Shoalwater bay





HISTORY OF SHOALWATER BAY

Mathew Flinders
When Mathew Flinders mapped the Queensland coast 200 years ago he was charting new territory for the British colonialists. Watching him from rocky headlands were small tribes of aboriginals whose ancestors had known the Shoalwater/Byfield area for thousands of years. Flinders replaced a broken mast with a giant hoop pine which was growing right on the beach - an uncommon occurrence on the Australian coast.

Locals
Flinders remarked on the health and happiness of the local natives......no wonder, these people lived in one of the most diverse wilderness areas in the world! Their hunting and gathering areas were characterised by

Landforms such as

which supported varied food sources such as

Graziers
Graziers started moving into the area during the mid 1800s. There was a limited amount of tree clearing but a total annihilation of the aboriginal population. The natives were shot, poisoned and pushed off cliffs into the sea. The remainder were dispersed to remote aboriginal reserves.

Fruit farms
Fruit farms were established in the Byfield area from the early 1900s. Generally the more fertile rainforest areas were cleared. Bananas were established on the frost free hills, citrus on the colder lowlands.

State Forest
The Queensland Government established the Byfield State Forest in 1947 and began planting Pinus Carribea.

Military Training Area
The Commonwealth Government withdrew grazing leases in the SWB area and resumed the land and surrounding sea as a military training area for the Australian Defense Forces during the mid 1960s.

Stockyard Point
During the 1970s the Queensland State Government allowed a small land development at Stockyard Point.

Byfield
Byfield was largely rezoned during the 1970s and 1980s into Rural Residential B. Subdivision followed and most original blocks were cut down from 160 acres to 25 acres(10 hectares). Telephone, electricity, a General Store and a bitumen road further transformed the area.

Sand Mining
Major mineral sand mining proposals for the ancient parabolic dunes stretching from Corio Bay to Shoalwater Bay were vetoed by a Commonwealth Commission of Inquirey in the early 1990s, which also recognised the importance of the dunes as the water catchment for the Capricorn Coast, as well as the significance of the Shoalwater/Byfield area as a unique wilderness.

National Park
The Queensland State Government progressively declared the Byfield National Park, which now stretches from Corio Bay to Five Rocks Beach.

Foreign Military Invasions
The Shoalwater Bay Military Training Area is now shared with the Singapore Armed Forces for a nominal fee of $1/year. They conduct regular live firing exercises.
The Australian Government has agreements with the United States of America and conducts major joint military exercises at SWBMTA.

Talisman Sabre 2007
"Talisman Sabre 2007" (May/June) is the next big military program on the agenda, involving approximately 30,000 military personnel from Australia and the U.S.A. and their associated war paraphernalia in a mock battle situation, orchestrated from military headquarters in the U.S.A. using computers. High technology, cutting edge weaponry is to be used and tested. Nuclear powered U.S.A. Navy submarines, aircraft carriers and battle ships loaded with depleted uranium weapons will be stationed adjacent to The Great barrier Reef Marine Park. Live weapons firing will occur over land and sea, including anti-tank missiles, heavy artillery, so called "smart bombs", etc.