Words and Photos by Julius Dennis

Australian cities have a tendency to sprawl at the edges. Sydney is famous for its western suburban spill and places on Melbourne’s outer rim like Tarneit, are set to see their population more than double by 2036.

It’s not a problem of the future. Clyde North, a suburb in Melbourne’s southeast, had a population of around 8000 in 2016, but by June 2020, the ABS estimated the population of Clyde North to be 23 542, nearly tripling in four years.

Up north, Brisbane is doing the same. To the southwest, slowly, development by development, the city is linking arms with Ipswich. To the south, Brisbane, Logan and the Gold Coast merge along the Pacific Highway.

But to the east, where the city meets the sea, how does Brisbane stretch any further? To answer that, one must head to the islands. The South Moreton Bay Islands, that is, where four islands — Macleay, Karragarra, Russel and Lamb — off the coast of Redland Bay are in the midst of a proportionally huge land sale boom that began early last year.

‘People were scanning for cheaper areas, and the islands were just in a good position for that to happen because we had so much stock, but now the stock has depleted,’ says Debra Hayman, a real estate agent who works at LJ Hooker and lives on Karragarra island.

Debra says she thinks Covid started the run for properties, but there is another aspect: the land is cheap. Almost cheaper than can be believed so close to a capital city. The islands are a 20 minute ferry ride (or 45 minutes on the vehicle boat) and a 40 minute drive from the CBD, but blocks have sold for as little as 20 000 dollars for over 600 square meters. Those days are done now, but finding a reasonable block for under 40 grand is more than feasible.

Here the growth is not as concentrated as in Clyde North. In 2016 there were 6150 people living on the SMBI, in June 2020, there were 7025. It’s not a development either, the houses here are eclectic and at times strange, often cobbled together from recycled materials and out of the box ideas. The vehicles people drive reflect this occasionally ramshackled look. Delica’s and Diahatsu’s are common. You can do your own registration inspections, and when you do your own inspection, you always pass.

The place does have a history as a loop-holed haven where people on the dole could live without handing in bi-weekly forms because they were a boat ride away from the office, and is still the subject of slander on the subject.

Still today 23.4 per cent of the island's inhabitants receive JobSeeker payments compared to just the 7.3 per cent average in Greater Brisbane. This can be read in a variety of ways; one is that these islands are an enclave where people without a lot of money can build a life for themselves.

A big part of the truth is that there are not many jobs to be had on these islands. There are shops and trades and real estate agents, but not much else, there is no industry. To most this doesn’t matter, many people who live on the islands are retired, playing golf and rolling bowls.

Debra says that the boom is attracting a different demographic that includes young professionals as well as people looking for less expensive accommodation, who are seeing the islands as ‘their home away from home.’ It may start as a weekend only affair, but Debra has seen cases where it has stretched to three days a week, then practically full time.

One couple who is enjoying the island lifestyle is Stephen and Valerie Boorer.

Stephen is coming to the end of a successful multi-decade career in the electrical contracting industry for multinational companies and is making the most of working from home.

He sets his own schedule, often waking at 4:30 in the morning and getting straight into it before having a rest around lunch or finishing off at his own pace. He says this lifestyle is ‘absolutely’ extending his working life.

‘That freedom motivates me. I find that flexibility good.’

The Boorer’s are currently renting on Macleay while they build their own house on the water. They were one of over 300 applicants for their rental house, and say that they were put at the top of the list ‘because we were older and had an old dog’.

Stephen and Vallerie are ‘comfortable’, their new house is sizable and has spectacular views, they have spent their savings on it and are coming out the back end mortgage free.

Not everyone moving to the island is as ‘comfortable’ as the Boorer’s.

Many of the builds are being done by ‘Owner Builders’ who Debra says are more like ‘Project Managers’: ‘they get people who have the knowledge to get things done, then they do finish-off sort of stuff.’ Some work might be done by friends and family, or in many cases, slowly, weekend by weekend.

Almost everyone is making use of the $25 000 federal government HomeBuilder grant which has seen building across the nation explode.

Jasmine Person, a lawyer and former head of the local chamber of commerce, is passionate about the islands. Her parents built a house on the water near what is now the Macleay Island ferry terminal over twenty years ago. She says that when her family came to the islands, everyone knew everyone.

Jasmine built her business from personal relationships she had with islanders. These days a large portion of her business comes from conveyancing gigs for people buying a piece of the islands, which has ‘tripled’ in the past year.

Amongst all this growth, Jasmine sees opportunities squandered by a council she thinks is hampered by bureaucracy.

It is her view and experience that "Council has no vision in regards to the islands, they’ve always treated the islands like a burden instead of an opportunity.”

The Moreton bay region is a tourist paradise in parts. North Stradbroke Island, further off the coast, is a sanctuary of caravan parks and retreats. This Island has sewer even though it has a population of less than 10% of the Southern Moreton Bay Islands (SMBI).

The SMBI is not Stradbroke, there are no wave beaches or inland lakes, however, Jasmine says there should be at least some access for the SMBI to tap into the tourist market as well — ‘There are no public jetties or anywhere for the passing traffic on the water to stop and spend their money on these islands.’

The SMBI became a part of Redland City Council in the mid-1970’s. Before that they had been ruled by the state government with a very loose eye on proceedings. They say land was divisioned and sectioned off with a map and some mesh-wire.

Some of the plots on the edges of the mangrove encircled islands were sold sight-unseen to unsuspecting investors, only for them to go underwater when the tide came in.

The islands have come a long way from those times, they have water and electricity, but no sewage system — an infrastructural hole that Jasmine questions the validity of:

“With the consistent growth on the Islands over the past 15 years, why has the Council continued to allow sewer to be flushed into the ground on the doorstep of a marine park – our beautiful Moreton Bay.”

She points to ‘Major Project’ status of ‘application for funding for SMBI wastewater treatment’ by the council in the mid-2000’s, and asks, ‘where did the money go and why did it drop off the Council’s list of ‘major projects’ for over 15 years?’

"Council has no vision in regards to the islands, they’ve always treated the islands like a burden instead of an opportunity.”

"He too remembers the islands before there was any infrastructure to speak of. No shops, cops or public transport."

There is a lot of resentment held for the council by the SMBI community, who Jasmine says has always treated the islands as a ‘poor cousin’.

The member for Division 5 of the Redland Council, which encompasses the SMBI and some of Redland Bay is Mark Edwards. He says there are trade-offs for the cheap land. He too remembers the islands before there was any infrastructure to speak of. No shops, cops or public transport.

He sees the islands through that prism, this might be the fastest stage of growth for a long time, but it certainly isn’t the beginning.

While he admits that putting sewers in the ground when water was installed might have made sense, now it would be a ‘500-million-dollar project.’

Mark doesn’t think there is ‘an appetite from the state government to run sewage pipes under water.’ In May, a water pipe between Lamb and Macleay Islands developed a leak.

They are now replacing the line in a noisy but relatively stress free manner. If it were sewage, it could be a different kettle of fish.

Before he was in council, Mark lived on Russell Island full time and was a part of a vocal sector of the community that wanted a bridge built from the mainland to Russell Island. He now understands that will never be a reality, even if some are still praying.

Instead, he’d prefer to focus on what he thinks can be done. There is a 34 million dollar investment from the council and state governments to upgrade the ferry terminals on all the islands and Weinam Creek, complete with a satellite hospital and most importantly to the people of the islands, a multistory car park.

They come with their own complications, but change is afoot on these islands. A far cry from the developments of the other edges, perhaps the most defining difference is they can’t expand forever. A unique future awaits the islands, that is certain.

Words and Photos by Julius Dennis