Heritage talks: Landing Echo – 200 years since the arrival of John Oxley

On 2 December 1823, government surveyor John Oxley entered the Brisbane River for the first time.   

This historical event set in motion a series of consequences which would change the landscape and the lives of the people who lived here, forever. 2024 broadly marks the 200th anniversary of these events, and the establishment of the Moreton Bay penal colony.   

Our first Heritage talk of the year used this anniversary as a reflection point, with presentations by renowned poet Samuel Wagan Watson, acclaimed historian Jennifer Harrison, and Serene Fernando, Curator, Truth Telling at State Library. 

Read Landing Echo, a poem by Samuel Wagan Watson here