian Capital Territory, Victoria and South Australia. The channel is owned by the Macquarie Media Group as is affiliated to Network Ten...
) and publicly owned services (ABC TV
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly referred to as "the ABC" , is Australia's national public broadcaster...
) and (SBS
Special Broadcasting Service
The Special Broadcasting Service is a hybrid-funded Australian public broadcasting radio and television network. The stated purpose of SBS is "to provide multilingual and multicultural radio and television services that inform, educate and entertain all Australians and, in doing so, reflect...
). Each broadcasts television services in both analogue and digital formats, with analogue transmissions to be deactivated in the second half of 2011.
Seven Queensland and WIN Television both produce half-hour long local news bulletins. Seven Local News screens from Monday to Friday at 6 pm. WIN NEWS screens Monday to Friday at 6.30 pm, with a late news bulletin screening at approximately 12 midnight.
SBS offers digital high-definition
High-definition television
High-definition television is video that has resolution substantially higher than that of traditional television systems . HDTV has one or two million pixels per frame, roughly five times that of SD...
simulcasts of their main channel, SBS ONE on SBS HD. Ten digital-only channels are also available: ABC2
ABC2
ABC2 is a national public television channel in Australia. Launched on 7 March 2005, it is the responsibility of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's television division, and is available nationally to digital television viewers in Australia...
, ABC3
ABC3
-Future shows:Programming confirmed for future broadcast will include:* After School Care * Bindi's Boot Camp * Bushwacked! * Dance Academy * Dancing Down Under...
, ABC News 24
ABC News 24
ABC News 24 is an Australian 24-hour news channel launched and owned by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. The channel replaced the former ABC High Definition simulcast of ABC1 and commenced broadcasting at 7:30pm 5:30 on Thursday, 22 July 2010.-Pre-launch:The ABC announced in January 2010...
, SBS Two, One HD, Eleven
Eleven (TV channel)
Eleven is an Australian free-to-air standard definition digital television channel, which was launched by ElevenCo, on 11 January 2011.-Joint venture:...
, 7Two
7Two
7TWO is an Australian free-to-air standard definition digital television channel which was launched by the Seven Network on Sunday 1 November 2009 at 12pm....
, 7mate
7mate
7mate is an Australian free-to-air high definition digital television channel, which was launched by the Seven Network on 25 September 2010.The network stated that 7mate would contain sport and regular programs aimed primarily at a male audience, with programming drawn from a combination of new...
, GEM
GEM (Australian TV channel)
GEM is an Australian free-to-air high definition digital television channel, launched by the Nine Network on Sunday 26 September 2010 at 6am...
and GO!
Go! (Australian TV channel)
GO! is an Australian free-to-air standard definition digital television channel launched by the Nine Network on Sunday 9 August 2009.-Origins:...
. Austar Limited
Austar
Austar is an Australian telecommunications company. Its main business activity is Subscription Television but it is also involved with internet access and mobile phones...
provides subscription satellite television services.
The city has been the location for two film sets, including the 1989 film, The Delinquents, starring Kylie Minogue
Kylie Minogue
Kylie Ann Minogue, OBE - often known simply as Kylie - is an Australian singer, recording artist, songwriter, and actress. After beginning her career as a child actress on Australian television, she achieved recognition through her role in the television soap opera Neighbours, before commencing...
and the 1977 film, The Mango Tree
The Mango Tree (film)
The Mango Tree is a 1977 Australian drama film directed by Kevin James Dobson and starring Geraldine Fitzgerald and Sir Robert Helpmann.The film is about Jamie, a young man in his formative teen years, growing up in rural subtropical town of Bundaberg, Queensland, Australia, set around World War I...
. Both films were set in and around Bundaberg.
Sport
Most major Australian sporting codes are played in Bundaberg, including; RowingRowing (sport)
Rowing is a sport in which athletes race against each other on rivers, on lakes or on the ocean, depending upon the type of race and the discipline. The boats are propelled by the reaction forces on the oar blades as they are pushed against the water...
, Basketball, Cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
, Golf, Lawn bowls, Netball
Netball
Netball is a ball sport played between two teams of seven players. Its development, derived from early versions of basketball, began in England in the 1890s. By 1960 international playing rules had been standardised for the game, and the International Federation of Netball and Women's Basketball ...
, Tennis, Rugby league
Rugby league
Rugby league football, usually called rugby league, is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. One of the two codes of rugby football, it originated in England in 1895 by a split from Rugby Football Union over paying players...
, Football, Hockey
Hockey
Hockey is a family of sports in which two teams play against each other by trying to maneuver a ball or a puck into the opponent's goal using a hockey stick.-Etymology:...
, Australian Rules Football
Australian rules football
Australian rules football, officially known as Australian football, also called football, Aussie rules or footy is a sport played between two teams of 22 players on either...
, and Softball
Softball
Softball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of 10 to 14 players. It is a direct descendant of baseball although there are some key differences: softballs are larger than baseballs, and the pitches are thrown underhand rather than overhand...
.
The Bundaberg & District Tennis Senior Association operates eleven floodlit clay courts in Drinan Park, Bundaberg West at the corner of George & Powers Streets. Competition tennis is played all year round. The Bundaberg & District Junior Tennis Association operates five artificial grass courts, and two granite courts, at 69B George Street in Bundaberg South.
Bucca Weir, west of Bundaberg, is home to the state rowing Championships every three years.
Bundaberg has two current clubs playing in the AFL Wide Bay competition.
- Across The Waves Bundaberg Eagles (merger of North Bundaberg and Souths/ATW Magpies)
- Brothers Bulldogs (formerly West Bundaberg)
The other clubs in the competition are:
- Hervey Bay Bombers
- Maryborough Bears
- Bay Power
Bundaberg is home to the Bundaberg Spirit
Bundaberg Spirit
The Bundaberg Spirit Football Club are an Australian association football club located in Bundaberg, Queensland who compete in the Queensland State League. They have been participating in this competition since its innaugral season in 2008. Each season Bundaberg has finished in bottom place on the...
Football Club. They participate in the Queensland State League
Queensland State League
Queensland State League may refer to:* Queensland State League , a statewide semi-professional association football league...
against other teams across Queensland.
Primary
There are many public and private primary schools in Bundaberg, e.g. St. Marys Catholic Primary school.Secondary
Bundaberg has three public high schools, Bundaberg North State High School, Bundaberg State High School (the second-oldest high school in Queensland that is still open) and Kepnock State High School. There are also three main private secondary schools: Shalom Catholic CollegeShalom Catholic College, Bundaberg
Shalom College is a Catholic school in Bundaberg. The College was established after the closure of the Christian Brothers College for boys and Loyola College for girls. The Current Principal of Shalom College is Mr Dan McMahon.- Campus :...
, St. Luke's Anglican School
St. Luke's Anglican School
St Luke's Anglican School is a Kindergarten - Year 12 school in Bundaberg, Queensland, Australia.The school was established in 1994, and has approximately 785 students.- External links :*...
, and Bundaberg Christian College
Bundaberg Christian College
Bundaberg Christian College is a Prep - Year 12 school in Bundaberg, Queensland, Australia.The school was established in 1996 and has 80 staff members and 584 students.- Administration :...
.
Tertiary
There is a campus of the Wide Bay Institute of TAFE on Walker St and a campus of Central Queensland UniversityCentral Queensland University
CQUniversity is an Australian public university based in Queensland. Its main campus is in North Rockhampton Queensland. However, it also has campuses in Bundaberg, Emerald, Gladstone and Mackay, as well as operations throughout Asia-Pacific. For instance, Melior Business School is one of its...
, located adjacent to the airport.
Climate
Bundaberg has a subtropical climate with hot summers and mild winters. The climate is the most equable of any Australian town or city and ranked 5th on a worldwide comparison. The mean daily maximum temperature is highest in January at 30.3 Celsius, and the mean daily minimum is lowest in July at 9.9 degrees Celsius. The coldest temperature recorded in Bundaberg is 0.8 degrees Celsius, and some inland areas of Bundaberg sometimes experience frosts. The mean annual rainfall is 1141.0 millimetres.Transport
Bundaberg is situated at the end of the Isis Highway
Isis Highway
The Isis Highway is a state highway in southern Queensland, Australia. The highway is relatively short, and runs for 142 kilometres in a north-east direction from its junction with the Burnett Highway at Ban Ban Springs to Bundaberg...
(State Route 3), approximately 50 km east of its junction with the Bruce Highway
Bruce Highway
The Bruce Highway is a major highway in Queensland, Australia. Commencing in the state capital, Brisbane, it passes through areas close to the eastern coast to Cairns in Far North Queensland. The route is a part of the Australian National Highway and also part of Highway 1...
. Many long-distance bus
Bus
A bus is a road vehicle designed to carry passengers. Buses can have a capacity as high as 300 passengers. The most common type of bus is the single-decker bus, with larger loads carried by double-decker buses and articulated buses, and smaller loads carried by midibuses and minibuses; coaches are...
services also pass through the city.
Rail
Bundaberg is serviced by several Queensland Rail
Queensland Rail
Queensland Rail, also known as QR, is a government-owned railway operator in the state of Queensland. Under the control of the Queensland Government, Queensland Rail operates the inner-city and long-distance passenger services, as well as some freight operations and gives railway access to other...
passenger trains, including the Tilt Train and is approximately four and a half hours north of Brisbane by rail. The closed North Bundaberg railway station formerly served the Mount Perry railway line
Mount Perry railway line
The Mount Perry Branch Railway is a closed railway line in Central Queensland, Australia. In 1869 copper was discovered at Mount Perry in the Bundaberg region of Queensland, Australia and the township grew rapidly. A railway to the coast was essential to provide cheap transport and make the mining...
and is now a museum.
Air
Bundaberg is also served by Bundaberg Airport
Bundaberg Airport
Bundaberg Airport is a regional airport serving Bundaberg, a city in the Australian state of Queensland. It is located from the town centre, on North Childers Road and Takalvan Street. The airport is owned and operated by the Bundaberg Regional Council...
, with flights to Brisbane and Lady Elliot Island. The city is home to the Jabiru Aircraft
Jabiru Aircraft
Jabiru Aircraft Pty Ltd is an Australian aircraft manufacturer that produces a range of kit- and ready-built civil light aircraft in Bundaberg, Queensland. The company also designs and manufactures a range of light aircraft engines...
Company, which designs and manufactures a range of small civil utility aircraft.
Water
Bundaberg Port
Bundaberg Port
Bundaberg Port is located 20 kilometres northeast of the city of Bundaberg, 5.6 nautical miles from the mouth of the Burnett River. The port is a destination for ships from Australia and overseas. It is predominantly used for shipping raw sugar and other goods related to that industry such as...
is located 20 kilometres northeast of the city, at the mouth of the Burnett River
Burnett River
The Burnett River is a river in central Queensland, Australia that empties into the Pacific Ocean near the city of Bundaberg. The Burnett River region is largely given over to growing sugar cane....
. The port is a destination for ships from Australia and overseas. It is predominantly used for shipping raw sugar and other goods related to that industry such as Bundaberg Rum
Bundaberg Rum
Bundaberg Rum is a dark rum produced in Bundaberg, Australia, often referred to as "Bundy".The Bundaberg Distilling Company owns its own cola-producing facility, which supplies the cola for its ready-to-drink Bundaberg Rum and Cola products.-History:...
.
Hospitals
Bundaberg is served by two hospitals. One public hospital, Bundaberg Base Hospital on Bourbong St, and Friendly Society Private Hospital.Diphtheria Vaccine
Bundaberg was also the location of another health-related disaster in January 1928, when 12 children died shortly after receiving injections of diphtheria
Diphtheria
Diphtheria is an upper respiratory tract illness caused by Corynebacterium diphtheriae, a facultative anaerobic, Gram-positive bacterium. It is characterized by sore throat, low fever, and an adherent membrane on the tonsils, pharynx, and/or nasal cavity...
vaccine
Vaccine
A vaccine is a biological preparation that improves immunity to a particular disease. A vaccine typically contains an agent that resembles a disease-causing microorganism, and is often made from weakened or killed forms of the microbe or its toxins...
. At the time, the vaccine was created by the toxin-antitoxin, or TAT process, where diphtheria toxin was combined with antibodies
Antibody
An antibody, also known as an immunoglobulin, is a large Y-shaped protein used by the immune system to identify and neutralize foreign objects such as bacteria and viruses. The antibody recognizes a unique part of the foreign target, termed an antigen...
from horses, which served to eliminate the toxicity of the toxin while leaving it intact enough to stimulate a long-lasting immunological response
Immune system
An immune system is a system of biological structures and processes within an organism that protects against disease by identifying and killing pathogens and tumor cells. It detects a wide variety of agents, from viruses to parasitic worms, and needs to distinguish them from the organism's own...
in the recipient. The vaccine, produced by the Commonwealth Serum Laboratories
CSL Limited
CSL Limited is a global specialty biopharmaceutical company that researches, develops, manufactures and markets products to treat and prevent serious human medical conditions...
in Melbourne ??? world renowned for the quality of its work and products ??? was dispensed to many of the city's children from late 1927 without incident. However, because of fears that the preservative
Preservative
A preservative is a naturally occurring or synthetically produced substance that is added to products such as foods, pharmaceuticals, paints, biological samples, wood, etc. to prevent decomposition by microbial growth or by undesirable chemical changes....
usually included in the TAT preparation might render the vaccine ineffective, it had been left out of the batch supplied to Bundaberg. Unfortunately, the associated warning did not reach the local Medical Officer of Health, Dr Ewing Thomson, and he continued to re-use the batch of vaccine over a period of weeks, including immunising his own son. On 27 January 1928 Thomson inoculated 21 children aged from one to nine years old; over the following 36 hours 18 became very ill and 12 died. One family lost all three of their children in the disaster, and two more families watched two of their children die. Not surprisingly, the ???Bundaberg tragedy??? or ???serum tragedy??? ??? as it became known ??? created a media sensation both in Australia and around the world, causing a halt in diphtheria immunisation programs as far afield as New Zealand and Cape Town
Cape Town
Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...
. Given the precarious nature of mass immunisation programs at the time, the Bundaberg tragedy also potentially compromised the careers of the Minister of Health, Dr Sir Neville Howse
Neville Howse
Major General Sir Neville Reginald Howse VC, KCB, KCMG, KStJ was a British-born Australian recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest decoration for gallantry "in the face of the enemy" that can be awarded to members of the British and Commonwealth armed forces...
, and the Director General of Health, Dr (John) Howard Cumpston.
Initial fears that the TAT process had failed to neutralise the diphtheria toxin in this instance were allayed by an Australian Royal Commission
Royal Commission
In Commonwealth realms and other monarchies a Royal Commission is a major ad-hoc formal public inquiry into a defined issue. They have been held in various countries such as the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and Saudi Arabia...
. This Commission, headed by the director of the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute
Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research
The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research is Australia's oldest medical research institute.In 2011, the institute is home to more than 650 researchers who are working to understand, prevent and treat diseases including blood, breast and ovarian cancers; inflammatory diseases such as...
, Charles Kellaway
Charles Kellaway
Charles Halliley Kellaway, MB, BS, MD, MS, MC, FRS, was an Australian medical researcher and science administrator.-Early years and education:...
, found that the vaccine had become contaminated by Staphylococcus aureus
Staphylococcus aureus
Staphylococcus aureus is a facultative anaerobic Gram-positive coccal bacterium. It is frequently found as part of the normal skin flora on the skin and nasal passages. It is estimated that 20% of the human population are long-term carriers of S. aureus. S. aureus is the most common species of...
, probably from Thomson???s imperfect sterilisation technique. In the Bundaberg heat, these bacteria had multiplied in the vaccine, contaminating the serum with a massive quantity of a different toxin (see toxic shock syndrome
Toxic shock syndrome
Toxic shock syndrome is a potentially fatal illness caused by a bacterial toxin. Different bacterial toxins may cause toxic shock syndrome, depending on the situation. The causative bacteria include Staphylococcus aureus and Streptococcus pyogenes...
). As a result of this finding, the Royal Commission issued a strong recommendation, adopted by all major manufacturers, that all vaccines packaged for administration of multiple doses should incorporate an antibacterial preservative. After testing of various compounds for toxicity and compatibility with the vaccine, the optimal preservative was determined to be thiomersal
Thiomersal
Thiomersal , and commonly known in the US as thimerosal, is an organomercury compound. This compound is a well established antiseptic and antifungal agent....
, which, ironically, has now become controversial due to questions of its own toxicity. By 1931, CSL had replaced the TAT formulation with diphtheria anatoxin (or toxoid), which was claimed to be a safer product.
The Bundaberg tragedy set back the cause of mass immunisation in Australia by several years, and its consequences were remembered for decades in the town. Ewing Thomson stayed in Bundaberg for several years but then left, claiming that the fault lay with CSL???s inadequate labelling rather than his procedures. However, in addition to improving manufacturing of vaccines, the Royal Commission helped raise the profile of medical research in Australia and provided an important intellectual impetus for the future Nobel Prize winning immunologist Macfarlane Burnet
Frank Macfarlane Burnet
Sir Frank Macfarlane Burnet, , usually known as Macfarlane or Mac Burnet, was an Australian virologist best known for his contributions to immunology....
, who had conducted key bacteriological work during the investigation.
"Doctor Death"
Bundaberg attracted national media attention in 2005 due to the alleged incompetence of Bundaberg Base Hospital surgical director Jayant Patel
Jayant Patel
Jayant Mukundray Patel , referred to as Doctor Death is a surgeon who is at the centre of a 2005 scandal in which he was accused of gross incompetence while working at Bundaberg Base Hospital in Queensland, Australia...
(also known as "Doctor Death"), who was implicated in the deaths of up to 87 patients.
Notable residents
- Bert HinklerBert HinklerHerbert John Louis Hinkler AFC DSM , better known as Bert Hinkler, was a pioneer Australian aviator and inventor. He designed and built early aircraft before being the first person to fly solo from England to Australia, and the first person to fly solo across the Southern Atlantic Ocean...
, pioneer aviatorAviatorAn aviator is a person who flies an aircraft. The first recorded use of the term was in 1887, as a variation of 'aviation', from the Latin avis , coined in 1863 by G. de la Landelle in Aviation Ou Navigation Aérienne... - Gladys MoncrieffGladys MoncrieffGladys Moncrieff OBE was an Australian singer who was so successful in musical theatre and recordings that she became known as 'Australia's Queen of Song' and 'Our Glad'.-Early years:...
, singer - Vance PalmerVance and Nettie PalmerVance and Nettie Palmer were two of Australia's best-known literary figures from the 1920s to the 1950s. Edward Vivian "Vance" Palmer was a novelist, dramatist, essayist and critic. Janet Gertrude "Nettie" Palmer was a poet, essayist and Australia's leading literary critic...
, writer - Don TallonDon TallonDonald "Don" Tallon was an Australian cricketer who played 21 Test matches as a wicket-keeper between 1946 and 1953...
, Australian CricketCricketCricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
er - Mal MeningaMal MeningaMalcolm Norman Meninga AM is an Australian former rugby league test captain and current coach of Queensland's State of Origin team. As a player he was a legendary goal-kicking centre, counted amongst the finest footballers of the 20th century...
, legendary rugby leagueRugby leagueRugby league football, usually called rugby league, is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. One of the two codes of rugby football, it originated in England in 1895 by a split from Rugby Football Union over paying players...
footballer - Antonio KaufusiAntonio KaufusiAntonio Kaufusi is a Tongan-Australian professional rugby league footballer currently playing for the London Broncos of the English Super League. An Australian and Tongan international and Queensland State of Origin representative forward, he previously played for the Melbourne Storm, North...
– rugby leagueRugby leagueRugby league football, usually called rugby league, is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. One of the two codes of rugby football, it originated in England in 1895 by a split from Rugby Football Union over paying players...
footballer - Chris SarraChris SarraChris Sarra is an Australian educationalist. Hailing from Bundaberg in Queensland and the youngest of ten children, Sarra experienced first-hand many of the issues faced by indigenous students....
, 2004 Queenslander of the Year - Michelle SteeleMichelle SteeleMichelle Steele is an Australian skeleton racer who has competed since 2004. She finished 13th in the women's skeleton event at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin....
, Winter Olympian at the 2006 Winter OlympicsAustralia at the 2006 Winter OlympicsAustralia competed at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy. The team of 40 athletes was the largest ever for Australia, surpassing the team of 31 that participated at the 1960 Winter Olympics....
. - Clint BoltonClint BoltonClint Brian Bolton is an Australian football player who plays as a goalkeeper for Melbourne Heart in the Australian A-League. He was one of the most experienced goalkeepers in the history of the National Soccer League, which preceded the A-League...
, football (soccer)Football (soccer)Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...
player, Socceroo, 2 time A-League championship winning player - Troy ElderTroy ElderTroy Elder OAM is a field hockey striker and midfielder from Australia, who was a member of the Men's National Team that won the golden medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens...
, HockeyHockeyHockey is a family of sports in which two teams play against each other by trying to maneuver a ball or a puck into the opponent's goal using a hockey stick.-Etymology:...
player - Donald SmithDonald Smith (singer)Donald Sydney Smith OBE was an Australian operatic tenor. His voice had a bright Italianate quality, which could match in size, carrying power and tonal allure the voices of most sopranos and mezzos. He attracted a fiercely loyal public following, and many Australians who had no prior experience...
, operatic tenor - Steve GoodallSteve GoodallSteve Goodall is an Australian racing cyclist, who won the 1978 Commonwealth Games Bronze Medal for the 1500 metres Tandem and placed 12th out of 30 competitors in the 1976 Summer Olympics 1000 metres Individual Time Trial....
, cyclist, 1978 Commonwealth Games Bronze Medalist, 1976 Olympian - Tom MilesTom MilesThomas John Lesley "Tom" "TJ" Miles was an Australian professional athlete/sprinter who won the 1927 Stawell Gift sprint race and 1928 World Champion by defeating then reigning champion, Tim Banner.-Early life:...
, professional athlete/sprinter, Winner 1927 Stawell Gift, 1928 World Champion. - Mitchell LangerakMitchell LangerakMitchell James Langerak is an Australian football goalkeeper, currently playing for Borussia Dortmund in the German Bundesliga.-Melbourne Victory:...
, football (soccer)Football (soccer)Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...
player, A-League championship winning player - Allan DavisAllan DavisAllan Howard Davis is an Australian professional road racing cyclist for UCI ProTour team . Born in Ipswich, Queensland, Davis resides in Bundaberg, Queensland and in Spain. Known for his sprinting ability, he started competitive cycling at the age of 10, and turned professional in 2002...
, Road racing cyclist, 2009 Tour Down Under Winner - Keith ThieleKeith ThieleKeith Frederick Thiele DSO, DFC & 2 Bars was an officer of the Royal New Zealand Air Force during the Second World War. He is one of four New Zealand born airmen to receive two medal bars to his Distinguished Flying Cross.-Career:...
, World War II Pilot (awarded DSO, DFC & 2 medal bars) - Jayant PatelJayant PatelJayant Mukundray Patel , referred to as Doctor Death is a surgeon who is at the centre of a 2005 scandal in which he was accused of gross incompetence while working at Bundaberg Base Hospital in Queensland, Australia...
, the alleged "Doctor Death" of the Bundaberg Base Hospital.
Representatives
Current- Jack DempseyJack Dempsey (politician)John Mark Dempsey is an Australian politician. He represents the division of Bundaberg in the Queensland Legislative Assembly, and was first elected at the 2006 State election, originally for the National Party...
, (Liberal National PartyLiberal National PartyThe Liberal National Party is a political party in Queensland, Australia. It was formed on 26 July 2008 by the merger of the Queensland divisions of the Liberal and National parties.-History:...
), State memberQueensland Legislative AssemblyThe Queensland Legislative Assembly is the unicameral chamber of the Parliament of Queensland. Elections are held approximately once every three years. Voting is by the Optional Preferential Voting form of the Alternative Vote system...
for BundabergElectoral district of BundabergThe division of Bundaberg is an electoral district of the Queensland Legislative Assembly in central Queensland, Australia.It covers the city of Bundaberg, as well as the immediate surrounding area, hence its name.... - Paul Neville (National Party of AustraliaNational Party of AustraliaThe National Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Traditionally representing graziers, farmers and rural voters generally, it began as the The Country Party, but adopted the name The National Country Party in 1975, changed to The National Party of Australia in 1982. The party is...
), Federal memberAustralian House of RepresentativesThe House of Representatives is one of the two houses of the Parliament of Australia; it is the lower house; the upper house is the Senate. Members of Parliament serve for terms of approximately three years....
for HinklerDivision of HinklerThe Division of Hinkler is anAustralian Electoral Division in Queensland. The division was created in 1984 and is named for Bert Hinkler, the great pioneer Australian aviator....
Former
- Prime MinistersPrime Minister of AustraliaThe Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of Australia is the highest minister of the Crown, leader of the Cabinet and Head of Her Majesty's Australian Government, holding office on commission from the Governor-General of Australia. The office of Prime Minister is, in practice, the most powerful...
Andrew FisherAndrew FisherAndrew Fisher was an Australian politician who served as the fifth Prime Minister on three separate occasions. Fisher's 1910-13 Labor ministry completed a vast legislative programme which made him, along with Protectionist Alfred Deakin, the founder of the statutory structure of the new nation...
and Frank FordeFrank FordeFrancis Michael Forde PC was an Australian politician and the 15th Prime Minister of Australia. He was the shortest serving Prime Minister in Australia's history, being in office for only eight days.-Early life:...
both represented Federal electoratesAustralian House of RepresentativesThe House of Representatives is one of the two houses of the Parliament of Australia; it is the lower house; the upper house is the Senate. Members of Parliament serve for terms of approximately three years....
that included Bundaberg, though neither was from there originally.
Sister cities
Bundaberg has sister city agreements with NanningNanning
Nanning is the capital of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in southern China. It is known as the "Green City" because of its abundance of lush tropical foliage.-History:...
, China and Settsu
Settsu, Osaka
is a city located in Osaka, Japan.As of 2010, the city has an estimated population of 84,278 and the density of 5,664 persons per km². The total area is 14.88 km².-Railways:*West Japan Railway Company**JR Kyoto Line: Senrioka Station*Hankyu Railway...
City, Japan.