Editing Bundaberg (section)

==History==
[[File:BurnettRiver 1.jpg|thumb|Burnett River]]

===Early history===
The [[Traditional owner]] Aboriginal groups in the region are the [[Taribelang]], [[Goreng Goreng|Gooreng Gooreng]], [https://www.education.net.au/education/GURANG-LAND-COUNCIL-(ABORIGINAL-CORPORATION)-/1695/ Gurang], and Bailai peoples. They are the original inhabitants of the region.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Haydon|first=Cam|title=Aboriginal heritage|url=https://www.discoverbundaberg.com.au/aboriginal-heritage|access-date=2021-01-04|website=Discover Bundaberg|language=en|archive-date=15 March 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210315191637/https://www.discoverbundaberg.com.au/aboriginal-heritage|url-status=live}}</ref> A determination of [[Native title in Australia|Native Title]] was made for all four cultural groups by the [[National Native Title Tribunal]], pursuant to the ''[[Native Title Act 1993]],'' on 28 November 2017.<ref>{{Cite web |title=National Native Title Register Details |url=http://www.nntt.gov.au/searchRegApps/NativeTitleRegisters/Pages/NNTR_details.aspx?NNTT_Fileno=QCD2017/010 |access-date=2024-01-17 |website=www.nntt.gov.au |archive-date=3 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231103035420/http://www.nntt.gov.au/searchRegApps/NativeTitleRegisters/Pages/NNTR_details.aspx?NNTT_Fileno=QCD2017/010 |url-status=live }}</ref> It was determined that "native title exists in the entire determination area" of Bundaberg, [[Gladstone Region|Gladstone]], and the [[North Burnett Region|North Burnett]].

As such, the Bundaberg Regional Council has reflected this recognition in their "First Nations Strategy 2022-2026", and endeavours to celebrate and embrace the region's "local connections to First Nation Peoples and other cultures".<ref>{{Cite web |last=Dobbins |first=Claire |title=First Nations Strategy 2022 - 2026 |url=https://www.bundaberg.qld.gov.au/community/first-nations-strategy-2022-2026 |access-date=2024-01-17 |website=Bundaberg Regional Council |language=en |archive-date=17 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240117143038/https://www.bundaberg.qld.gov.au/community/first-nations-strategy-2022-2026 |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Initial British colonisation ===
The first British man to visit the area was [[James Davis (escaped convict)|James Davis]] in the 1830s. He was an escaped convict from the [[Moreton Bay Penal Settlement|Moreton Bay Penal settlement]] who lived with the [[Kabi people]] to the south of the region. He resided mostly around the [[Mary River (Queensland)|Mary River]] and was referred to as ''Durrumboi''.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Petrie |first1=C.C. |title=Tom Petrie's Reminiscences of Early Queensland |url=https://archive.org/details/cu31924063745495/page/n5 |website=archive.org |access-date=16 October 2018}}</ref> The Burnett River was surveyed by [[John Charles Burnett]], after whom it was named during his exploration mission of the Wide Bay and Burnett regions in 1847.<ref name="bundaberg.qld.gov.au">{{cite web |url=http://www.bundaberg.qld.gov.au/files/Christ_Church_Bundaberg.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=28 May 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160322093047/http://www.bundaberg.qld.gov.au/files/Christ_Church_Bundaberg.pdf |archive-date=22 March 2016 |df=dmy-all }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.bundaberg.qld.gov.au/files/Christ_Church_Bundaberg.pdf|title=Christ Church, Bundaberg|publisher=[[Bundaberg Regional Council]]|access-date=28 May 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160322093047/http://www.bundaberg.qld.gov.au/files/Christ_Church_Bundaberg.pdf|archive-date=22 March 2016|df=dmy-all}}</ref>

British occupation of the land in the region began in 1848 when [[squatting (pastoral)|pastoral squatters]] Gregory Blaxland Jnr and [[William Forster (Australian politician)|William Forster]] established a [[sheep station]]. Blaxland was a son of the Blue Mountains explorer, [[Gregory Blaxland]], and Forster was later to become a [[Premier of New South Wales]]. They selected a very large area of land which encompassed most of the western part of the modern day [[Bundaberg Region]] along the [[Burnett River]]. They named this pastoral lease Tirroan.

Blaxland and Forster had previously set up sheep stations near the [[Clarence River (New South Wales)|Clarence River]] and had a notable history of conflict with Aboriginal people.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article193604234 |title=CLARENCE RIVER HISTORICAL SOCIETY |newspaper=[[Daily Examiner]] |volume=28 |issue=8999 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=5 June 1937 |access-date=17 October 2018 |page=8 |via=National Library of Australia |archive-date=25 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210325050820/https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/193604234 |url-status=live }}</ref> Sheep stations imposed on native bushland disrupt native food production, typically resulting in widespread hunger and illness amongst native peoples. Conflict continued at Tirroan when two of their shepherds were killed by Aboriginal people in 1849. Forster and Blaxland led a [[punitive expedition]] causing multiple Aboriginal deaths. Further conflict occurred the following year when Blaxland was clubbed to death. Forster and a number of other squatters conducted another reprisal, resulting in a large massacre of Aboriginal people in scrubland toward the coastal part of Tirroan.

In the early 1850s, Forster sold the property to [[Alfred Henry Brown]] who changed the name of the pastoral lease to Gin Gin. At the same time, [[Native Police]] officer, [[Richard Purvis Marshall]], took up the Bingera leasehold in the rainforest scrubland downstream from Tirroan. Three towns in the Bundaberg region, [[Tirroan]], [[South Bingera, Queensland|South Bingera]] and [[Gin Gin, Queensland|Gin Gin]], commemorate these massive initial leaseholds.<ref name="laurie">{{Citation | author1=Laurie, Arthur | title=Early Gin Gin and the Blaxland tragedy | date=1952-01-01 | publisher=Royal Historical Society of Queensland | url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/38259403 | access-date=23 April 2020 | archive-date=25 March 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210325050830/https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/38259403 | url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="nolan">{{Citation | author1=Nolan, Janette Gay | title=A history of Bundaberg, 1840-1920 | date=1978-01-01 | publisher=The University of Queensland, School of History, Philosophy, Religion, and Classics | url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/31785617 | access-date=23 April 2020 | archive-date=25 March 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210325050827/https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/31785617 | url-status=live }}</ref>
{{Wide image|StateLibQld 1 394229 Sketch of Bundaberg, North Queensland, 1877.jpg|500px|''Sketch of Bundaberg, North Queensland'', 1877 ([[State Library of Queensland]])}}

=== Cattle and logging ===
[[File:StateLibQld 1 100192.jpg|thumb|Timber workers]]
[[File:StateLibQld 1 50564 South Sea Islanders on the deck of a ship arriving at Bundaberg, 1895.jpg|thumb|right|[[Kanaka (Pacific Island worker)|South Sea Islanders]] on the deck of a ship arriving in Bundaberg, 1895]]
[[File:StateLibQld 1 179835 South Sea Islander woman planting sugar cane in a field.jpg|thumb|right|South Sea Islander woman planting sugar cane in a field, c.1897]]
[[File:Promotional float for Paramount Theatre, Bundaberg, ca. 1930s.jpg|thumb|right|Promotional float for Paramount Theatre for [[White Zombie (film)|White Zombie]] with actors in [[blackface]], Bundaberg ca. 1930s.]]

Before colonisation, much of the land around the lower reaches of the Burnett River consisted of either the Woongarra Scrub, a subtropical rainforest that stood where most of the Bundaberg canefields now grow, or the Barolin Plains, a lightly timbered grassland that stretched along the coastal fringe. Neither of these areas were suitable for sheep farming but the British soon found that raising cattle was possible. In the early 1860s the first cattle stations in the area were established; [[Branyan, Queensland|Branyan]] on the south side of the Burnett River and [[Tantitha]] on the north side.<ref name="nolan" /><ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article217132106 |title=EARLY BUNDABERG. |newspaper=[[The Bundaberg Mail]] |location=Queensland, Australia |date=4 April 1925 |access-date=23 April 2020 |page=8 |via=Trove |archive-date=25 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210325050823/https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/217132106 |url-status=live }}</ref>
 
Timber companies, such as that owned by [[William Pettigrew (politician)|William Pettigrew]], started the logging of the Woongarra Scrub in 1867.<ref name="nolan" />
In 1868, [[Samuel Johnston (Waterview)|Samuel Johnston]] erected a sawmill in [[Waterview, Queensland|Waterview]], on the north bank of the [[Burnett River]].<ref name="brch"/><ref>{{cite web|title=History of Bundaberg|url=http://bundaberg.qld.gov.au/discover/our-history/bundaberg|publisher=Bundaberg Regional Council|access-date=26 December 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140215052443/http://bundaberg.qld.gov.au/discover/our-history/bundaberg|archive-date=15 February 2014|df=dmy-all}}</ref> The Waterview sawmill became a prominent supplier of timber until its closure in 1903 after being damaged by flood.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Kerr|first=John|title=Report on Site Visits|year=1998|page=298|url=http://www.daff.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0009/50787/qld_se_saw19.pdf|access-date=26 December 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140214043625/http://www.daff.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0009/50787/qld_se_saw19.pdf|archive-date=14 February 2014|df=dmy-all}}</ref>

=== Town of Bundaberg ===
In 1867, timber-getters and farmers, John and Gavin Steuart, established the Woondooma property which consisted of a few houses and a wharf on the northern banks of the Burnett River where [[Bundaberg North, Queensland|Bundaberg North]] now stands.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bundaberg.qld.gov.au/discover/our-history/bundaberg|title=Bundaberg|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160514114703/http://www.bundaberg.qld.gov.au/discover/our-history/bundaberg|archive-date=14 May 2016|df=dmy-all}}</ref><ref name="brch"/> An official survey of the area was undertaken in 1869 by [[John Charlton Thompson]],<ref name="brch">{{Cite web |url=http://bundaberg.qld.gov.au/discover/our-history/bundaberg |title=History of Bundaberg |access-date=21 September 2010 |publisher=[[Bundaberg Regional Council]] |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110217191305/http://bundaberg.qld.gov.au/discover/our-history/bundaberg |archive-date=17 February 2011 |df=dmy-all }}</ref> assisted by James Ellwood and Alfred Dale Edwards,<ref name="Rackemann">''Bundaberg – From Pioneers to Prosperity.'' (1992) Neville Rackemann. p46 {{ISBN|0-646-12555-9}}</ref> and the town of Bundaberg was gazetted across the river on the higher, southern banks. The first Bundaberg land sale was held in [[Maryborough, Queensland|Maryborough]] on 11 May 1870 where hotelier John Foley bought the original lots.<ref name="nolan" /><ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article148017566 |title=GOVERNMENT LAND SALE. |newspaper=[[Maryborough Chronicle, Wide Bay and Burnett Advertiser]] |location=Queensland, Australia |date=12 May 1870 |access-date=23 April 2020 |page=2 |via=Trove |archive-date=25 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210325050832/https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/148017566 |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Sugar ===
Most of the early settlers exploited the timber and grew maize on their selections but as a result of the incentives of the Sugar and Coffee Regulations of 1864, sugar became a major component in Bundaberg's development from the 1870s. Experimental [[sugar cane]] cultivation in the district was first grown at John Charlton Thompson's [[Rubyanna, Queensland|Rubyanna]] property in 1870 and the first sugar mill was built by Richard Elliot Palmer at his [[Millbank, Queensland|Millbank]] plantation in 1872.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article148535256 |title=THE QUEENSLAND, STEAMER, AT BUNDABERG. |newspaper=[[Maryborough Chronicle, Wide Bay and Burnett Advertiser]] |location=Queensland, Australia |date=12 March 1872 |access-date=23 April 2020 |page=2 |via=Trove |archive-date=25 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210325050847/https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/148535256 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="sc">{{cite book |title=Beautiful Sugar Country |first=James |last=Hall |author2=Dening, Jill |year=1988 |publisher=Child & Associates Publishing |location=West End, Queensland |isbn=0-949267-86-4 |pages=2 }}</ref> Bundaberg rapidly became an important sugar production region after the construction of the Millaquin Sugar Refinery at [[East Bundaberg]] by [[Robert Cran]] and his sons in 1882.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article146515689 |title=MILLAQUIN REFINERY. |newspaper=[[Maryborough Chronicle, Wide Bay and Burnett Advertiser]] |location=Queensland, Australia |date=20 October 1882 |access-date=23 April 2020 |page=2 |via=Trove |archive-date=25 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210325050824/https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/146515689 |url-status=live }}</ref> The [[Fairymead Sugar Plantation|Fairymead]] sugar processing plant owned by the Young Brothers (Arthur, Horace and Ernest Young) opened in 1884 which further augmented Bundaberg's sugar producing capacity.

The initial 35 years of the sugar industry in Bundaberg was reliant on [[South Sea Islander]] workers, who were often [[blackbirded]] and kept in a status close to slavery. The first significant shipload of [[Kanaka (Pacific Island worker)|Kanaka]] labour, as it was called, to arrive on the Burnett River came in January 1872 aboard the ''Petrel''.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article148535171 |title=SHIPPING INTELLIGENCE |newspaper=[[Maryborough Chronicle, Wide Bay and Burnett Advertiser]] |location=Queensland, Australia |date=16 January 1872 |access-date=23 April 2020 |page=2 |via=Trove |archive-date=25 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210325050825/https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/148535171 |url-status=live }}</ref> Allegations of kidnapping and wounding immediately arose concerning the recruitment of the Islanders on this vessel.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article1308907 |title=THE CHARGE OF KIDNAPPING ON BOARD THE PETREL. |newspaper=[[The Brisbane Courier]] |location=Queensland, Australia |date=27 January 1872 |access-date=24 April 2020 |page=5 |via=Trove |archive-date=25 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210325050828/https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/1308907 |url-status=live }}</ref> Influential Bundaberg plantation owners were able to purchase recruiting ships in order to obtain labour directly from areas such as the [[Solomon Islands]] and the [[Vanuatu|New Hebrides]]. The Young Brothers owned the ''Lochiel'' and the ''May'' vessels,<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article175286782 |title=Schooner Lochiel. |newspaper=The Telegraph |location=Queensland, Australia |date=20 September 1900 |access-date=25 April 2020 |page=7 |via=Trove |archive-date=25 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210325050826/https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/175286782 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article21628786 |title=A Successful Recruiting Trip. |newspaper=[[The Queenslander]] |location=Queensland, Australia |date=2 February 1895 |access-date=25 April 2020 |page=197 |via=Trove |archive-date=25 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210325050826/https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/21628786 |url-status=live }}</ref> the Cran family and Frederic Buss were the major investors in the ''Helena'' while the ''Ariel'' was co-owned by a number of local planters.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article146679148 |title=BUNDABERG. |newspaper=[[Maryborough Chronicle, Wide Bay and Burnett Advertiser]] |location=Queensland, Australia |date=5 December 1884 |access-date=25 April 2020 |page=2 |via=Trove |archive-date=25 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210325050827/https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/146679148 |url-status=live }}</ref> While some of the recruitment was voluntary, violence and deception toward Islanders often took place. For example, the crew of the ''Helena'' fought a battle with the locals of [[Ambrym]] while taking Islanders from there.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article52272940 |title=TRIP OF THE "HELENA." |newspaper=[[Morning Bulletin]] |location=Queensland, Australia |date=12 November 1888 |access-date=25 April 2020 |page=5 |via=Trove |archive-date=25 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210325050827/https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/52272940 |url-status=live }}</ref>

These labourers had to work for three years and were only paid at the end of this time period. Instead of cash, they usually received substandard goods and trinkets of minimal value as payment.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Docker |first1=Edward W. |title=The Blackbirders |url=https://archive.org/details/blackbirdersrecr0000dock |url-access=registration |date=1970 |publisher=Angus and Robertson|isbn=9780207120381 }}</ref> Excessive mortality of the Islanders while serving their term of labour in the Bundaberg region was frequent. Overwork, poor housing, inadequate food, contaminated water supplies and a lack of medical care all contributed to the high death rate. Penalties for the plantation owners whose neglect resulted in these fatalities were rare and did not exceed a £10 fine.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article19794954 |title=Kanaka Mortality at Bundaberg. |newspaper=[[The Queenslander]] |location=Queensland, Australia |date=1 December 1883 |access-date=25 April 2020 |page=893 |via=Trove |archive-date=25 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210325050830/https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/19794954 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article217678282 |title=EXCESSIVE KANAKA MORTALITY. |newspaper=[[Toowoomba Chronicle and Darling Downs General Advertiser]] |location=Queensland, Australia |date=29 July 1893 |access-date=25 April 2020 |page=3 |via=Trove }}</ref> Importing South Sea Islander labour was made illegal in 1904 and enforced repatriation of these workers out of Bundaberg and other locations in Queensland occurred from 1906 to 1908.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article25970839 |title=KANAKA DEPORTATION. |newspaper=[[The Queenslander]] |location=Queensland, Australia |date=20 October 1906 |access-date=25 April 2020 |page=28 |via=Trove |archive-date=25 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210325050828/https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/25970839 |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[File:StateLibQld 2 391697 Holy Rosary Catholic Church, Bundaberg, 1939.jpg|thumb|right|Holy Rosary Catholic Church, Bundaberg, 1939]]
The [[1911 Queensland sugar strike]] occurred after the phasing out of [[Kanaka (Pacific Island worker)|South Sea Islander labour]], with workers claiming that many plantation owners had substituted black indentured labourers (sometimes referred to as slaves) with white ones. Workers sought better accommodation, wages and conditions, including an eight-hour day and a minimum weekly wage of 30 shillings, including food. The mobilisation of unionists from Bundaberg to [[Mossman, Queensland|Mossman]] was a major achievement, with the 1911 strike lasting over seven weeks in Bundaberg where the town's economy was largely based on the sugar industry.<ref name="history-7">Janette Nolan,  Bundaberg, history and people, St Lucia: University of Queensland press, 1978, p. 147.</ref> The end result of the strike was a Commonwealth Royal Commission into the sugar industry in 1911–12, which had been initially requested by Harry Hall, a Bundaberg AWA organiser in 1908 with a petition signed by 1500 Bundaberg sugar workers.<ref name="history-8">[[Brisbane Courier]], 21 October 1908, p.5; Nolan, p. 146.</ref> The Royal Commission, with ALF Secretary [[Albert Hinchcliffe]] as secretary, concluded the AWA demands had been justified. The union victory was a watershed in organised labour in Queensland and Australia.<ref name="qhr3">{{cite QHR|33400|Fallon House|602814|access-date=1 August 2014}}</ref><ref name="history-9">Dr K H Kennedy, "The Rise of the Amalgamated Workers Association" in Lectures on North Queensland History, [[James Cook University]], Second Series 1975, pp. 198–199.</ref>
[[File:Vaudeville marquees on Quay Street at the edge of the Burnett River in Bundaberg 1935 (12649166584).jpg|thumb|[[Vaudeville]] marquees on Quay Street on the banks of the Burnett River, 1935]]

=== Further progress ===
[[File:StateLibQld 1 392105 Buss Park, Bundaberg, 1946.jpg|thumb|right|Buss Park vista, the Church of England to the left, and the Presbyterian Church and the Ambulance Building in the background, 1946]]
[[File:StateLibQld 1 393477 Bundaberg Post Office, 1948.jpg|thumb|Bundaberg War Memorial in front of the Bundaberg Post Office, 1948]]
St Joseph's School opened in June 1876.<ref name="qfhs">{{Citation|author1=Queensland Family History Society|title=Queensland schools past and present|date=2010|edition=Version 1.01|publisher=[[Queensland Family History Society]]|isbn=978-1-921171-26-0}}</ref>

With the passage of the ''Local Authorities Act 1902'', Barolin Division became the [[Shire of Barolin]] and the Borough of Bundaberg became the [[Town of Bundaberg]] on 31 March 1903. On 22 November 1913, Bundaberg was proclaimed a City.<ref>''Queensland Government Gazette'', Vol. CL, 22 November 1913, p.1422.</ref>

In 1912 Bundaberg pioneering aviator [[Bert Hinkler]] built and successfully flew his own glider on [[Mon Repos, Queensland|Mon Repos]] beach. He also completed a noteworthy non-stop flight from London to Turin in 1920. The following year in 1921 Hinkler flew from [[Sydney]] to Bundaberg, non-stop, in a record breaking flight of 8 and a half hours, in the process beating a telegram he had sent to his mother, to warn her of his arrival.<ref>O'Connor, T. (1996). A Pictorial History Of Queensland. Brisbane: Robert Brown & Associates (Qld) Pty Limited, pp.271–272.</ref>

The [[Bundaberg War Memorial]] commemorating those who died in the [[Anglo-Boer War]] and World War I was unveiled by [[Charles Brand (general)|Major-General Charles Brand]] on 30 July 1921.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article109988047 |title=Bundaberg Soldiers' Memorial. |newspaper=[[The Queensland Times]] |location=Ipswich, Qld. |date=1 August 1921 |access-date=6 April 2014 |page=6 |edition=DAILY |via=National Library of Australia |archive-date=18 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210718064440/https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/109988047 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Bundaberg War Memorial|url=http://monumentaustralia.org.au/display/90901-bundaberg-war-memorial|publisher=Monument Australia|access-date=6 April 2014|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140407142009/http://monumentaustralia.org.au/display/90901-bundaberg-war-memorial|archive-date=7 April 2014|df=dmy-all}}</ref> The Bundaberg digger was imported from Italy and is constructed of Italian marble. The completed memorial, at a cost of £1,650, was the third most costly to be erected in Queensland. It is a major regional memorial and one of the two most intact digger memorials that remain in their original settings of intersections.

The [[Bundaberg tragedy]] of 1928 resulted in the deaths of 12 children in a 24-hour period after they were administered a contaminated [[diphtheria vaccine]].<ref>{{cite journal|title=Bundaberg's Gethsemane: the tragedy of the inoculated children|first1=Harry|last1=Akers|first2=Suzette|
last2=Porter|journal=Royal Historical Society of Queensland Journal|volume=20|number=7|year=2008|pages=261–278|url=https://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:152716/UQ_PV_152716.pdf}}</ref>

In 1941 the [[Sisters of Mercy]] purchased the house ''Brabourne'' (originally owned by prominent citizen Frederick Buss) and established St Mary's Hostel, for women and girls working in or visiting Bundaberg. After [[World War II]], doctors were calling for modern hospital facilities in Bundaberg, so the Sisters converted the hostel into the Mater Private Hospital, a 24-bed hospital with an operating theatre, chapel, and accommodation for the nurses and maids, officially opening on 28 July 1946. The nurses were initially all nuns, but they established a training school for other women to become nurses. The hospital expanded over the years with additional beds, operating theatres, X-ray, pathology and a dedicated children's ward. It was the first hospital in Queensland to use the Zeiss ophthalmic microscope, the first regional hospital in Queensland to have a [[Lymphedema|lymphoedema]] clinic, and to use [[Facial-recognition technology|facial recognition technology]] for [[endoscopic sinus surgery]].<ref>{{Cite news|last=Whittington|first=Dorothy|title=18 July 2021|page=72|work=[[The Sunday Mail (Brisbane)|The Sunday Mail]]}}</ref>

In the 1960s the township was completely flooded by the Burnett river. In 1967 Bundaberg celebrated its centenary by producing a coin and opening [[The Bundaberg and District Historical Museum]] in the [[Bundaberg Botanical Gardens]] in [[Bundaberg North]].

===Bundaberg in the 21st century===
In December 2010, Bundaberg suffered its worst [[2010–2011 Queensland floods|floods]] in 60 years, when floodwaters from the Burnett River inundated hundreds of homes.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.smh.com.au/environment/weather/second-queensland-town-evacuated-due-to-floodwater-20101229-19a4p.html|title=Second Queensland town evacuated due to floodwater|author=Calligeros, Marissa and Cameron Atfield|date=30 December 2010|work=The Sydney Morning Herald|access-date=30 December 2010|archive-date=18 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210718064439/https://www.smh.com.au/environment/weather/rockhampton-food-stocks-plunge-20101229-19a4p.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

Two years later, in January 2013, Bundaberg experienced its worst flooding in recorded history as a result of [[Cyclone Oswald]]. Floodwaters from the Burnett River peaked at 9.53 metres. Over 4,000 properties and 600 businesses had been affected by floodwaters, which moved in excess of {{convert|70|km/h}}.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://higherlogicdownload.s3.amazonaws.com/IPWEA/d084dcf4-6215-4255-a0bd-255ce5299a58/UploadedImages/QLD%20Conferences/Cairns%202013/Papers%20Presentations/Bundaberg%20Floods%20-%20The%20science%20behind%20the%20story%20-%20DH.pdf|title=Bundaberg Floods – The Science Behind the Story|last2=Regan|first2=Ben|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170613043529/https://higherlogicdownload.s3.amazonaws.com/IPWEA/d084dcf4-6215-4255-a0bd-255ce5299a58/UploadedImages/QLD%20Conferences/Cairns%202013/Papers%20Presentations/Bundaberg%20Floods%20-%20The%20science%20behind%20the%20story%20-%20DH.pdf|archive-date=13 June 2017|url-status=live|last1=Honor|first1=Dwayne|access-date=13 June 2017}}</ref> Two defence force Blackhawk helicopters were brought in from Townsville as part of the evacuation operation, which ultimately used an additional 14 aircraft.

On 6 April 2018, [[Charles, Prince of Wales|Prince Charles]] visited Bundaberg Rum Distillery<ref name=":3">{{Cite web|url=https://www.diageo.com/en/news-and-media/features/hrh-prince-charles-visits-the-bundaberg-rum-distillery-in-australia/|title=HRH Prince Charles visits the Bundaberg Rum distillery in Australia|date=6 April 2018|website=Diageo|access-date=21 April 2020|archive-date=25 September 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200925103730/https://www.diageo.com/en/news-and-media/features/hrh-prince-charles-visits-the-bundaberg-rum-distillery-in-australia/|url-status=live}}</ref> He stated, ''“I'm thrilled that this Distillery's proving to be the one that produces some of the most famous and special of all rums around the world."''<ref name=":3" />

In 2018, the [[Australian Bureau of Statistics]] estimated the population of Bundaberg's significant urban area was 70,921 people.<ref name=ABSSUA2018>{{cite web|title=3218.0 – Regional Population Growth, Australia, 2017–18: Population Estimates by Significant Urban Area, 2008 to 2018|url=http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/DetailsPage/3218.02017-18|website=Australian Bureau of Statistics|publisher=[[Australian Bureau of Statistics]]|date=27 March 2019|access-date=25 October 2019|archive-date=27 March 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190327110730/http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/DetailsPage/3218.02017-18|url-status=live}} Estimated resident population, 30 June 2018.</ref>