Bert Van Manen (Forde, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

It is with great pleasure today that I rise to acknowledge the 150th anniversary of the first settlement by German settlers of the suburb of Bethania. On Sunday, 23 February, I attended the unveiling of a new memorial cairn and plaque at Edens Landing, along with our state member Mr Mike Latter and local councillor Jennie Breen. Unfortunately a new cairn had to be built because the cairn celebrating the hundredth anniversary is now in an area that is no longer accessible to the community.

Many locals do not realise that Bethania was initially settled by the Germans. Up until the 1920s, approximately 22 per cent of the population was from German heritage. Many of these people were the descendants of the original 98 people that arrived in Bethania in 1864.

My thanks in particular go to local historian Robin Kleinschmidt for the tremendous job that he has done together with his committee in putting the milestone and the celebrations together, which included a tour of the key landmarks in the local area. I congratulate him for his work and thank him for the wonderful heritage that he has left this community in that later this year we also celebrate the 150th anniversary of the settlement of Beenleigh. So it is going to be a wonderful year of celebration for our entire community.

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