The K'gari (Fraser Island) Research Archive brings together various collections of resources that contribute to research into K'gari's recent history.
UniSC has a special interest in K'gari through the Dilli Village Research and Learning Centre, in addition to other teaching and research activities associated with the island.
The Archive is founded on a collection of material donated by John Sinclair, AO which underpinned his research in lobbying for environmental protection and World Heritage listing of the Island.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are advised that this archive contains references to Aboriginal people and includes the names of deceased persons.
These items may reflect the views of the authors and/or the period in which they were produced. Their inclusion is to preserve the whole collection as donated and does not represent the views of the Library.
Many of the items relating to the Butchulla and Kabi Kabi peoples can be found in Box 6 of the John Sinclair Collection. All effort is being made to attach cultural warning tags to items identified as referring to or by Butchulla or Kabi Kabi peoples.
The John Sinclair Collection comprises of print and digital material including manuscripts, photographs, reports, and surveys.
This collection charts the history of a contested area from colonisation to World Heritage site. Throughout the 1970s, K'gari occupied a critical place in Queensland’s political landscape. The conflicting interests of environmentalists, workers, sandminers, and the logging industry were played out in all levels of Australian government and resulted in K'gari being included on the UNESCO World Heritage List. The transcripts and exhibits to the 1975 Fraser Island Inquiry, initiated by the Commonwealth Government, form part of this collection.
As founder of the Fraser Island Defenders Organisation (FIDO), John Sinclair’s interest lay not only in the environmental values of the island, but also with the impact of industries including forestry and tourism on the natural environment.
The collection includes more than 600 photographs, which provide a visual narrative of K'gari's recent history.
 |
 |
| Image: Logging protesters 1990 from the John Sinclair Collection. | Image: Brumbies at Eurong Beach 1980 from the John Sinclair Collection. |
The diverse range of material John collated include old historical content such as news clipping from 19th century Maryborough newspapers, military records from World War 2, parliamentary papers, shipping, timber industry publications, as well as recollections of old-time residents. Documents about forestry cover history, economic and scientific concerns. Many of the papers from 1970s to 1990s are associated with political campaigns to stop sand mining and logging on the island. Other issues addressed within the collection are tourism impacts, recreational and commercial fishing, geology, and ecology.
The Butchulla/Badtjala people have a presence through the documents and their displacement from K'gari can be seen in many of the historical papers.
John Sinclair AO, donated his collection to UniSC Library in 2016.
Moonbi is the newsletter of the Fraser Island Defenders Organisation. The first Moonbi was issued on 6 April 1971, seven weeks after F.I.D.O. was formed. F.I.D.O. had changed its name from the Fraser Island Defence Committee to the Fraser Island Defence Organisation.
According to this first issue, the newsletter was so named because 'it is reported that the aboriginal name for Fraser Island is "Moonbi"'.
This collection contains a digital archive of issues of Moonbi from 1971, donated by John Sinclair AO in 2017. View the index to the Moonbi issues.
Image: Eli Creek 1981 from the John Sinclair Collection
