The Queensland National Anthem

Those who were around in the 1960’s might recall this catchy number which became Queensland’s unofficial anthem for decades.

“Life is great in the Sunshine State, Every Queensland heart sings a song,

To its tablelands and its golden sands, We are proud to say we belong.

And our faith is great in the Sunshine State, For our Queensland future is grand.

From the northern cane to the western plain, It’s a full of promise land.

All the while, every mile, there’s a sunlit smile, And a welcome handshake too!

For friendship’s great in the Sunshine State, May its sunshine keep smiling for you!”

It was Queensland’s favourite song, written for the State’s 1959 Centenary by Queensland composer Clyde Collins. The song was played on the radio, sung at schools, and the recording by the Horrie Dargie Quintet was quite a hit.

But it wasn’t Queensland’s first anthem. Turn the clock back to 1875. The young self-governing British colony of Queensland had its own navy. It would be three more years before Brisbane had its first electric light. But it was thought appropriate that Queensland should have its own National Anthem.

Poet James Brunton Stephens, a Scotsman, wrote the lyrics, and English migrant Richard Thomas Jefferies came up with the music.

The Royal Historical Society of Queensland archives holds a copy of the rare original piece of sheet music.

Newspaper reports of the time congratulated Stephens on the ideas expressed in the anthem: the wealth of the Colony, prospects of future greatness and possible independence, and “the mixed elements of her population.” Critics hailed him “Queensland’s favourite poet”.

The hymn-like anthem was sung at an 1875 concert and “was well received”.

 “Maker of earth and sea, What shall we render Thee? All ours is Thine.

Increase of field and fold, Rich ores and virgin gold, Thine Thine all Thine!

What can Thy children bring? What, save the voice to sing? All things are Thine.

What to Thy throne convey? What, save the voice to pray, God bless this land away, This land of Thine?...

O with Thy mighty hand, Guard Thou the mother land, She too is Thine!

Lead her where honour lies, We beneath other skies, Still clinging daughterwise, Her’s yet all Thine!

Brothers of every creed, Teuton and Celt agreed, Let us be Thine.

One in all noble fame, Still be our path the same, Onward in Freedom’s name, Upward in Thine.”

Ten years earlier, in 1865 “for obscure reasons” Stephens had migrated to Queensland.

It was said that though he admired Queensland’s scenery, he found bush life “monotonous and the conversation boring”.

So he turned to verse and composed his best-known poem, Convict Once. He was a teacher for many years, a public servant, and a writer.

His musical partner Richard Jefferies migrated to Queensland in 1871. He farmed near Gatton for a while, but soon his passion for music brought him to Brisbane as a professional violinist.

He and his wife introduced popular concerts which exposed eager Brisbane residents to a wide range of music. But it was the patriotic notes of Queensland’s anthem that brought him recognition.

Nowadays Queensland Day on June 6 is an important celebration of our state’s culture and heritage, and an opportunity to reflect on what Queensland means and what makes us proud to be Queenslanders.

The 1875 anthem hasn’t stood the test of time, but “Life is Great in the Sunshine State” can often be heard, performed by bands and choirs on that special day.

Article by Lynda Scott