Situated in the south east of Queensland the city of Brisbane, as well as being the state capital, is the fastest growing region in Australia.

Brisbane Airport is conveniently situated just 13km north east of the city centre.

Named in the early 18 hundreds after the famous Governor of New South Wales Sir Thomas Brisbane, it grew into a thriving and vibrant city with exciting nightlife, good accommodation and a superb choice of restaurants. With a comfortable sub-tropical climate, Brisbane enjoys brilliant hot summers and clear mild winters with most days being mild and very pleasant. The city is built along side the Brisbane River and the eastern suburbs line the shores of Moreton Bay.

The city lies mainly on the low lying plain east of the Great Dividing Range and it susceptible to severe flooding. Many creeks also criss-cross the city increasing the risk. When ‘Cyclone Wanda’ hit the city during the weekend 26-27 January 1974 Brisbane was completely flooded.

During the Second World War Brisbane played a prominent role in the defence of Australia. This was mainly due to the city’s close proximity to the South West Pacific Area. Thousands of both Australian and American servicemen were based here and it became the base for General Douglas MacArthur who was the chief of the Allied Pacific forces.

In 1982 Brisbane was the host city for the Commonwealth Games and in 1988 to the World’s Fair, Expo 88. The former Expo site is now a lifestyle and entertainment location. These two events promoted large scale public expenditure on construction the likes of which had not been seen before in Queensland. Since this time Brisbane has expanded rapidly and has become a great cosmopolitan city with migration both internally and from all continents.

As Queensland's capital, Brisbane, as well as having a great choice of hotels and accommodation, has it all. Spend sunny afternoons drinking creamy cappuccinos and dozing by the river, or if you’re the energetic type you may want to throw yourself into any number of adventures like abseil the cliffs at Kangaroo Point, climb the Story Bridge or participate in some water sports of which there are many. If it’s shopping you prefer there is simply no better place in Queensland to indulge in some retail therapy with over 650 stores open seven days a week. Beginning in the Queen Street Mall - almost a kilometre of shoppers' paradise. Carry on along to Brisbane’s chic shopping strips and arcades before heading to Boho precinct known as The Valley, you'll find the very latest, jewellery and fashions imaginable. South Bank's Little Stanley Street offers a little urban sophistication right down by the river. Downtown's weekend outdoor markets offer a great variation in both fashions and prices so if you can't find what you're shopping for in downtown Brisbane you’re not looking properly!

Sports in Brisbane

Brisbane is predominantly a Rugby League city the most supported team being the Brisbane Broncos who play in the National Rugby League Premiership. Brisbane developed it’s own rugby club premiership over a period of 80 seasons starting in 1908 and was second only to Sydney as a top rugby competition. Although much smaller than Sydney, Brisbane’s interest in Rugby exceeded all expectations and it’s support based on per capita was higher than that found in the New South Wales(NSW) capital. Although there was a rule that club players should play for clubs within their own state of origin Sydney clubs still managed to pull local Brisbane talent their way as they were generally more cash rich and the clubs playing in the New South Wales Rugby League (NSWRL) was thought to play the better standard of rugby. This issue though was really down to ignorance and in 1987 the NSWRL announced that a Brisbane club would enter a club into their league along with one from Newcastle. This club was indeed the Brisbane Broncos and they adopted the colours of maroon, gold and white.

Many of the players from Queensland who went to play in Sydney quickly made a move to the Broncos and these included Gene Miles, Wally Lewis, Colin Scott, Allan Langar and others. In their first match in the premiership they were up against the best side from 1987, Manly, at Lang Park and humiliated them by a margin of 44-10. Several other wins followed but it was all false hope in the end as they finished on the edge of the play-offs.

In season 1992/93 there was a dispute with the Lang Park Trust which resulted in a move to the QEII Stadium (ANZ Stadium) and they managed a fifth place finish for the 1993 play offs and would have to do something never done before to win it from there. Win it they did though, as in the final they came from behind to defeat the Bulldogs 26-23.

This win was the first of 5 premiership title wins in less than 10 years by the Broncos and established them as one of the greatest teams in the history of the competition.

Australian Rules Football

On October 6th 1986 The Brisbane Bears Football Club was formed when, after a long-drawn-out battle, a licence for a Queensland-based club in the then Victorian Football League was awarded to a joint syndicate headed by businessman and actor Paul Cronin, the inaugural chairman, and the QAFL. Christopher Skase financed the club via his company Qintex, and was the inaugural deputy chairman. Former QAFL general manager Ken Murphy headed the full-time administration, and ex-Hawthorn champion Peter Knights was the club's first coach. The off-field football 'team' included Shane O'Sullivan (general manager - football), Mark Maclure (assistant-coach) and Jim Sewell (football manager).

Allmost ten years on and the Brisbane Lions were formed on 4 July, 1996, as the AFL approved a merger between the Brisbane Bears and the Fitzroy Lions. The club was officially launched on 1 November 1996 and joined the national competition in 1997.

It was the first time that a union of two clubs had taken place in VFL/AFL history. It was the perfect combination of a club who were becoming an emerging force, full of youthful enthusiasm and energy, and a club with a proud history and great tradition.

First, there was the Brisbane Bears, an exciting newcomer to the national scene who were young and ambitious, and were just starting to find their feet in the ‘big time’ after a troubled 10-year infancy split between the Gold Coast and Brisbane but without the financial backing to mount a serious challenge.

Then there was Fitzroy, a traditional club of more than 100 years’ standing. They had fought against the odds more often than most and always pulled through but as financial pressures threatened to condem them to the annals of history forever, they accepted a merger with the Brisbane Bears in preference to the extinction offered by being taken over elsewhere.
Individually the Bears and the Lions were not particularly financially strong and ultimately might both have struggled, yet together they would grow to become a formidable force within the toughest sporting competition in Australia; a legitimate two-city team, with vibrant supporter bases in Brisbane and Melbourne that would rejoice in unison when the king of the jungle roared longest and loudest at the MCG on that one day in September.

So, the Brisbane Lions officially joined the AFL competition in 1997. They played in the finals in their first year with their new identity, had uphill battles on and off the field in ’98, and finishing with the wooden spoon, but, with an upturn in fortunes since 1999 have been very much to the forefront of the competition, finishing 4th in ’99 and 5th in 2000 before claiming an historic premiership in 2001.

It represented the first time the AFL premiership cup had traveled north of the Murray, and was a major breakthrough for the code in Queensland. The code and the club had squeezed perhaps 20 years’ promotion and development into one afternoon on 29 September, 2001, as the Lions beat defending premiers Essendon 15.18 (108) to 12.10 (82).

Suddenly, Leigh Matthews, coach of the Lions, and Michael Voss, the premiership captain, were household names. So too were the other 21 teammates who were overnight celebrities after a campaign which drew record focus onto AFL football in Queensland. It was the making of the code in Queensland, and a wonderful launching pad for the future.

Now AFL is accepted as a genuine code in south-east Queensland, with crowds averaging more than 30,000 at the club’s Brisbane Cricket Ground (Gabba) home and a club membership of over 25,000 across the two states of Queensland and Victoria.

Cricket, Soccer and Australian rules football all have Brisbane based national teams.

Click here for tourist information.