Gladstone ( ) is a coastal city in the Gladstone Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , the Gladstone urban area had a population of 45,185 people.
It is by road north-west of the state capital, Brisbane, and south-east of Rockhampton. Situated between the Calliope and Boyne Rivers, Gladstone is home to Queensland's largest multi-commodity shipping port, the Port of Gladstone.
Gladstone is the largest town within the Gladstone Region and the headquarters of Gladstone Regional Council is located in Gladstone.
History
Before European settlement, the Gladstone region was home of the Gooreng Gooreng, Toolooa (or Tulua),Toolooa#History Meerooni and Baiali (or Byellee) Aboriginal tribes.
In May 1770, , under the command of James Cook, sailed by the entrance to Gladstone Harbour under the cover of darkness. Matthew Flinders, during his 1801–1803 circumnavigation of Australia, became the first recorded European to sight the harbour in August 1802. He named the harbour Port Curtis, after Admiral Roger Curtis, a man who was of assistance to Flinders a year earlier at the Cape of Good Hope. John Oxley conducted further exploration of the harbour and surrounding countryside in November 1823. Oxley was dismissive of the region, noting the harbour was difficult to enter, the countryside was too dry, and the timber useless for construction purposes.
Nevertheless, in 1847 the British attempted to establish the new colony of North Australia at Port Curtis. Colonel George Barney was chosen to lead this experiment in colonisation and his expedition was eventful. On 25 January 1847, the Lord Auckland, carrying 87 soldiers and convicts, arrived off the southern entrance of Port Curtis and promptly ran aground on shoals off the southern tip of Facing Island. The settlers spent seven weeks on the island before being rescued by the supply ship Thomas Lowry and delivered the intended site of settlement, the region now known as Barney Point. On 30 January at a proclamation ceremony at Settlement Point on Facing Island, Barney was sworn in as Lieutenant Governor of the (already revoked) colony of North Australia. The convict settlement lasted barely two months and cost the Imperial government £15,000. A change of government in Britain ordered the withdrawal of Barney and the settlers.
By 1853, Francis MacCabe was surveying the site of a new town on the shores of Port Curtis under the protection of several detachments of Native Police. Maurice O'Connell was appointed government resident the following year, resulting in an influx of free settlers as land became available throughout the region.
Gladstone State School opened on 1 April 1861 and is one of the oldest state primary schools in Queensland. On 14 November 1968 it was renamed Gladstone Central State School.
In 1863, the town became a Municipality with William Henry Pershouse elected Gladstone's first mayor from 1864 to 1866. The fledgling town was named after the British Prime Minister William Ewart Gladstone and has a 19th-century marble statue on display in its town museum.
Development of Gladstone was slow until 1893 when a meatworks was established at Parsons Point.
Parson's Point Provisional School opened on 1 August 1898, becoming Parson's Point State School on 1 February 1913. The school was relocated and renamed Gladstone South State School in 1945.
On 2 March 1949, a major cyclone hit Gladstone, resulting in extensive damage to the town.
Gladstone State High School opened on 2 February 1953.
In 1963, Queensland Alumina Limited established its alumina refinery on the site of the old meatworks. Gladstone's port facilities were expanded and the city launched into an era of industrial development and economic prosperity.
Gladstone West State School opened on 24 January 1966. In the same year, Stella Maris College, now known as Chanel College was founded.
Rosella Park State School was opened on 17 May 1971.
Clinton State School opened on 29 January 1974.
Toolooa State High School opened on 27 January 1981.
Kin Kora State School opened on 9 October 1981.
In 1985 the Gladstone Christian Community School opened as a primary school operated by the Gladstone Baptist Church. In 1998, it changed its name to Trinity College. From 2013 it offered classes from Prep to Year 12.
St Stephens Lutheran College opened in 1998, but closed at the end of 2016. The school had lost 20% of its enrolment due to families moving away to find work, leaving only 216 students in classes ranging from Prep to Year 12 making it no longer viable to operate the school.
Gladstone Cinemas, a locally owned and operated independent cinema, opened in March 2001.
The Gladstone Library building opened in 2003.
Recognition of native title Between the years 1997 and 1999, five separate applications were made seeking Native Title determinations regarding areas surrounding and including the cities of Bundaberg and Gladstone, on behalf of the first nations peoples, the Bailai, Gurang, Gooreng Gooreng and Taribelang Bunda. In 2001, the Federal Court of Australia combined these separate applications, and on 28 November 2017, Dowsett J made orders, stating that native title does exist over an area stretching from Burnett River watershed in the south, to the lower Fitzroy River in the north, and from the high-water mark on the adjacent coastline in the east, to the foothills of the Great Dividing Range in the west. The Bailai, Gurang, Gooreng Gooreng, Taribelang Bunda People's non-exclusive native title rights to this area was hence determined, and is held in trust for these peoples by their collective corporation, the RNTBC.
Heritage listings Gladstone has a number of heritage-listed sites, including: Gladstone Central State School, Block B, 94 Auckland Street Glengarry Homestead, Gladstone–Monto Road Our Lady Star of the Sea Church & School, Goondoon Street Port Curtis Sailing Club Clubhouse, 1 Goondoon Street Gladstone Post Office, 33 Goondoon Street Kullaroo House, 40 Goondoon Street Commonwealth Bank Building, 114 Goondoon Street Gladstone Regional Art Gallery and Museum (Old Town Hall), 144 Goondoon Street Fig Tree, Roseberry Street Port Curtis Co-operative Dairy Association Ltd Factory, 6 Short Street Gladstone Court House, 16 Yarroon Street
Demographics According to the 2021 census of population, there were 45,185 people in the Gladstone urban area. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up 6.7% of the population. 79.3% of people were born in Australia. The next most common countries of birth were New Zealand 3.3%, England 2.2%, the Philippines 1.3% and South Africa 1.4%. 87.0% of people only spoke English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Tagalog 0.8%, Filipino 0.7%, Afrikaans 0.7%, Spanish 0.3% and Hindi 0.3%. The most common responses for religion were No Religion 46.1%, Catholic 17.1% and Anglican 11.6%.
Geography
Gladstone and Rockhampton are the two major cities in the Central Queensland region.
Suburbs
Gladstone Central* Barney Point Callemondah Clinton Glen Eden Kin Kora Kirkwood New Auckland
O'Connell South Gladstone South Trees Sun Valley Telina Toolooa West Gladstone
* – the historic centre of the city and major business district
Climate Gladstone experiences a tropical savannah climate (Koppen: Aw), with a wet season from October to March and a dry season from April to September. Moderated by Coral Sea, the town is one of the southernmost places in Australia to have this classification. The average annual rainfall is , with a summer maximum. Extreme temperatures in Gladstone have ranged from on 13 July 1960 to on 12 March 2007.
Industry
Gladstone's primary industries are mining-related. The Port of Gladstone is the fifth-largest multi-commodity port in Australia and the world's fourth-largest coal-exporting terminal. The port consists of a number of wharves and terminal facilities. Boyne Wharf is used by the Boyne Island aluminium smelter and was opened in August 1982. The western harbour basin has been expanded, primarily to allow increased exports of liquified natural gas (LNG). Furthermore, in 2016, a plant was constructed on Curtis Island to produce and export LNG, a construction project that contributed heavily to city's population and housing boom. Major exports include coal, alumina, aluminium, cement products, sodium cyanide and ammonium nitrate. Each year 50 million tonnes of coal passes through the port, making up 70% of the total exports.
Gladstone harbour is within the World Heritage Area of the Great Barrier Reef and has historically supported a thriving seafood industry. In August 2011, a Fisheries Queensland spokesman said they received reports of fish with milky eyes. A spokesman from the Gladstone Fish Markets claimed that diseased fish were still being caught in large numbers in November 2011. Losses to the local seafood industry have been estimated at A$36 million a year.
Gladstone is also a tourism destination, with cruise ships regularly docking at the port.
Education Gladstone has a range of primary schools and secondary schools.
Gladstone Central State School is a government primary (P–6) school for boys and girls at 74 Auckland Street. In 2017, the school had an enrolment of 342 students with 24 teachers (22 full-time equivalent) and 16 non-teaching staff (12 full-time equivalent).
Gladstone West State School is a government primary (P–6) school for boys and girls at Boles Street, West Gladstone. In 2017 the school had an enrolment of 647 students with 46 teachers (43 full-time equivalent) and 31 non-teaching staff (20 full-time equivalent).
Gladstone South State School is a government primary (P–6) school for boys and girls at 153 Toolooa Street, South Gladstone. In 2017 the school had an enrolment of 330 students with 22 teacher (20 full-time equivalent) and 24 non-teaching staff (16 full-time equivalent).
Clinton State School is a government primary (P–6) school for boys and girls at Harvey Street, Clinton. In 2017 the school had an enrolment of 912 students with 64 teachers (59 full-time equivalent) and 46 non-teaching staff (28 full-time equivalent).
Kin Kora State School is a government primary (P–6) school for boys and girls at 43 Hibiscus Avenue, Kin Kora. In 2017 the school had an enrolment of 801 students with 57 teachers (51 full-time equivalent) and 27 non-teaching staff (19 full-time equivalent).
Rosella Park School is a government school for boys and girls aged from five to eighteen years who have moderate to severe intellectual impairments at 20 Park Street (corner of Rosella Street), West Gladstone. In 2017 the school had an enrolment of 75 students with 20 teachers (19 full-time equivalent) and 30 non-teaching staff (19 full-time equivalent). Due to the specialised nature of the school, its students are drawn from all over Gladstone and beyond into the wider Gladstone Region.
Gladstone State High School is a government secondary (7–12) school for boys and girls at 30 Dawson Road, West Gladstone. In 2017 the school had an enrolment of 1509 students with 123 teachers (115 full-time equivalent) and 61 non-teaching staff (45 full-time equivalent).
Toolooa State High School is a government secondary (7–12) school for boys and girls at 2 Phillip Street, South Gladstone. In 2018 the school had an enrolment of 1,004 students with 85 teachers (79 full-time equivalent) and 51 non-teaching staff (33 full-time equivalent).
It has two main private schools: St Johns and Trinity College.
It also has a university campus, Central Queensland University. Gladstone was also formerly home to CQIT (TAFE) Gladstone Campus, although has since transitioned to a secondary campus for Trinity College's K-12 offering.
Community facilities The Gladstone Regional Council operates Gladstone Library at 39 Goondoon Street, Gladstone.